Chapter 4

Sofia waved excitedly at Ryan. "Daddy! Daddy, I'm over here!"

Ryan stood there, his pupils contracting slightly as his gaze fell upon her. "What are you doing here?"

I froze in my tracks at once.

He was the one who had personally agreed to attend the parent-teacher meeting tonight, yet his tone suggested we shouldn't have been here in the first place.

However, Sofia didn't pick up on the coldness in his voice and ran over to him excitedly.

"Daddy! You're really here! I'm so happy!"

Ryan frowned at once. "What did you just call me?"

Sofia's smile froze. Then, she immediately corrected herself with practiced ease and exclaimed, "Alpha Ryan! Ms. Redclaw said that she'd be announcing the pup squad leader today! And it's going to be me!"

She looked up at him with wide, expectant eyes. I knew that she was waiting to hear a word of praise from him. After all, this was the first time Ryan had ever attended one of her preschool activities.

However, Ryan only glanced at her nonchalantly and frowned, saying nothing.

Sofia's smile gradually faded.

Just then, another tiny figure rushed up and knocked Sofia to the ground. I immediately caught Sofia and pulled her close.

Lily threw herself at Ryan's legs and hugged him tightly, proudly calling out to him, "Uncle Ryan! You're here for Mommy and me!"

Ryan didn't even hesitate as he bent down and picked Lily up. Claire also walked over and gave Lily's cheek a playful tug.

"Lily! You have to apologize if you bump into someone!"

Only then did Ryan notice Sofia and me on the ground. He said awkwardly, "You're fine, right? Lily didn't mean it. Don't blame her. I'll apologize on her behalf."

Sofia and I were stunned. Sofia had never once received that kind of care or protection, and yet, he was giving it to someone else that easily.

I frowned when I saw the hurt look on Sofia's face.

"It's Sofia's parents-teacher meeting today. Why are you all here?" I asked.

Ryan avoided my gaze. "Oh. Claire just returned to the pack, and I arranged for her pup to attend this preschool."

Lily pouted and rolled her eyes, burying her face into Ryan's chest, acting like a spoiled brat.

"Why should I apologize? Who is that? How dare she try to take Uncle Ryan away from me? I hate her!"

Claire folded her arms before her chest and looked down on us condescendingly. "As you can see, Ryan belongs to us tonight."

Ryan avoided Sofia's expectant gaze and didn't deny a thing. His expression remained cool and nonchalant, as though he didn't care about me or Sofia at all.

In a daze, I recalled the day Claire returned. That was the first time I'd seen Ryan come home drunk, and it was also the first time he'd ever picked Sofia up in his arms.

When Sofia excitedly called him "Daddy", he didn't chide her for the first time ever and laughed instead.

At that point, I thought that he'd finally accepted Sofia as his pup, but it wasn't until now that I realized he'd simply mistaken her for someone else.

Sofia and I had just been fooling ourselves from the very start.

Sofia calmed down, the light in her eyes completely gone. "I'm sorry for disturbing you, Alpha Ryan."

She then looked up at him and forced an understanding smile on her face. "Mommy and I will go back to our seats now. Goodbye, Alpha Ryan."

She made sure to emphasize on the words "Alpha Ryan" at the end. Then she went back to her seat.

I was feeling extremely heartbroken for Sofia at this point, and my resentment toward Ryan also reached its peak.

Suddenly, Ryan grabbed me and asked, "Is Sofia okay?"

I saw him looking at Sofia in shock, as though he were trying to verify something. Was it because the pup who once refused to leave his side had now learned to keep her distance from him?

A wry, bitter smile appeared on my lips. It was getting ridiculous.

"She's just finally thought things through, Alpha Ryan."

He'd missed the very last chance that Sofia had given him.

I shrugged off his hand and went back to my seat next to Sofia. I could feel Ryan's eyes on my back until I sat back down, but none of it stirred my heart anymore.

The parent-teacher meeting began as scheduled.

Ms. Redclaw first warmly welcomed Lily. Then, she glanced apologetically at Sofia before announcing that Lily would be serving as the pup squad leader for the semester.

"We've appointed Lily as the squad leader to help her get to know everyone more quickly. Good luck, Lily!"

This was the role Sofia once wanted most, and a position she had worked incredibly hard to earn. But now, the moment Claire returned with her pup, Lily had managed to take everything so effortlessly.

I looked at Sofia with heartache in my eyes. However, she just looked up at me with a sweet, well-behaved smile and said, "It's okay, Mommy. We're leaving anyway. It doesn't make sense for me to be the squad leader anymore."

At the end of the meeting, I finished the paperwork to withdraw Sofia from the preschool and prepared to leave.

But just as we stepped outside, we ran into Ryan.

He stood by the roadside, looking as though he'd been waiting a long time. There was a stick of cotton candy in his hand.

"Why did you take so long? Let's go home together," Ryan said, holding out the cotton candy for Sofia.

In the past, this was something Sofia had looked forward to most—going home together. But now, it just sounded ironic to us.

Sofia politely rejected him and said, "Thank you, Alpha Ryan, but I've been having a toothache lately. I can't have sweets right now."

Ryan suddenly looked flustered. He'd never paid attention to Sofia, so he didn't know that she was currently at the age where she was losing her baby teeth.

He reached out to comfort her, but right at that moment, his phone rang. It was Claire.

"Ryan! Lily just had a nasty fall and is crying for you. Can you please come over to us right now?"

His expression changed. He then looked at Sofia.

Sofia just smiled faintly at him and said, "Go, Alpha Ryan. They need you more."

Ryan chose Claire and her pup once again. But Sofia and I weren't going to be upset about his decision anymore.

That night, Sofia and I took out the suitcases that we'd packed beforehand, threw away the rabbit toy, and headed straight for the airport.

Just before boarding, I drank the bond-severing potion. From now on, I wasn't going to have anything to do with Ryan anymore.

…

Meanwhile, the moment Ryan realized that the bond was being severed, his voice suddenly drifted into my mind.

"Erina Talbot! What the heck are you doing?"