CHAPTER 5: The Angel's Mask Broken Apart

News of the Bloodmoon Pack's instant bankruptcy spread throughout the VIP ballroom like fire consuming dry fields. Julian and Seraphina were like prisoners who shuffled into the special room for the highest authorities only to be met with a wall of ridicule.

Chloe sat in a single black velvet chair at the end of the round table. Her legs were crossed gracefully, holding a glass of strong red wine that matched the color of her lips. His eyes narrowed arrogantly, looking at Julian who was still standing stiffly, his jaw tightened like he was holding back a volcano that was ready to explode.

"Chloe, you think with Vanguard's wealth you can act like a god?!" Julian hissed, holding back his wolf anger for the sake of the remaining dignity he had. "Bloodmoon may be falling, but our long history cannot be bought with your money!"

Chloe sipped her wine disinterestedly. "History? Do you mean the history where your ancestors robbed the lands of other packs, or the history where you, the 'great' Alpha, were willing to become the pet dog of a female wolf who didn't even have a conscience?"

Chloe's gaze turned sharply to Seraphina. 

Seraphina was still sobbing, holding her cheek which was red from Arthur's slap. But behind her spilling tears, the woman in the red dress was hiding a sly smile. He took a step forward, looking at the elites in the room for sympathy.

"Look at this vicious woman!" Seraphina exclaimed, her voice shaking violently. "I used to consider her like my own real sister. I took care of her when she had no one. But today, she used wealth to destroy my life, just because she was jealous that I was destined to be with Julian!"

Some of the pack higher-ups and old CEOs were whispering, their faces showing doubts. They knew Vanguard was powerful, but using absolute power just to avenge a broken heart sounded too cruel.

"Aren't you embarrassed, Chloe?" Seraphina continued, getting bolder. "You may have all the money in the world, but you don't have a heart! Alpha Julian knows how evil you are, that's why he rejected you! I, although not as rich as you, am Luna who is recognized for my affection and pure heart for Bloodmoon!"

Time seemed to stop. Julian looked at Seraphina with pride and amazement. That's the mate. Mate defender of truth who is willing to stand on the front line against the giant tyrant.

Chloe wasn't angry. He placed his glass on the marble table. The sound of clinking glasses suddenly silenced the room. 

“Purity of heart, you say?” Chloe smiled crookedly. A smile that made everyone in the room's blood run cold. "Arthur."

Only one word from the Queen's lips. The old butler stepped forward and pressed a button on the device in his hand.

Titt.

The giant screen on the wall of the VIP room lit up instantly. A high-resolution video recording is displayed clearly.

On the screen, Seraphina is seen sitting in a luxury hotel, holding a strange man who is not Julian. The man is a Beta from the rival pack, Silverfang. And what's more terrifying, the footage was taken exactly two weeks before Pack Bloodmoon experienced a massive fund leak that led to their bankruptcy.

"You are absolutely amazing in bed, Sera," laughed the man in the video. "What about the Bloodmoon mining auction documents?"

"Oh, darling," Seraphina moaned on the screen, her voice so clear it echoed throughout the elite room. "That fool Julian trusts me too much. I have copied all the secrets of his tender offer. As long as you transfer five million dollars to my personal account in Switzerland, he will die without knowing who stabbed him in the back."

DEG.

The ballroom suddenly fell as cold as a grave. A second later, gasps could be heard from dozens of higher-ups there.

Julian seemed to have been struck by millions of volts of lightning. His face was drained of blood. His eyes were wide in horror, staring alternately at the screen and Seraphina.

Seraphina screamed hysterically, "T-That's fake! That's a fake recording! Deepfake AI! Chloe deliberately slandered me!"

"Deepfakes?" Chloe tilted her head, her aura pressing against Seraphina until the woman's knees trembled. "The timeline, bank transactions in Switzerland with serial number 994-00-B, down to the DNA on the hotel bed sheets that my team has collected... Do you want me to dissect them all one by one in front of the assembly of werewolf elders?"

Seraphina stumbled backwards, her dress caught on a chair, falling embarrassingly. Her holy falsehood, her "White Lotus" mask that had drugged Julian for three years... was crushed to pieces by Chloe's merciless high heels.

Julian stepped closer to Seraphina with unsteady steps like a living corpse. His gaze was blank, filled with horror, disgust, and raw despair. Bloodmoon's thirteen billion dollars in losses... the bankruptcy that choked his pack's breath... everything wasn't because of a natural disaster, but because of this lowly woman he adored. The woman he chose when he threw away his true soul mate.

"Ju-Julian... please... it's not true..." Seraphina crawled to hug Julian's legs.

With one vicious kick, Julian kicked Seraphina in the chest until the woman coughed blood onto the marble floor. "Traitor bitch!" roared Julian, his wolf raging uncontrollably. "You destroyed me! You destroyed Bloodmoon!"

Chloe laughed softly. A crisp laugh that sounded like the melody of the angel of death's harp. "Amazing. A very entertaining show." He stood up from his chair. "You traded a pure diamond from the king's mine, for a piece of dirty glass you picked up from the sewer. Now, enjoy your own sculpture, Alpha Julian."

The squeak of extremely painful regret in Julian's mind made him almost go crazy. He looked at Chloe who now looked like an untouchable goddess. She wanted to run, hug Chloe's legs, cry blood, begging for just one second of the loving gaze she had once rejected.

However, before the chaos could continue, the roar of a giant helicopter shaking the outer walls of the building stopped everyone's breath. A strong wind roared in from the upper balcony. The tense atmosphere was suddenly suppressed by a form of absolute oppressive energy that was thousands of times more terrifying than Vanguard's.

The entire wall of the building seemed to be cracking with an aura of ultimate destruction.

"Who dares to make noise when my girl is having fun?"