Chapter 4

I had never felt such overwhelming rage in my life. I wanted nothing more than to tear Beatrice to pieces with my own hands.

Unable to take it anymore, I stopped hiding Willow's identity.

"You've crossed the line!" I shouted. "She's the Luna of the north and also Julian's biological mother, Willow Joynes! Julian definitely won't let you off the hook when he gets here if anything happens to her!"

Beatrice was briefly stunned before she burst out laughing. She held her stomach and doubled over in laughter as if she had heard a hilarious joke.

"Her? The Luna, Willow Joynes? Lowly wolves like you are truly willing to spout the most preposterous lies to crawl your way up the food chain," she spat, pointing at Willow with a look of disdain.

"Besides, didn't you call her 'Mom' earlier? Why is she suddenly the Luna of the north, Willow Joynes, now? Do you really think that I'll fall for your lies? I must teach you a lesson for ruining my fun today.

"This way, you'll know to stay away instead of incurring the ire of those who are above you in the future!"

Willow weakly leaned against me, her breathing gradually weakening. Her wolf could be completely destroyed if she wasn't treated in time.

However, we had even lost the chance to climb back up on the deck at that moment.

I looked at the deck with bloodshot eyes and screamed at the top of my lungs. "Help! Somebody, please help us! She needs emergency treatment right now! I'm begging you!"

However, the upper deck of Moonshine was deserted. The guests in the other areas were too far away to hear the commotion.

Gary began to panic and said carefully, "Ms. Quillo, perhaps we should—"

Beatrice didn't even bother looking at him when she interrupted him and said, "Don't worry. Lowly wolves like them are tough. She's just pretending to be pitiful to garner sympathy."

She glanced at the entrance of the deck before continuing, "Julian will be here soon. They'll just have to tread water for a few more minutes. If she really can't hold on, she only has herself to blame for being so weak."

A chill ran down my spine upon hearing her words.

A few minutes? The few minutes that Beatrice so casually spoke of would determine a wolf's life or death!

Just as I was teetering on the edge of despair, I heard the sounds of frantic footsteps coming from the deck.

The supervisor of the cruise ship hurried over to us. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Willow and me in the sea, exclaiming, "What's going on here?"

I began shouting at the supervisor as if my life depended on it.

"Please save her! She's the Luna of the north, Willow Joynes! Her wolf is very weak! She won't be able to hold on for much longer! Pull her up from the sea right now and call a team of healers!"

The supervisor glanced at Willow. Although he had seen her many years ago, he wasn't able to recognize her due to the passing of time, her deathly pale complexion, her drenched state, and her fading consciousness.

In fact, he had only rushed onto the deck because he heard that Beatrice was there, wanting to curry favor with the future Luna.

However, at that moment, fear gripped his heart as he looked at Willow, who was on the brink of losing consciousness as she continued treading water.

Getting in Beatrice's good graces would be the least of his problems if a wolf lost her life on the cruise. His own survival would be at stake if that happened!

The supervisor swiftly weighed his options before turning to Beatrice with an amicable smile. "Why don't we let them back onto the ship for now, Ms. Quillo? I fear that Moonshine will never be able to operate again in the future if a fatal case happens during the cruise."

Beatrice frowned before impatiently waving her hand, saying, "Fine. I'll let them back onto the ship only because you're the one who asked."

Gary immediately let down a rescue rope.

Mustering every bit of strength that I had left, I dragged Willow back onto the deck. I didn't even stop to catch my breath before I stumbled toward the cabin and grabbed the first-aid kit.

I was just about to feed the medicine to Willow when the bottle of pills in my hand was sent flying with a powerful kick.

The pills scattered all over the floor while the bottle rolled into the sea.

I was utterly stunned as I stared at the scene before me. I slowly looked up and saw Beatrice looking down at me from the tip of her nose. The corners of her lips were curled up into a wicked smile.

It was blatantly obvious that she was the one who kicked the bottle.

"What's with the pitiful look? I've already allowed you to come back onto the ship. You should be grateful. Get out of my sight now. I'm in a good mood today, so I'm willing to let you off the hook."

The last thread of rationality in my mind snapped at that moment. I lunged at Beatrice and delivered a hard slap across her face.

"I'll make you pay if anything happens to Mom!" I roared.

Beatrice shrieked in disbelief as she pressed a hand to her cheek. "How dare you lay your hand on me, you bitch? I was too softhearted. I should have let both of you drown in the sea!"

I tried to lunge at Beatrice again, but Gary and the supervisor held me back, giving Beatrice the chance to slap me over and over again as if she had lost her mind.

My cheeks turned numb. Blood leaked from the corners of my lips, but my mind was crystal clear. Revenge wasn't my priority at that moment. Saving Willow took precedence over everything else!

I thrashed around wildly until I freed myself from their grasp. My hands were shaking when I pulled out my phone and dialed Julian's number.

"Mom's in trouble, Julian," I said. "Her old heart condition is acting up again. Her wolf is very weak and on the brink of fading away. We're on Moonshine. Please send a team of healers here as soon as possible!

"If they're too late…" I muttered, swallowing the fear down. "She's going to die!"

Julian's cold and indifferent voice echoed from the receiver. "Why didn't you take better care of your mother if you knew that she was sick?"

My hand froze. "What did you say?"

"I have some urgent business to deal with," he said impatiently. "You can handle something as insignificant as this by yourself. Call an ambulance if you can't. It's pointless for you to tell me all of this."

He hung up right after he was done speaking.

I couldn't stop my hands from trembling violently as I gripped my phone.

Willow was the one who had an old heart condition, not my biological mother. How could Julian forget that?

Just then, Beatrice looked at the entrance of the deck.

"Julian!"

A radiant smile immediately stretched across her face. She lifted her skirt and sprinted toward him with a joyous expression, exclaiming, "You're finally here!"