Chapter 2 - Broken Heart

I had expected her to retaliate but she didn’t, it was one of Aiden’s colleagues who slammed his glass against my forehead and knocked me down. 

No one helped me.

No one knew I was his wife.

Then I heard him.

“Talia—Talia, are you okay?”

Aiden burst out from the restroom. He didn’t look at me. Didn’t ask what happened. Didn’t even glance at the blood on my face.

He went straight to her, not me. I was bleeding, but she was the one trembling in his arms.

His fingers brushed her hair. He touched her like I didn’t exist. Then he looked at me. Not with rage. But disappointment. 

“Mara. What the hell are you doing?”

“What the hell are YOU doing?” I hissed, forcing myself up, head spinning. “Do you even remember who I am? Aiden, why don’t you explain to me who she is—”

“Talia is my fated mate.” 

Everything stopped. I stood there, shaking, dizzy. 

“We had known that since the day I saved her,” he went on, like he hadn’t just detonated a bomb. “I found her. The one the Moon Goddess made for me. But I stayed with you. I honored our bond. I never touched her. Not once. We have nothing but a platonic relationship, the mate bond can testify so stop making a fuss.”

His voice didn’t rise. He didn’t even look angry. That was the worst part—he looked hurt.

“Do you have any idea how much that cost me?” His voice shook now. “The bond doesn’t just go away. It makes you ache for someone you didn’t choose—and I still chose you. But today… in front of everyone… you assaulted an innocent woman. You embarrassed me, her. And yourself! For what? You didn’t even ask me anything. You just assumed the worst.”

The crowd around me gasped. Their eyes turned on me with judgement like I was a bitch who destroyed someone else’s love story. 

Aiden waved them away before checking Talia who kept silent and still trembling, hiding her face like she’s terrified about me, a crazy woman.

I shook, rage boiling. My wolf clawed at the inside of my ribs. “Then why not reject her?” I blurt out, “If you really chose me, why is she still here? Prove it. Just reject her and end this!”

He finally turned to me, eyes dark and burning with quiet fury.

“Could you be more ignorant? Do you even know what you’re saying?” he asked, voice low. “Rejecting your fated mate messes with your core strength. You want me weak just to satisfy your vulnerable inner self? 

“I just want my husband back!” I screamed with tears.

“I’ve never cheated on you!” he snapped. “That should be enough. You stormed into a professional dinner and assaulted a guest. You think that makes you the victim here? Admit it, you just don’t trust me at all.”

“I didn’t mean—” My voice cracked. I opened my mouth again. Nothing came out.

Then, softly—

“I’m sorry,” Talia said. “If I’d known he was married, I wouldn’t have come near him.”

She looked at me then. Not smug. Not cold. Just… pitying.

“But he never acted like he loved someone else.”

The words landed like a slap, sharper than any blow I’d taken.

I staggered a step back, blood still trailing down my face.

Aiden didn’t even flinch. Didn’t even glance at my wound.

“You just want me to go home with you, right? Let’s go,” he said coldly. “You’ve made enough of a scene.”

He just made sure she wasn’t crying, he didn’t ask if I was okay. 

When we left together he kept talking about it. 

“I’ve been loyal. Even when my heart screamed otherwise. A fated mate bond is very strong, and it’s not easy on me or Talia, it’s a werewolf instinct, the Moon Goddess made it that way. I didn’t ask for it, I fought it. And how do you repay me, Mara? By acting like a jealous, paranoid child.”

I didn’t answer. I stared out the window. The cut above my eye still throbbed.

Seven years ago, he had been the one that said we had to be mated even if we weren’t fated. He said it like a vow. And today, he talked about his bond with another woman with the same unwavering conviction.

Yes, I blamed him, I blamed him for finding his fated mate. And he made me feel like I’d just ruined something sacred.

I want to believe that it was his fault how my life turned out… but I loved him regardless. And that makes my heart break. 

Finally, he broke the silence between us with a promise, "I didn’t leave you. I’m here now, okay? I’ll cut her off completely. No contact. Let’s just…go back to how things were. No more drama. Let’s live our life, Mara. Peacefully."

That sentence made me burst into tears and collapsed into his arms.

I foolishly thought that as long as he came back and did what he said, everything would be fine.

Since then, over the past few months, he has been staying at home more often. For a while, it looked like he tried. He didn’t stay late nights or go for sudden events anymore. No surprise trips. No calls in the middle of the night.

But he never came back to me. 

He slept in the guest room. 

And he flinched every time I touched him. 

Now, I still sat here, on the edge of his bed, staring at the back he had now turned to me, begging for the scraps of his love. 

I pressed a hand to my chest, still feeling that ache. “Why did this still hurt?” I whispered to myself. 

Why did I still have hope? Blind hope that he would come back to me? That he would wake up and be the Aiden I knew those years ago.