Chapter 2

“Don’t be so petty.” Victoria’s call came earlier than I expected. “Marcus told me. The boy's father died last month. It’s hard for a single mother. As a woman, how can you lack such basic compassion?”

“Victoria, that boy looks exactly like Marcus.”

“So what if they look alike? It’s just a coincidence.” Her words came fast, like she’d been practicing them all night. “Marcus also told me. The girl is only staying for a few days. If you have to think the worst, is it because you haven't produced a pup in five years of marriage and feel insecure?”

As those words pierced through, my nails dug into my palms.

“Victoria, do you know why I haven’t had a child in five years?”

“If your health is poor, go get it treated. How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Marcus had me taking medicine for six months, claiming it was to help me conceive. I took the prescription to get it checked. Long-term use of that drug causes permanent infertility.”

The line went silent for two seconds. "Nonsense. My son treats you incredibly well. Are you just trying to tear this family apart?"

She hung up.

I put down my phone and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Three months.

Every single day.

Marcus handed it to me himself, telling me it was a supplement.

I trusted him for three months.

I opened the bottom drawer of my nightstand and took out the vial from this morning, containing half a bottle of dark liquid.

A few dried droplets clung to the bottom.

At noon, Catherine came down from the guest room and cooked a full spread.

Roasted pork ribs, garden salad, fruit salad.

Liam sat at the dining table, holding his bowl, his face smeared with food.

She sat next to him, wiping his face with a wet wipe.

Seeing me come downstairs, she stood up. "Luna Elena, I scooped a bowl of soup for you."

The soup bowl was placed at the far end of the table.

She was sitting in my usual seat.

I didn't touch the soup.

That afternoon, when I went out to buy some medicine, I swiped the credit card Marcus gave me.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, this card has been deactivated."

I switched to my personal debit card and entered the PIN.

Insufficient funds.

I opened my banking app.

Three days ago, a transfer had been executed from my personal account.

One point four million dollars, fully transferred to the Shadow Fang Pack’s escrow account.

Authorized by: Marcus.

Marcus had revoked my resource access.

He froze my accounts.

He didn't need my consent; he only needed to issue an order.

In the evening, Victoria arrived.

In her seventies, wearing low-heeled leather shoes, she walked in carrying a bag of fruit.

The moment she saw Catherine, she beamed. “Oh, look at you, so beautiful. Come, let me see Liam.” She held the boy, stroked his face, and kissed his forehead, her eyes crinkling into slits. “This nose is exactly like Marcus’s when he was a boy.”

She knew.

She knew everything.

Victoria pulled a box from her bag and opened it.

A moonstone bracelet, gorgeous.

I recognized it. It was a family heirloom amulet my family gave me when I got married, valued at eight hundred thousand dollars.

During our second year of marriage, Victoria asked to borrow it once and never returned it.

She slid the bracelet onto Catherine’s wrist. “Here, this is for you. Thank you for working so hard with the baby.”

Catherine feigned a polite refusal before accepting it perfectly. “Thank you.” She said it while smiling at me.

Victoria sat on the couch, took a sip of the tea Catherine poured, and glanced at me. “Luna Elena, you’re thirty now. They say it’s hard for a female to conceive after thirty. Look how sweet Liam is. Just raise him as your own first, and we can talk about the rest later.”

“Victoria, that amulet is mine.”

“What’s yours is mine? Once you step through the gates of the Shadow Fang Pack, it belongs to the Pack.” She set her teacup down. “Luna Elena, if you really can’t get over this, let me make things clear. Marcus told me you want to leave.”

She stared at me, her warm expression shifting into something cold. “You can enter the Shadow Fang Pack, but you don’t get to just walk out. The resources your father provided were a donation. Support can be cut off, but haven't you learned your lesson? You don’t even have your wolf anymore. You’re no different from a cripple. How many days do you think you’d survive out there?”

Catherine stood by the kitchen door holding Liam, keeping quiet.

But she was smiling.

Victoria stood up and brushed off non-existent dust from her skirt. “Think it over before you speak to me again. An Alpha like Marcus has countless she-wolves lining up to marry him. You should be counting your blessings.”

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