Chapter 4

Mom handed the wolfsbane-venom-corroded piece of paper to the inspection department before rubbing her temples.

"I hope they can restore whatever's written on it. You reminded Eve to lock the doors and windows at home, didn't you?"

Dad nodded, but then he hesitated before speaking.

"Lana still isn't answering her phone. She hasn't replied to Lucian's messages either. Do you think she might actually be in danger? Maybe I should have someone look for her."

Mom cut him off impatiently.

"Enough! She's hiding on purpose. If we go looking for her, we'll only be playing right into her hands. Have you forgotten what she did last time?

"She just doesn't want to attend Eve's competition. I already had Lucian warn her. By tomorrow at the latest, she'll come crawling back to apologize!"

The 'last time' Mom referred to was when Eve trapped me inside a cave in the mountains behind the pack territory.

I clawed through piles of broken boulders with all my strength until my hands were covered in blood.

Limping home, I was greeted by a heavy slap from Dad and Mom's shrill accusations.

"Eve saw you enter that cave with an unfamiliar werewolf! Have you no shame?"

No matter how desperately I tried to explain, they refused to believe me. Behind them, Eve smiled at me triumphantly.

As Lucian bandaged my bleeding hands, he said softly, "Our parents do love you. They're just overly worried because they care. They're afraid you'll really do something wrong."

But I understood. The quiet, awkward girl who knew nothing about proper etiquette could never compare to Eve in their hearts.

They only believed the daughter they favored.

While I was alive, whenever my parents were too busy with work to come home for dinner, I would personally brew nourishing herbal soup and deliver it to wherever they were working.

But this time, I wouldn't lower my head and apologize like they expected.

That was because I was already dead.

The pack elder in charge of forensic restoration quickly identified the damaged paper. It was a shopping receipt.

The rogue who tortured me forced the paper into my mouth and made me swallow it to humiliate me. "How touching. Buying gifts for your parents. It's too bad. Even if you managed to give them these, they'd probably throw them away like trash, wouldn't they?"

Dad asked, "Where is this place?"

The elder replied, "I looked into it. It's a shop that sells blessed protection bracelets."

When my parents and several pack warriors entered the shop, the shopkeeper jumped in surprise.

He accepted the receipt and quickly searched through his sales records.

"That's right. A young shewolf came here a few days ago to buy two protection bracelets. She said they were for her parents, who often went on dangerous missions.

"But she never came back to pick them up. The phone number she left has been unreachable ever since."

The shopkeeper retrieved two bracelets and said softly, "Every bead is engraved with a blessing. They're meant to bring a lifetime free from disaster and a long, peaceful life."

Dad picked one up and examined it. "Can we see the surveillance footage from that day?"

The shopkeeper nodded. "That young shewolf spent a long time choosing them. She was incredibly meticulous. I remember her clearly."

The moment the footage appeared on the screen, everyone froze.

Mom's voice trembled. "Why does that shewolf look so much like Lana?"

The shopkeeper immediately nodded. "That's right! Lana was her name. She even left that name when she placed the order!"

Dad's expression instantly darkened. Pretending to stay calm, he said, "What a coincidence. Same name, same appearance. But that can't be our Lana. She's probably hiding somewhere and waiting to make fools of us.

"If you're helping Lana stage this act, you're obstructing an official investigation. That's a serious crime!"

Right then, Mom's phone rang.

The medical examiner spoke urgently on the other end of the call. "The bloodline test results are out. The victim is Lana, your biological daughter."