Ketika Usahaku Dibongkar Ibu Mertuaku

"You aren't paying attention, Arabella."

Right behind me, Samuel pushed forward with quiet force. The sudden friction made a small gasp slip past my lips, and my fingers dug hard into the cotton sheets, bunching the fabric until my hands hurt.

"So... easy," I breathed out, the words breaking apart into a shiver.

Samuel’s dark eyes burned with raw focus. He lowered his head on purpose, sinking his teeth softly into my bare shoulder, leaving a sting that made me shudder.

My mind was a complete fog, and my whole body felt like it was on fire. Through the haze, I turned my head back to look at his sharp face. His eyes held a wild, reckless look that belonged to someone completely untamed—nothing like his nephew, Richard, whose cold and proper attitude always kept everyone on edge.

How did I even end up in the bed of my ex-mate's uncle tonight?

It felt like a bad dream that started a week ago, when I caught Richard scenting another she-wolf outside the pack clinic. She was carrying his pup, and he didn't even try to hide it.

That was the exact moment I found out Richard had taken a high-society wolf as his secret side girlfriend, and the baby she was carrying was already five months along.

The anger hit me like a truck.

Three years ago, right after our bonding ceremony, Richard got hurt badly during a fight at the border. After that, he could never father a pup. To protect his job as Beta and save face for our pack elders, I stepped up and took all the blame. I lied to everyone and told them my own body was barren and I couldn't have children. Because of that, I spent years taking all the cold stares, pity, and mean whispers from pack members who thought I was a useless Luna.

I kept my mouth shut and swallowed my pride for three whole years, trying hard to be Richard’s perfect mate. And what did it get me? The second his strength came back—or maybe just the second he found someone new—he didn't think twice about breaking his vows. He hadn't touched me once in all those years under our own roof.

For a whole week, I begged, argued, and cried. But Richard just brushed me off. He told me pack business kept him busy, refused to answer my mind-links, and stayed away from our home completely.

Drowning in hurt and anger, I went down to the local club when the weekend rolled around.

The place was loud, packed with people dancing and flashing lights all over the room. I sat by the counter, sipping a glass of whiskey while staring at my phone screen. The last call to Richard's private number was still sitting there from a week ago—the exact day I caught him with her.

We had gotten into a huge shouting match back then, and after that, he blocked my number completely. If I needed anything about the house, he made his assistants deal with me, refusing to talk to me face-to-face.

The alcohol went straight to my head. Acting on pure impulse, my thumb pressed down on the screen to call him again.

*Rrrrring... rrrrring...*

*“The subscriber you are trying to reach is currently unavailable—”*

First try failed.

I hit redial. Second time. Third time. Fourth time.

Too many times to count, and it always went straight to that dead tone.

Right then, a sickeningly sweet voice spoke up right behind my shoulder.

"Richard, baby, I'm down at the club with some girls, you really need to come pick me up right now~"

She sounded so fake and spoiled.

My stomach dropped. I turned around slowly and saw Celeste standing right there—Richard’s secret girlfriend, showing off a clear five-month belly bump under a tight dress, smiling like she had already won.

From the way she was standing, she had clearly been there for a long time, just watching me make a fool of myself by calling a number that would never pick up.

Celeste raised a brow, her eyes full of mean laughter.

"Oh, if it isn't the great Luna. Are you having trouble getting ahold of Richard? That's so funny, because I just talked to him a second ago. Do you want me to call him for you?"

My hand squeezed my phone so hard the plastic nearly cracked. I straightened my back, refusing to look weak.

"Celeste, you're just a cheap side piece who got pregnant by a married wolf. Stop playing games and get out of my face."

Celeste rubbed her rounded belly like it was a prize, laughing in a smug way.

"You might be his official mate on paper, but I'm the one in his bed. And honestly, I have to thank you. Because your body is totally barren and you can't have pups, Richard finally looked at me instead. Now I'm giving him the heir he actually wanted."

*Snap.*

The loud sound of my hand hitting her cheek echoed over the music.

Celeste stumbled back, a bright red handprint showing up instantly on her skin. She let out a loud, dramatic screech. "You actually hit me?!"

A cold fire flared up inside me.

"I didn't hit you hard enough, Celeste. Don't think I don't know what you're pulling. Richard and I are still bound under the Moon Goddess. You're a homewrecker, and that brat in your stomach is a product of sin. I will never let you or your kid step foot in our home!"

Holding her red face, Celeste's eyes flashed with pure nastiness.

She opened her mouth to yell back, but her eyes suddenly darted past my shoulder, spotting someone walking in from the entrance. Her expression changed in a split second.

With a fast drop, Celeste threw herself down onto the sticky floor, holding her stomach and tilting her face up with big, fake tears in her eyes.

"Please... I know you hate me, Luna Arabella, but why would you take your anger out on an innocent baby?"

I frowned, looking down at her. What kind of terrible soap opera act was this?

Right after that, a cold, deep voice cut through the air behind me.

"Arabella. What do you think you're doing?"

My blood went cold. I turned around and saw Richard standing there, his dark eyes staring right at me like he wanted to kill me.

I had spent a whole week trying to get him to see me, begging for just one talk, and he ignored every single message. But the second his girlfriend cried on the floor, he rushed in like a hero.

Did I even matter to him at all?

I took a deep, shaky breath, trying to keep my voice steady. "Why don't you ask her what she just said to me?"

Only the shaking of my fingers showed how badly my chest was breaking.

Richard’s eyes moved away from me and landed on Celeste.

A heavy, scary pressure rolled off him—the natural authority of a pack leader. Celeste shivered when she met his dark stare, looking genuinely scared for a second, which made her play up the crying even more.

"Richard, it hurts so bad! The baby!" she cried, holding her stomach.

People around us started whispering and pointing fingers.

"Did you just see that? The Luna hit that poor girl really hard, did she hurt the baby?"

"Look at her sweating, someone get her to a clinic right now before something bad happens!"

As soon as he heard the word *baby*, Richard's face completely changed.

He rushed past me, dropping to his knees to pick Celeste up in his arms. He checked her over quickly, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Shh, don't worry, I've got you. We're going to the pack clinic right now."

Celeste buried her face in his jacket, nodding with fake tears. "Okay~"

When Richard stood back up, his eyes locked onto me again. All the warmth he used to have for me was completely gone, replaced by pure ice.

"Arabella, you better pray nothing is wrong with her baby. Because if my heir is lost, I will never forgive you."

Every drop of warmth left my body. A heavy, painful ache spread through my chest, and my hand reached out on pure instinct, wanting to grab his sleeve.

"Richard, wait—"

I grabbed nothing. My fingers just brushed the air as the man who used to look at me like I meant everything to him turned his back, carefully carrying another woman out of my sight.

A single tear rolled down my face, hot and completely final.

Not far away, hidden in the shadows of the balcony upstairs, a pair of dark eyes watched the whole thing like a spectator enjoying a good show.

Up on the second-floor VIP area.

Samuel sat with a glass of dark liquor in his hand. He had just come back from the northern territories a week ago, wearing a dark silver stud in his ear. His sharp, handsome face carried the easy look of a top predator who played by his own rules.

He swirled his drink, watching my broken, lonely figure down on the floor with deep interest.

His close friend Philip leaned over, smirking. "Isn't that your nephew's mate, Samuel? Looks like the idiot just threw her away again."

Philip shook his head, taking a sip of his drink. "I mean, look at her. She's gorgeous, smart, and from a great family. Is your nephew out of his mind? Leaving a woman like that to chase some club girl?"

Everyone in our circle knew how much people liked me before I married Richard. Back then, I was the girl every young wolf wanted. After our bonding ceremony, people thought I had the best life possible.

Instead, everyone was whispering about how Richard had lost his mind, trading a real Luna for trash!

Samuel took a slow sip of his drink, his dark eyes never leaving me. A slow, dangerous smile curved his mouth.

"If he doesn't want her," Samuel said softly, his voice low and certain, "I will."