Chapter 3

When I returned to the pack, a pool party was being held at the chamber.

Seeing William protecting me as he brought me back, Rita's eyes flashed with a hint of jealousy.

But she quickly smiled and greeted me:

"Sister-in-law, I misunderstood you about the puppy. I'm sorry. I specially organized this pool party to apologize to you."

"Thank you, you guys have fun."

I turned to leave, and immediately, many unsatisfied booing arose around me.

William grabbed me.

"Dear, everyone is waiting for you."

I looked at him in disbelief.

It's not that I don't want to, but he has always disdained bringing me to play together.

Once, I insisted on joining their game of spin the bottle.

Rita's friends tacitly made sure the bottle always landed on me.

I refused to drink alcohol because of the pregnancy, so someone dared me to get down on the ground and bark like a dog instead.

I looked at William for help.

But he just frowned and said, "You lost the bet. If you've gotten dumber after getting pregnant, then maybe you shouldn't play games like this. I can ask them to change your punishment, but only if you stop making excuses and take it properly."

And so I was humiliated, pinned to the ground and doused in beer, becoming a laughingstock.

After that, I never joined in that kind of fun again.

But this time, William insisted that I participate.

I was forced to put on a maternity swimsuit that Rita had prepared for me.

But the moment the towel was pulled away, the entire place erupted in laughter.

I looked down and saw it was a frog swimsuit with a big belly!

Someone shouted, "Look, she's getting angry! Her belly bulging in and out makes her look even more like a toad!"

Amidst the laughter, William's face darkened, his expression turning grim. He sharply interrupted:

"Enough. That's enough."

The atmosphere fell silent at once.

I turned to leave, and Rita's eyes instantly turned red:

"Sister-in-law, is there anything I do that you don't like? You despise me for being an adopted daughter and have always wanted to drive me away..."

William quietly walked over to me and said, "You're both omega born in remote forests, please understand Rita..."

I looked at William, who just wanted to smooth things over.

It's hilarious.

Rita bullies omegas like us at will, relying on the power of William's family.

She has been granted power by the Moonstone crafted by William's family.

How can she be compared to an ordinary omega?

If William really understood how difficult lowly omega is—

He would know that my dad forced me to abort the bastard child in my womb who had no father.

My mother lowered her head before William's mother and begged for days, just to win their approval for our mating ceremony.

William wouldn't understand, and I don't want to explain anymore.

Climbing out of the pool, my head suddenly buzzed.

The mat under their feet was actually the quilt that Grandma had painstakingly taught me to sew by hand before she passed away.

It was a gift I had planned to give William on our wedding night!

Now it's covered in mud and grime.

Someone is using it to wipe their feet, complaining:

"This rag bleeds color and stained my feet red!"

I trembled as I stroked the crooked stitches, tears welling up in my eyes.

Over the past six months, starting as a complete novice, I painstakingly stitched the quilt one stitch at a time.

I lost count of how many times the needle pricked my hands, but I never complained.

The thought of this quilt covering the bed William and I would share made every pain worth it.

The day the quilt was finished, Grandma shed tears of relief and pride.

Her last words to me were, "I am looking forward to your mating ceremony, but Grandma knows my Julia must suffer."

"If I can't hold on until that day, let this quilt bless you in Grandma's place..."

Thinking of this, I felt an unbearable pain in my heart, and I roared:

"This quilt was hand-stitched by me under my grandma's careful guidance and given as a mating gift. You guys are going too far!"

After everyone around knew the reason, their expressions were not good.

Someone whispered, "eww…I stepped on a quilt made by a dead person."

William instinctively looked at me.

But after seeing the tears in my eyes, he was completely stunned.

He wanted to pull me ashore. But I pushed him away forcefully.

Rita immediately became unhappy, standing in front of William, as if speaking the mind of everyone:

"Sister-in-law, are you seriously forcing everyone to apologize to your filthy, already-dead, pauper grandmother? You're such a killjoy."

The people around me all cursed me as a jinx, a suck omega, and someone who couldn't be welcome anywhere.

But I didn't care about any of that. I only cared about the quilt.

Seeing me fall to my knees with a thud, I reached for the quilt that had soaked up all the water.

William was anxious and grabbed my arm. "Julia, you're pregnant!"

Rita's eyes darted around, and she pretended to help me take it.

But she suddenly tugged at the corner of the blanket, pretended to fall backward, and let out a scream.

"Sister-in-law, why did you push me?"

After she said that, Rita and I both fell into the pool.

My abdomen hit the edge of the pool hard, and the sharp pain made me choke on several mouthfuls of water.

But no one would save me.

When I finally struggled out of the water, everyone was surrounding the sobbing Rita.

They all easily believed Rita's clumsy acting and looked at me as if I were an enemy.

"Brother, maybe I should leave the Shadow Pack. I'm so afraid my sister-in-law will take my life..."

William's face darkened, and he coldly rebuked me, who was still alone in the water:

"Apologize to my sister!"

That tone was just like the countless arguments Rita and I had had in the past six months.

William had never stood on my side, not even for a second.

And in that moment, a crushing wave of exhaustion and despair washed over me.

I felt every last thread of my patience snap. The weight of it all pressed down like a thousand stones, suffocating and relentless.

My voice barely a whisper, trembling with raw emotion, I finally said,

"William, let's break up."

Those light words instantly froze William.