All Chapters of Ten Pounds of Hellfire Wings, One Terminal Lie: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

第1章

I kicked open the VIP room door.I was carrying ten takeout containers stacked perfectly on top of one another. The lids were still closed, but the throat-scorching smell already filled the room.Every single container held Hellfire Wings, the number-one item on the pack's restaurant charts.Inside my head, the System chimed in again:[Ding! Savage Comeback Mode activated.][Current livestream viewers: 300,000 and climbing fast.][Target Layla: vital signs normal, gastric lining healthy. Diagnosis: faking it.]With the System backing me up, I walked straight to the bedside.Layla was propped up against the pillows, scrolling through her phone.Her complexion was rosy, her lips painted in a killer shade of red, and every single lash was perfectly curled. There was not a shred of illness about her.The moment she saw me, she froze for a second, then quickly shoved her phone under the blanket and went limp against the pillows."Matthew, I feel so awful."The bathroom door swung open.Matt

第2章

Lola's voice drew nurses, patients, and visitors from the corridor.Emboldened by her audience, she shoved my shoulder."Layla is like a daughter to me. I will not let you bully her during her final days!"I sidestepped.Lola stumbled past me and crashed headfirst into the nightstand, knocking the remaining containers of wings onto the floor.Red hot sauce pooled across the tiles.Matthew pointed at the door and bellowed:"Security! Get this crazy woman out of here!"I folded up my phone stand and looked at all three of them."No need. I'm leaving on my own."But just so you know, forging a terminal diagnosis and using a fake illness to collect public donations are both crimes."I hope you can keep this act up until the very end."I turned and walked out. The System spoke again.[Ding! Total satisfaction: 2,000.][While scanning Lola, I discovered something huge. Spend 1,000 satisfaction points to unlock it?]"Unlock."By the time I stepped out of the hospital, the internet had explode

第3章

A complete set of hospital records appeared on the System's display.The case number, the digital seal, the upload timestamp. Everything checked out.The patient name plainly read: Lola Reed, age 62.I stared at the name for a moment, stunned, then burst out laughing.I laughed harder and harder until tears nearly came to my eyes.Matthew. Oh, Matthew.What a devoted son you turned out to be.To make everyone believe Layla was dying and collect donations, Matthew had taken his own mother's real medical records and replaced her name with Layla's.Lola had been suffering from stomach pain for months and had even passed black stools.Matthew had taken her in for tests. When the results came back, he smiled and told her:"Nothing serious. Just take some stomach pills."Then he turned around and put Layla's name on that same diagnosis.That night, public outrage was still growing online.Matthew came back to the home we had once shared and sat across from me.He rubbed his fingers together,

第4章

The following afternoon, the press conference was held in the grand ballroom of the largest pack-owned hotel downtown.The venue was decorated like a memorial service.White lilies covered the stage. Somber music played in the background, while cameras from hundreds of media outlets were aimed at the stage.The livestream quickly passed fifty million viewers.Layla was wheeled out in a wheelchair.She wore an oversized hospital gown, with makeup that made her look pale and weak. An IV was taped to the back of her hand.The IV bag contained nothing but ordinary saline.Matthew and Lola stood on either side of her, treating her like a dying patient who might collapse at any moment.I sat in the front row, dressed in a crimson gown.Lola struck first.She pointed at me, wailing until her voice cracked."Claire, look at her! Layla is dying, and you still won't leave her alone!"Today, in front of everyone, you're going to apologize to her!"The press section erupted. The livestream comment

第5章

The silence lasted two seconds.Then a scream tore through the ballroom."Aah!"Lola snapped.She stared at the words "terminal" and "multiple metastases" on the screen. Then she remembered the stomach pain and black stools she had suffered from for months.She had always believed it was just a minor stomach problem.Her wonderful son had smiled after getting the results and told her:"Mom, everything's fine. Just take some pills."Lola threw herself at Matthew."You used your own mother's life to scam money for that little bitch?"Her nails raked across Matthew's face, leaving five bloody scratches.Then she sank her teeth into his shoulder."Mom! Let me explain!"Matthew howled in pain and staggered backward.Seeing things turn against her, Layla pulled out her IV and tried to make a quick escape in her wheelchair.Lola grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her out of the wheelchair."You blood-sucking homewrecker! Give me back my life!""Help! Matthew, save me!"After Lola hit he

第6章

From New York to my hometown, even the fastest route took two hours.The driver pushed the car to the speed limit.The System pulled real-time traffic data and traffic-light cycles, recalculating our route again and again to save every second it could.My wolf paced restlessly inside my chest, its claws scraping at my heart again and again.A dull ache throbbed through the mate mark at the back of my neck. It was a warning that our bond was beginning to break as my feelings for Matthew died.I was still too late.Outside the morgue, harsh white light fell on a gurney covered with a white sheet.I stood there, unable to move. No tears came, but my body was shaking so badly I could barely stand.The nurse, red-eyed, handed me a bag of my mother's belongings."Before your mother lost consciousness last night, she was clutching this old phone."The phone was damaged, but she wouldn't let go."[Host, leave this to me.]The System accessed the damaged phone's memory chip and began recovering

第7章

Three days later, I laid my mother to rest.No media. No trending hashtags. Only white bellflowers, her favorite.In those three days, public opinion had completely turned against Matthew and Layla.The video of Lola attacking Layla at the press conference shot to the top of every trending list.The polished image Matthew had spent years building was completely destroyed.Packs across the territory condemned him for disgracing their kind.And yet he still had the nerve to come find me.The night of the funeral, he was waiting outside my penthouse. He looked like a wreck, his designer suit rumpled and his hair a mess.When he saw me return in black, he dropped to his knees."Claire, my mate, I was wrong!"The press conference blew up in my face, and the investors are demanding their money back. Claire, please help me. I need $25 million to cover the losses."That bitch already ran off. From now on, you're the only one for me!"He still thought I was just angry about his cheating and his

第8章

Two months later, the court arranged a supervised meeting to ask whether I was willing to write a letter requesting a lighter sentence for Matthew.Officials from the Pack Judicial Authority were also present to carry out the mandatory dissolution of our mate contract.Through the thick security glass, I saw Matthew.His head was shaved, his eyes sunken, and his whole body thin and gaunt.Even the mate mark on the back of his neck had almost completely faded.When he learned I was coming, hope flashed in his eyes. He quickly grabbed the phone. His voice was hoarse, and he was still trying to push mind-link pulses through the glass."Claire, you came to see me after all, right?"My mom is dead. She died in a regular hospital ward. Layla got arrested too. We've all gotten what we deserved!"Will you write a letter asking the judge for leniency? Please? It could take a few years off my sentence!"I looked at him calmly and signaled for the official beside me to begin."This is a criminal

第9章

Months later, the digital forensics, financial investigation, and witness interviews were complete.The court handed down its verdict.Matthew Reed was convicted on multiple counts and sentenced to thirteen years in prison. All of his illegally obtained assets were confiscated.Layla Bennett, as an accomplice in the fraud, was sentenced to seven years.During the trial, she tried to put all the blame on Matthew to get a lighter sentence. Matthew immediately fought back, claiming she was the mastermind.The two people who had sworn undying love in front of the cameras were not willing to spend even one extra year behind bars for each other.The Pack Supreme Council's ruling came down at the same time:Even after serving their sentences, Matthew and Layla would be permanently banned from entering any pack territory.Every werewolf in prison who learned what the two had done was disgusted.Werewolves valued family and pack loyalty above all else. Anyone who lied to his own mother and stol

第10章

Six months after my mother's death.I took the stage at the Golden Wolf Awards, the werewolf industry's highest film honor, with a women-centered realist drama that had wrapped before the scandal and premiered in its aftermath.With that film, I had now won every major Best Actress award, making me the first werewolf actress in history to achieve it.I wore a black couture gown with a single white bellflower pinned to my chest.It was my mother's favorite flower.The host handed me the microphone, her eyes glistening."Claire, this past year you've been through the darkest chapter of your life and reached the highest point of your career. Who do you want to speak to right now?"I took the microphone.My gaze drifted over the audience and the sea of flashing cameras. For a moment, I could almost see my mother standing in the doorway of our old home, gently waving at me.I didn't mention Matthew. I didn't curse anyone.I just smiled through wet eyes and said:"I want to thank my mother.

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