Chapter 1

The family elders informed me that the man who had been bound to me by a Blood Bond for five years had dissolved that bond a full year ago—

and that, according to the Vampire Blood Registry, he was now someone else’s consort.

I stood there, frozen, for a long time.

I refused to believe it.

My phone chimed softly.

It was a message from Dominic Costa.

“Darling, I just returned from another Coven. I bought you the latest silk night robe. There’s a minor matter in the Bat Coven—I’ll handle it and come home to you right after.”

Reading those words felt like a blade piercing straight through my heart.

If this had been before, I would have smiled the moment I saw the message.

Because every time Dominic Costa traveled between Covens, he always brought me gifts.

But at that moment, I was standing alone in the grand hall of the Midnight Transit Station,

having come there to surprise him.

I never expected the surprise to turn into a nightmare.

From a distance, I saw a familiar figure walk out of the arrival gate.

The man was tall, dressed in a black suit that perfectly outlined his imposing frame.

Yet he moved with deliberate care, supporting the woman beside him, his eyes filled with unmistakable tenderness.

That woman cradled her swollen belly, her face glowing with happiness.

It was Ava Morgan.

My heart twisted violently, my entire body trembling.

Dominic and I had met at the Vampire Academy.

For ten years, our bond had been deep and unshakable.

I had believed our love was beyond comparison.

But now I saw it clearly—

this so-called devotion was nothing more than poison wrapped in sugar.

Back at the academy, my grandfather had firmly opposed my relationship with Dominic.

As the sole heir of the Sterling family, I was expected to bind myself to a vampire of noble blood—to strengthen our lineage and secure the Sterling family’s unassailable dominance in the vampire world.

My grandfather used to say that every male vampire who approached me coveted my bloodline, coveted the Vampire King’s throne.

And so I gave up my position as the Sterling heir to be with Dominic.

I wanted to prove to that stubborn old man that love transcended everything.

Instead, reality slapped me across the face without mercy.

Thinking of it now, my heart felt as though it were being pierced by countless needles.

I clenched the night-blooming lilies I had prepared for him so tightly that my nails nearly cut into my palm.

I took one last, long look at him, then turned away and threw the bouquet into a trash receptacle.

When I returned home, my entire body collapsed with exhaustion, as if my soul had been drained from me.

I sank onto the sofa, one hand resting on my abdomen, silent tears streaming down my face.

Lowering my gaze, I looked at the twin blood sigils glowing within the detection crystal and could only think how cruel fate could be.

We had been bound for so long.

I had wanted to give him a child.

But vampires cannot conceive naturally.

To force conception through witchcraft meant enduring excruciating pain and an unbearably long process.

Dominic Costa had always said it didn’t matter whether we had children—that even without them, he would give me all his love.

So many bloodline conception attempts had failed before.

Each time, hope turned into despair.

Yet the regret never left my heart.

I wanted a living proof of our love.

Six months ago, while he was away between Covens, I secretly used the blood essence he had once left behind and underwent the ninety-ninth conception ritual.

Yesterday, the witch-healer told me the pregnancy had stabilized.

The children were healthy.

More than three months along.

Twins—a boy and a girl.

I had planned to tell him on our wedding anniversary.

I never imagined he had already become a father to someone else’s child.

No wonder he never cared whether I bore children.

He had already given that role to another woman.

Sudden footsteps sounded outside the door, and Dominic Costa appeared in the doorway.

I quickly wiped away my tears, hiding the detection crystal behind my back and slipping it into my pocket.

“Darling, why didn’t you reply? I thought something had happened to you—I was terrified.”

He strode toward me, his face filled with concern.

I lowered my head, avoiding the intensity of his gaze.

When we had first been together, there was a time I deliberately didn’t reply after an argument.

He had mobilized an elite search unit from the Coven to find me.

Those feelings of being cherished could now exist only in memory.

Perhaps all that care and urgency belonged to someone else now.

“I… fell asleep. I didn’t hear my phone,” I forced a faint smile.

He pulled me gently into his arms, resting his chin atop my head, his voice low and tender.

“Don’t ever do that again. You know I can’t live without you.”

I stood stiffly against him, emotions colliding painfully inside me.

Just then, his phone rang.

Dominic Costa glanced at the caller ID, his expression instantly turning serious.

“Darling, I need to take this.”

He released me and walked toward the balcony.

I watched his retreating figure, my chest aching with every step he took away from me.

A few minutes later, he hurried back inside and grabbed his coat.

“There’s an urgent matter in the Coven. I need to deal with it—I’ll be back soon.”

I said nothing, only nodded quietly.

As the door slammed shut, Dominic Costa vanished completely from my sight.

I took the detection crystal from my pocket and threw it into the trash, tears falling once more.

“My children… I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Mother can’t give you a complete family.”

“But I will love you. I will give you everything I have.”

Three days later, after settling all my assets within the Bat Coven,

I would leave with these two children and return to the northern territory of the Sterling family—

leaving him, Ava Morgan, and their child to their happiness, undisturbed.