第4章

The next day, I was cleaning my suitcase in my room when Theodore walked in, looking uneasy.

"Eleanor, could we lend Willow our savings?"

"Why?"

"She wants to go to grad school and needs the money."

I stared at Theodore in disbelief.

"Did you forget our promise?"

Theodore and I had agreed to officially become mates by the end of the year. The $120,000 we'd saved together was supposed to cover the marking ceremony.

Theodore looked away, unable to meet my eyes.

"We could just complete the marking without holding a ceremony.

"Willow's situation is urgent. We can still be marked without the ceremony."

I took a deep breath.

"Half of that money is mine. I'm not agreeing to this.

"She can apply for scholarships and get a part-time job after school starts."

He immediately argued back.

"Willow's been pampered her whole life. She can't handle a part-time job. It would be too hard for her."

"I've been working part-time since college. Why can't Willow?"

Theodore answered without thinking.

"Willow's different from you."

My chest tightened, and when I spoke, my voice came out hoarse.

"I'm not lending her the money. If you insist, then we're done for good! No she-wolf should have to take a disloyal mate!"

Theodore was quiet for a moment before he spoke.

"I already gave the bank card to Willow.

"And stop threatening me with breakups. It's not a good look."

I'd loved Theodore for so long that he couldn't imagine me actually leaving him. Every time I said we were done, he treated it like an empty threat.

We ended the argument on terrible terms. In the end, that bank card became Willow's living expenses.

I thought taking our savings was bad enough. I was wrong. That was only the beginning.

When Theodore came to my room again, I had just zipped up my suitcase.

He didn't seem to notice how empty my room had become. He just looked at me apologetically.

"Eleanor, you've been working on your design for a while, right? I know it's almost finished.

"Willow wants to apply to a better school. She needs a strong piece for her portfolio.

"Could you let her use your design?"

For a moment, I thought I'd heard him wrong.

I'd spent six months working on that design in every spare moment I had. I'd built it from scratch, little by little.

Once it was finished, I planned to submit it at work to prove I was ready for a promotion.

Now Theodore was asking me to give six months of hard work to Willow as if it meant nothing.

"What gives you the right to ask me to give my design to Willow?"

Theodore lowered his voice, as if speaking gently would somehow make his request reasonable.

"It's just a design. Willow really needs it right now.

"You're talented. I'm sure you can make something even better."

He sounded completely sincere. To him, giving Willow whatever she wanted was simply what I was supposed to do.

My savings. My design. And me. In his eyes I was nothing more than a stepping stone for Willow.

"I created that design myself, piece by piece. There's no way I'm giving it to Willow."

"Eleanor, do you really have to be this stubborn?"

Before I could answer, my parents pushed open the door. Both of them were glaring at me.

"You won't help your own sister?"

The looks on their faces made my chest tighten.

"You were eavesdropping?"

Mom answered self-righteously.

"You've been selfish since you were little. You never wanted to share anything with your sister. Of course we had to make sure you weren't keeping things from her."

Dad spoke in a tone that left no room for argument.

"You're giving that design to Willow."

I looked at the three people closest to me, my eyes burning with tears.

"What if I don't?"

Theodore paused, then spoke in a low voice.

"We'll back Willow up and say she created the design herself.

"Eleanor, you don't want it to come to that, do you?"

I looked down. I couldn't stand to look at any of them anymore.

Tears rolled down my cheeks. I tasted one. It was salty.

"Fine. Take it."

Sixty thousand dollars was the price of finally giving up on Theodore. And one design was the price of giving up on my parents.

There was no reason to tell them about tonight's flight.

From now on, I was on my own.