After Betrayal I Chose Myself Novels & Stories

The one person I trusted, the one person I thought I could trust with my life betrayed me like this. When Richard killed my mother, I declared I wouldn't live under the same roof with him. Richard made it clear that it was either I live together with the rest of the family or become homeless. I chose to be homeless. But this man, this same man that's betraying me right now, stepped up. Left the mansion for my sake and single handedly raised me, taught me everything I know today. I trusted him with my life for that reason. He was the only family I know and now what? “Gosh,” I could only mumble, ruffling my hair.

“You think I’m blind?” She shook her head slowly, tears streaming down her face. “You think I would do this?” she asked, her voice cracking under the weight of disbelief. “After everything? You think I would willingly betray you?” Her eyes searched his face desperately. “I thought you knew me.” His expression darkened further, his lips curling with disgust. “I know exactly what you are,” he spat. “A cheating wife. A liar. You went out to meet men for pleasure. You’re filthy.”

My body aches, the bond with my mate slowly breaking, every second an aching reminder in the form of physical pain like the universe itself holds me responsible for my husband’s betrayal. I try to hold myself back from crying. I try to tell myself that I am stronger than this. That I am a Luna. But when reality comes crashing down on me, it crushes my spirit as well. Squeezes my heart to the point of bleeding, leaving me breathless.

How I had changed myself, softened my edges, faded into the background… just to be his. And for the first time in years, Damien cried. “Damien, there’s nothing between us anymore,” I said quietly. “You’re a married man. I’ve built a new life.” My voice was steady, indifferent. He finally understood—I no longer cared. “Estelle, I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I know the truth now. The child wasn’t mine. It was all her lies and her accusations. I should’ve trusted you. I should’ve fought for you.”

They looked up. "I'll give you two pieces of privacy," I started to leave. "Wait." Leighton's voice stopped me. "Sophia. I need... I need to say something." I waited. "I can't apologize enough. For what I did to you. The poisoning. The betrayal. Everything before the Cult even got to me. That was all me. My choices. My cruelty." "I know." "I was so focused on being a strong alpha. And it cost me everything." "Yes. It did."

In the middle of the struggle, I was knocked to the ground. "Arthur!" Winona was about to help me up, but Hudson stepped in and stopped her. "Winona, let me." He crouched down as if he were going to help me, but instead, he drove his foot into my waist. A sharp pain hit me instantly, and that was when I suddenly remembered that just one month earlier, I had donated one of my kidneys to Winona. The wound hadn't fully healed yet, and because I had been running around dealing with Annabelle's case ever since my rebirth, I had completely forgotten about it.

I held the diagnosis and stood on the balcony for a long time. The evening wind rustled the paper in my hand. In the end, I picked up a lighter and set it on fire. The flame rose and consumed every word on the paper. It also burned away the heavy, suffocating past. Be it love, hatred, obsession or betrayal, it was all over. With Wanda gone, and with the diagnosis reduced to ashes, everything had finally faded away. What I needed to do wasn't dwell on the past.

Staring at me in disbelief, he stuttered, "D-Did you just hit me?" After harboring resentment for him across two lifetimes, I was finally able to release all my pent-up anger. I let out a cold laugh and lowered my voice. "Yes, I did. Even after being reborn, you're still just as self-righteous and arrogant as you were in our previous life." His expression stiffened before realization dawned on him. "You… You were reborn too?" I ignored him and turned toward the security guards. "Throw him out along with the wedding dress. I don't want them soiling the main entrance of my company."

He is pathetic and broken and scared, and it is enough, it is enough for now, enough for me, enough for now. I hold the silence, hold it and own it and let it work for me, let it be mine, let it be mine like he is not, like he will never be, like he is not and never was, never was. I watch him, and he leaves, and I am alone. I am alone, but I am strong, and I know, and I know. The betrayal is painful, but I will use it. I will. The betrayal is expected, but I will fight it. I will. The betrayal is raw, but it is mine. It is mine. I am Mara Wolfe. I am. I am.

He looked less like the monster the world had painted and more like someone who’d been living with a blade for a long time and decided to put it down for once. Something small and fierce flared in me then—an ugly urge to yank him away and tell him he didn’t have to be a martyr. But there was also gratitude and something that felt dangerously like relief. How could I refuse? How could I ask a man to risk himself for me when I had been given so little by everyone else? “Do it,” I whispered, the command slipping from my lips like a surrender and a plea.