Chapter 3

Thirty bottles.

It wasn't that this house didn't have the antidote.

They had hoarded thirty bottles of life-saving medicine for Seraphina.

Yet just now, Lucas scolded me for lying and left me downstairs to writhe in agony. He wouldn't even come down to check on me, let alone give me one of the bottles right at his fingertips.

If not for Hans, my hand would have been ruined tonight.

"Ha..."

I suddenly laughed out loud. Tears streamed down again, mixing with the bitterness at the corner of my mouth.

Fine. If that's how it is, I'll leave you all one final gift before I go.

I took out my daily journal and wrote, word by word:

【October 15. My sister came back today. Lucas gave her the wedding dress he spent three years designing. I knew I was a stand-in. I always knew. But I thought three years of companionship would earn me at least a tiny bit of sincerity. Even just a little bit... Turns out, I was just being greedy. 】

……

After staying in the hospital for two days, Seraphina was discharged.

On that same day, a grand pre-wedding party was held at the Pack House.

Seraphina wore a pure white cocktail dress, nestling in Lucas's arms. She smiled coquettishly and told everyone, "Although the ceremony in a few days is fake, I am dying. I want to experience every process a Luna should go through. Even if it's just a dream, I want to make it a complete one."

Lucas and my brothers naturally indulged her every whim.

The entire Pack House was decorated with dazzling lights, and the champagne tower was stacked higher than a person. Countless werewolf nobles came to congratulate Lucas and Seraphina.

I sat quietly in the shadows of a corner, watching Lucas gently tuck a stray lock of hair behind Seraphina’s ear, watching Ron and Reid act like her knights, blocking drinks for her.

If this were the past, seeing this scene would have made my heart bleed. I might have even rushed up to question why they were so biased.

But now, I just found it noisy.

I just had to endure five more days, and the potion would take full effect.

Let them act out this farce to their heart's content.

Perhaps my silence was too unusual, because Lucas's gaze landed on me.

Seeing me huddled alone in the corner, pale-faced, a trace of guilt actually surfaced in his eyes.

He strode toward me. "Why are you sitting here? Won't you go get something to eat?"

I shook my head. "I'm not hungry."

"Ella," his voice was pitched low, carrying a hint of ingratiation. "I know you're angry. I was too rash that day."

He tried to take my hand, but I coldly avoided him.

Lucas didn't look embarrassed. Instead, he looked at me with deep affection. "You have to remember, the ceremony is just to fulfill Seraphina's dying dream. I won't actually mark her. A werewolf only has one mate in a lifetime. Both I and my wolf belong only to you."

"After she's gone... I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

Looking at his soulful expression, I felt nothing inside. I even wanted to laugh.

You see, this is a man.

He wanted to satisfy the regrets of his old love without losing the loyalty of his new one. He thought a few sweet words would make me wait for him with tears of gratitude.

Unfortunately, he didn't know that I wouldn't be in the rest of his life.

"Mmh, I know," I responded indifferently.

Just then, Ron and Reid walked over.

"Ella," Reid held a glass of pink sparkling drink, wearing a rare pleasant expression. "This is your favorite cherry sparkling water. I had them save it especially for you."

Ron also softened his tone, which was rare. "I was impulsive that day. Once we're done with these busy few days, I'll take you to pick up that sports car you like."

If this were five days ago, hearing such apologies would have moved me to tears, thinking my brothers finally cared about me.

But now, I only felt the irony.

Crash!

In the center of the hall, Seraphina, who was cutting the cake, suddenly went stiff. The knife fell from her hand to the floor.

In the next second, her face turned deathly pale, and she violently coughed up a mouthful of black blood, falling straight backward!

"Sera!"

Lucas moved as fast as lightning, rushing out instantly to catch her.

"It hurts... it hurts so much... the silver poison..."

Seraphina convulsed violently, black bloody foam spilling from the corner of her mouth.

"Doctor! Call the doctor!" Lucas roared, his eyes instantly turning red.

Ron and Reid rushed over like madmen too.

"The medicine! Get the medicine!" Ron looked up sharply, roaring at the stunned servants. "Go to the upstairs storage room! Bring down all dozen bottles of 'Moon's Essence' we stockpiled a few days ago! Hurry!"

Mary, the maid who served Seraphina, scrambled up the stairs.

I remained sitting in the corner, watching this scene with cold eyes.

Less than three minutes later, Mary ran back down, pale-faced and empty-handed.

"Alpha..." Mary was trembling all over. "The storage room... is empty."

"What?!" Lucas's roar shook the entire hall. "There were thirty bottles of potion in there! Who moved them?!"

Mary was so scared she dropped to her knees, her trembling finger pointing straight at me in the corner. "It was... it was two days ago... I saw with my own eyes that Miss Ella asked the butler to move all the medicine boxes... to her room."

The room fell into dead silence.

Lucas turned his head in disbelief, staring dead at me. "Ella..." He gritted his teeth, enunciating every word. "You took them?"

I spoke calmly. "I only took one bottle. I really had silver poisoning that night..."

"Only one bottle?" Before I could finish, Ron interrupted me in a rage.

He charged over, grabbed me by the collar, and lifted me off the ground.

"You liar! Mary said the boxes are all empty! To prevent your sister from living, you actually hid all her life-saving medicine?!"

"How can your heart be so vicious?!"

I was being strangled and couldn't breathe, suddenly feeling incredibly pathetic.

Not a single one of them believed me.

Before I could say anything else, Reid gave the order. "Go search Ella's room!"

A few minutes later, a guard ran down holding a large box.

"We found it..." The guard didn't dare look up. "In Miss Ella's bathroom."

Lucas snatched it open—

All empty bottles.

"Where is the medicine?!" Lucas grabbed an empty bottle, glaring at me with red-rimmed eyes.

The guard swallowed and whispered, "We found a large amount of residue in the drain... It seems... it was all poured down the sewer."

Boom—

The whole crowd went into an uproar.

Poured away.

She would rather pour the life-saving medicine down the sewer than give it to Seraphina.

The surrounding guests began to whisper, looking at me with eyes full of contempt and fear.

"Goddess, that is too malicious..."

"To fight over a man, she'd even kill her own sister?"

Seraphina was still twitching in Lucas's arms. Hearing this, she struggled to open her eyes, looking at me with tears. "Ella... do you hate me that much... hate me enough... to want me dead..."

After saying that, her head tilted to the side, and she fainted completely.

"Sera!"

Lucas let out a desperate roar, then suddenly stood up and charged in front of me.

Slap!

A heavy slap landed hard on my face.