Chapter Five

The three of them had not expected Katherine to reappear, let alone utter those damning words. They froze, the air crackling with exposed secrets. After a few seconds, a transformation came over Katherine. The usual gentle, accommodating mask she wore for her family melted away, replaced by a visage of cold, unshakable resolve.

"Katherine, what are you still doing here?" Amelia’s eyes, which had been red from fake tears, now widened in alarm.

A slow, sarcastic chuckle escaped Katherine’s lips. "It seems I’m just in time to volunteer for the role you just scripted for me."

Amelia’s face fell, the color draining from her cheeks as she realized Katherine had heard everything. "How dare you eavesdrop on us!"

"Yeah," Katherine said, her voice dangerously low. "If I hadn't, I would never have known my sweet, kind sister was such a shameless, two-faced whore."

"How dare you call her that, you ungrateful brat!" Freya shrieked, stepping forward. "You are digging your own grave! You were never good enough for the Hastings bloodline. From the very beginning, you were not up to Charles's standard!"

"Mother, it's the truth she needs to hear," Amelia interjected, her voice a venomous purr as she placed a restraining hand on Freya's arm. Her eyes, however, remained locked on Katherine, gleaming with malice. "Face it, Katherine. You are a low-born stray with nothing to offer an Alpha King. Your blood is weak. Your connections are worthless. Dear sister, for your own sake, you will agree to the divorce. The consequences of refusing are something you simply won't be able to bear."

Not up to his standard. Nothing to offer. The words should have stung, but instead, they ignited a cold fire in Katherine's soul. Unknown to them, as they sneered at her worth, the entire elite of the city was clamoring for the designs of "Sienna," the brilliant, anonymous designer who was leading the industry. And they had no idea they were insulting her to her face.

Katherine felt the final thread of their fabricated relationship snap. There was no more need for the careful performance. A strange, icy calm settled over her.

She looked directly at Amelia, her gaze steadier and more terrifying than Amelia’s could ever be. "If you get on your knees and beg me now," Katherine stated, her voice eerily level, "I might consider being merciful."

"What?!" Amelia’s expression twisted from smug superiority to utter disbelief. She stared at Katherine as if she were insane. "You brat, have you lost your mind? A nobody like you, demanding my submission?"

Freya shrieked in outrage, but Katherine simply burst out laughing at their horrified faces.

"Yeah, I'm insane," Katherine declared, her laughter cutting off abruptly. "So insane that I think I'll keep my husband. I will remain by Charles's side as his Luna, and I will hold the title of Mrs. Hastings forever."

"Katherine, don't be so shameless!" Amelia was truly enraged now, her carefully constructed composure shattered. "You have nothing! No status, no power, no talent he values!"

"I've already gotten away with it," Katherine fired back, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "At least now, everyone in San Francisco knows that Mrs. Hastings is Katherine Reds. My name is on the bonding certificate, not yours."

With that final blow, Katherine turned on her heel, leaving Amelia sputtering and shrieking in impotent rage. She didn't look back.

After leaving the hospital, a primal worry gnawed at her. She went directly to the Hospital for Women and Children, terrified the baby had been harmed. The waiting room was crowded, filled with pregnant women flanked by doting husbands and supportive families. Their palpable happiness felt like a cruel joke. She was carrying a child for a man she loved with her entire soul, a man who believed she was a talentless nobody. A memory, sharp and painful, surfaced, a childhood promise under the moon. “I’ll marry you when we grow up, Kathy.” He had married her, but the boy who made that promise was gone, replaced by a man who was forced to honor it.

"The pup is strong," the doctor said after the examination. "No distress."

Katherine let out a shuddering sigh of relief.

Later, as she stepped into the cold, silent mansion she called a home, the heavy front door suddenly swung open with violent force. She turned and saw Charles standing there, silhouetted against the grand foyer. He was devastatingly handsome, but his eyes held a blizzard of cold fury.

"Did you go to torment Amelia again?" Charles's voice was like shards of ice, confirming that Amelia had already fed him her twisted version of events. "She told me what you said. Do you have any idea how beneath my standard you are? You bring nothing to this bond but shame."

"I was there," Katherine admitted, her voice weary, the fight draining out of her.

"By the Moon, Katherine, you are poison!" he snarled.

His angry words shredded the last of her composure. She watched him stalk forward, his deep eyes utterly frozen. "You threatened her. You said you would cling to the Hastings name even if you died, that you'd never give her a chance. Is that right?"

Katherine’s face paled. "I never said those things!" she tried to explain, but Charles was beyond listening.

He moved with his wolf's speed, his hand clamping around her wrist like a manacle. He threw her onto the nearby plush sofa with a force that stole her breath.

"No! Charles, please!" Katherine’s face was white with pure terror. She had never seen this level of cold, controlled violence in him before. Her arms instinctively crossed over her stomach, a shield for their child. She was terrified that his rage would physically destroy the tiny life he never wanted.

However, Charles gave her no chance to run. He loomed over her, imprisoning her with his powerful body and the suffocating weight of his hatred.

In that moment, as she stared up into the face of the man who saw her as worthless, she finally accepted the devastating truth. He despised the woman he thought she was.