Chapter 71

[ 466 words ]

Chapter 71:

But fate had something else in mind.

I would rather cut this off here, once and for all. I wanted to keep at least one scrap of dignity in my memories instead of waiting for everything between Ethan and me to rot into endless hatred.

Sleep never came that night. I kept twisting and turning, the memories of the last three years flickering through my head like an old, sputtering reel.

I thought about those early days, back when we first began sharing a home. Ethan barely spoke, yet one quiet word of concern or some small thing he brought home from a work trip was enough to leave me glowing for days, like a child clutching a piece of candy.

In those days, he was intense and overpowering in bed. As a top-tier Alpha, he had almost unnatural endurance. Whenever he took me, it felt like he wanted to press me into his flesh and marrow until there was no space left between us. I could still recall the rough, uneven sound of his breathing when desire took hold of him, and his eyes, always sharp with that hunting, dangerous look.

I gave him all of me, trying to become a Luna worthy of standing beside him, aching to draw nearer, if only by a fraction. He had been patient with me, showing me how to move through the pack’s tangled politics and the ruthless tactics of the business world.

I was completely lost in those days, certain that kind of tenderness belonged to the two of us alone.

Now, looking back, I saw it for what it really was: his way of paying off a debt. He had never loved me as a man loved a woman.

What broke me most was the chill buried in the smallest things. For three full years, he had carefully, consistently used contraceptives.

I remembered that in the first year after our marking, right after one of those fierce nights together, I worked up the nerve and asked, “Ethan, should we have a baby?”

Tho𝘶𝘴a𝗇𝘥s 𝗼𝗳 re𝗮𝘥e𝗿𝗌 𝗼𝗇 𝗀𝗮𝗹ո𝘰vе𝘭𝘴.cо𝗆

In that moment, I felt his warm body go rigid all at once. He shoved me aside, got out of bed, and turned his back on me as he lit a cigarette. Through the curling smoke, his voice came out flat and freezing.

“Not now, Lianne. I don’t have the energy to raise a child.”

I had believed him then.

But now I understood. It was never about the timing; he had never planned to have a child with me. His noble, top-tier Alpha bloodline had always been meant for Ivy, and Ivy alone.

A single cold tear slipped from the corner of my eye as that truth passed silently through my mind.

I had no idea how much time went by before pure exhaustion finally pulled me into a thin, restless sleep.

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