Pengantin Pengganti Menikah dengan Mantan

I clutch the test results tightly, willing myself not to allow my tears to fall.

Desperation clings on me like my second skin. The doctor's words still ring in my ears, repeatedly like a broken record, haunting me.

“I'm sorry Luna but you are not pregnant.”

It's been three years and the number of times I have heard those words can't be counted with my fingers.

“ You should probably try to rest and stop thinking about getting pregnant.” The doctor advised.

How can I rest though? Getting pregnant with Valen's baby is the only way I can keep my marriage working.

While a baby shouldn't determine how long a marriage lasts, my situation with Valen is different.

Three years ago, he was forced to marry me. Valen was in love with Bailey when his father ordered him to take me as his Luna or lose the position of Alpha.

No words can express how happy I was then. After all, it's not everyday you get to marry the man you've loved all your life.

The only problem was, Valen loathed my very existence. According to him, I stole him from my sister and robbed him of his happiness.

I gave myself hope that one day, he will come to learn how to love me. How wrong I was. Over the years, he hasn't hesitated to treat me like the trash he thinks I am.

And I, I haven't stopped fighting to win his love. Now, I just want to keep my marriage and husband. Giving him an heir is the only thing I know that can do that. Yet the moon Goddess seems to be mocking my efforts and punishing me for separating those two.

I wander from the hospital and find myself standing at the entrance of a park. I can see children playing around happily with their parents. This is the same pack we used to come while we were young. Back then, I would sit alone and watch Bailey play with our parents. She has always been their favourite while I am the family outcast.

Turning around, I walk back to the pack.

“ Luna, you are back?” Lucia, my personal maid, asks, rushing to me.

I just nod,not trusting myself to say a word without breaking down.

But Lucia is too attentive to not sense my swirling emotions.

“ What happened to you?” She asks, holding my hand for support.

“ It's nothing. Where is Valen?” I ask, trying to escape answering her question.

I mean, what am I even going to tell her? That I will no longer remain a luna because I am sure Valen will not waste more time before kicking me out?

“ He is upstairs.” She answers yet her eloping eyes tell me there's more, more than she is telling me.

“ What's the matter, Lucia? You can tell me anything. I can take it.”

I mean, what worse could there be than all the shit I have been through in the last three years?

“ Your sister is visiting the Alpha.” Lucia half whispers and I smile deprecatingly.

It just had to be Bailey. Four years of marriage and she has always hovered around Valen and I, reminding me that Valen was supposed to be her mate.

She never confronted me but she never respected me as her Luna. In the past one year after the former Alpha, Valen's father, passed away, they have been sleeping together. They never flaunted it, maybe to keep the perfect image of his little mate.

The nights Valen spent out and the piercing pain however confirmed it.

I never confronted him. I thought that if I played the perfect Luna, he would soon see I am as good as Bailey. Pathetic right? But a few days ago when Valen brought up our divorce, it was like a wake-up call.

No shit was going to change, only get ugly.

Snatching my hand from Lucia's, I start to walk upstairs.

“ Are you sure about this? Is it worth it?” Lucia words halts me.

Yes. Is it worth causing myself pain by walking to my sister and my husband?

“ I don't know but I am sure of one thing, I want to remember it for the rest of my life.” With that, I walk straight to mine and Valen's room.

I peer inside through the crack left by the incompletely closed door.

I slap my palm on my mouth as I watch Valen and Bailey locked in a rather loud kiss.

Turning around, I walk away and head to my office.

As the luna of the pack, I have a set of duties I perform . That means I get to have an office, separate from Valen’s.

Once inside my comfort zone, I chose to bury myself in work rather than wallow in self pity.

Even with my marriage crumbling, I can't neglect my duties to the pack. That's what the former Alpha told me.

“An Alpha will always value and keep a woman of substance. Love is only secondary for people like us.” Those were his exact words.

I don't know how long I remain absorbed in my work until the door to my office slides open.

His scent hits me before my eyes meet his.

Valen, my husband.

Mustering a smile, I lift my face and take in his handsome face.

Valen is indeed one hot guy. That's probably one of the reasons I fell for him.

“ What brings you here? Something you need?” Snapping out of my little reverie, I ask.

“ Come on Flora, drop the act. I know you saw us.” He says, seemingly annoyed.

“ I did.” I admit. What's the use of lying when the door was clearly left open purposely?

“ I heard you went to the hospital. With the look on your face, I can tell the results.” Valen says, a mocking hint lacing his voice.

“I-i…” I open my mouth only to lack words to say.

“ Save it. I don't want to hear it.” He says, slapping a document on the table.

“ Those are our divorce papers. Sign them and then we can proceed to reject each other. Save yourself the pain because I am taking Bailey as my mate anytime.”

“ You know I can't accept your rejection. Please Valen, all my life, I have only known how to love you.” I argue. My mind is in shambles and my heart feels like it's being squeezed.

“ Love me? Do you mean all the years you stole from me and Bailey? You knew full well I loved Bailey. She is my fated mate.

But what did you do? You charmed your way into my father's heart and crawled on my bed. Did you think that you'll have me after marrying me?”

“ We are happy together, Valen. I am the perfect luna you always wanted. I put your welfare and needs right before mine. That never touched you?” I ask, desperately. All the years of sharing a bed have to mean something, right?

“ Touched me? The only thing you did was disgust me. Imitating Bailey? Is that what you call doing everything?”

***

I cast one last glance at the place I called home for years, a tear slipping past my eyes.

After Valen served me the divorce papers, I knew that was it for me. I had to leave. I spent the last week waiting, hoping that he would change his mind. It never happened. On the contrary, it's like his hatred for me increased tenfolds.

I gave him all I had but he treated me like trash, that's something I have engraved in my soul, never to forget.

Then there's the people I called family. My mother could not wait to get rid of me.

In her eyes, I am the person who robbed her precious daughter of her happiness.

Smiling bitterly, I turn around to walk away.

“ Are you leaving so soon?”