All Chapters of My Alpha’s Dying Lie: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Richard had brought several elders who supported him.He submitted a statement arguing that Alexander’s personal misconduct shouldn’t erase his years of service.Evelyn accepted it.Then the hospital hallway footage was played.Not the emergency room.Just the corridor.Me being dragged inside.Me being restrained.The bottle pressed to my mouth.Alexander standing there.Everyone could see him.When it ended, the rustle of paper sounded loud.Richard looked away first.Alexander stared at the table.The supervisor responsible for the guards was called in.He began by saying he’d only followed the Alpha’s orders.“Did you hear her refuse?” Evelyn asked.“Yes.”“Did you still direct your staff to continue?”“Yes.”His voice kept getting quieter.Watching him lower his head didn’t make me feel better.I wanted to know whether someone would use the same excuse to pin another woman against a wall.When my turn came, I didn’t read a long statement.I handed over my Luna transition records.

His explanation went into the record.So did the review of his dealings with the security company.This time, Alexander didn’t defend his father.Through his lawyer, he submitted his schedule and communications from that day.I reviewed them without comment.Doing one thing he should have done didn’t mean I owed him closeness.What hurt came next.Martha was suspended from the warehouse.Poor management, they said.She didn’t cry when she called Nora.She asked whether the winter supplies would still go out on time.I remembered asking the same question from my hospital bed.We were always told not to let private feelings interfere with other people’s needs.The people actually taking the money never seemed expected to step aside.I retrieved the transition lists.Every delivery receipt had a name.Every discrepancy had a date.Nora submitted the supporting material.Evelyn paused the suspension and ordered a new review.Martha wasn’t immediately restored to every duty.But a vague acc

I stayed in front of the refrigerator for a long time.I didn’t take the note down.When the ache returned, I looked at the date instead of reaching for my phone.The assessment wasn’t romantic.No moonlight.No crowd gathered to bless us.Just a quiet examination room, two physicians who handled mating bonds, and my medical records.They evaluated my health and asked whether anyone was pressuring me.The same question came in several forms.“Do you understand that once the bond is formally severed, it will not automatically return if the other party changes his mind?”“Yes.”“Would you prefer to retain the bond while leaving open the possibility of reconciliation?”“No.”Finally, the older physician asked, “What worries you most?”I thought about it.“That it’ll hurt so much I’ll beg him to stay.”She didn’t smile.She didn’t look at me with pity.“Physical dependence and your decision are separate things. We’ll establish your wishes beforehand, and we’ll monitor and support you throu

Alexander was on the floor, his face frighteningly pale.He looked at me as though, for the first time, he had no way of knowing what I felt.“Claire?”I didn’t respond.After checking me, the physician asked Nora to help me to the recovery room.I slowly stood.At the doorway, Alexander spoke.“I can’t feel you anymore.”I paused for a second.“I know.”Then I walked out.During the first week without the bond, I kept waking before dawn.My hand would go to my neck.Only the fading mark remained.Sometimes I panicked.Not because I missed him.Something my body had known for eight years was suddenly silent, and it didn’t yet know what to do with the empty space.My therapist told me I didn’t need to label every feeling immediately.I began keeping notes.How long I slept.What I ate.Which pain had eased a little.One day, I stopped in the middle of writing.Alexander’s name wasn’t anywhere in that day’s entry.I looked at the page for a long time.I didn’t add it.Then the investigat

Outside her office window, it was already dark.I gathered the papers and got ready to leave.At the door, I glanced back at my statement on the desk.My name was at the top.What followed wasn’t the Hale family’s explanation.It wasn’t another decision Alexander had made for me.It was what had happened, in my own words.Before I entered the hearing room, I tucked the cross beneath my shirt.The pendant had been repaired. Its new compartment closed securely, keeping what remained of my mother’s ashes safe inside.I hadn’t let anyone else touch it since.Alexander sat across the room.Celeste was there, too. She looked thinner, her hair pulled back tightly. When she saw me, she immediately looked away.Her mother sat farther down the row, her lips pressed into a hard line.I didn’t keep studying them.I sat down and placed my water where I could reach it easily.When the hearing began, my palms were damp.The questions started with our marriage.Had I refused to have children for years