جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

I left the restaurant and went straight back to the jeweler’s where I’d bought Adrian’s cuff links. Half an hour earlier, the saleswoman had congratulated me on our anniversary. The seal on the box was still intact, but now I asked her if the store would buy them back.“They’re engraved, so I can only offer a reduced price.” She checked the order on her screen. “You paid eight thousand dollars. I can give you fifty-five hundred.”“I’ll take it.”She took the box. Behind me, Sienna laughed. “See? Told you she’d return them.”Adrian stood outside the store with a handful of pack friends. One of them had his phone out, filming the saleswoman as she printed my receipt.“Eight grand for the Luna title. That’s a hell of an investment.”“If the alpha feels bad enough to buy her a car, she’ll make it back ten times over.”I kept my eyes on the counter. Sienna came up beside me, ready to explain the con to her eager audience. “She’s too clever to ask for money outright. First she buys a gift, t

That evening, Sienna added me to a group chat called [How Long Will the Luna Wannabe Last?] Every member was one of Adrian’s friends.[I give her till midnight.][As if she’d really walk away from the alpha and the Silverpine Pack.][Loser buys dinner for a week.]Sienna sent a voice note: [She wants everyone to know her feelings were hurt so Adrian will come running. If she meant to leave, she wouldn’t have canceled the ceremony where he could see it.]Someone asked how she could be so sure. She replied in another voice note: [I’ve seen plenty of status chasers. You think a woman that close to becoming Luna would throw it away? Come on.]Adrian was in the chat. He didn’t say a word, and he didn’t stop them. I left. Seconds later, Sienna added me again.[Don’t go yet. Tell us when you plan to beg him to take you back.]I left a second time and blocked invitations from strangers.Half an hour later, an unknown number called. “Am I speaking to Mr. Blackwood’s partner? He was exposed to w

Adrian checked my flight status over and over. Across the table, Sienna insisted I was waiting at the transfer airport for him to call.“She knows you’ve found out about the pregnancy. If you go after her now, you’ll be handing her exactly what she wanted.”He ignored her and dialed my number. The recorded message said my phone was off. He tried again, then opened our old messages.Before our anniversary, the last thing I’d sent him was a photo from the dress shop. I’d asked which gown he liked better. He’d chosen the dark blue one and promised to come to the next fitting once work settled down.He had looked forward to the ceremony. He’d wanted me to be happy that day. And yet, the moment Sienna had questioned my motives, he’d acted as though none of that had ever happened.“She isn’t waiting for me to give in,” he said.“How would you know?”“She canceled the fitting. She sent our things back. And she made a follow-up appointment for the baby without me.”Sienna’s smile thinned. “Pre

The second time I abandoned a posting overseas, my suitcase had already been by the door. Adrian had held me and said that if I stayed, he’d make sure we set a date for our ceremony. I thought he didn’t want to lose me. I withdrew my application the next day.Maybe he really hadn’t wanted to lose me. But afterward, Sienna told him I’d used the job offer to pressure him into making me Luna. He never asked me if it was true. He simply filed it away as another sign I was playing him.At the restaurant, his assistant explained the dates on both applications. On the day of my first missed exam, Adrian had only had a mild allergic reaction. The doctor had kept him under observation until evening. Sienna had told me he’d been exposed to wolfsbane and was fighting for his life. The following year, she knew I’d qualified for the project and told Adrian I was testing whether he’d finally give me the Luna title.“You knew it wasn’t serious the first time?” he asked her.“He was at the clinic,” Si

The following morning, Sienna posted a long statement in the pack’s social group. She claimed she’d only been protecting her alpha. Other people had joined in the jokes, she said, but now Adrian wanted me back and had made her the villain to make himself look good.Old screenshots appeared within minutes. She’d suggested the first fake emergency. When I’d said my mother needed surgery, she’d called the medical records I sent “easy to fake.” Even the people who’d laughed with her could see how often she’d started it.Someone replied: [You said you’d apologize if Evelyn really left. When are you doing that?]Sienna deleted the comment and accused Adrian of forgetting everything she’d done for him. The pack’s finance office recalled the vehicle assigned to her and asked for the house keys. Friends who had once crowded around her began to keep their distance. A few admitted they’d joined in and sent me apologies of their own.One message came from a woman Sienna had mocked for accepting an