Chapter 5

She was wearing Daniel's jacket, clinging to his arm like a lost puppy.

The living room fell into a suffocating silence. All eyes locked onto them.

Linda's voice trembled. "Daniel... did you... did you betray Emily?"

Robert was shaking with anger. "Who is this girl?!"

Daniel didn't answer. He swept his eyes over the empty living room before locking onto me. "You're moving out?"

"Yes," I replied calmly. "Back to my parents' house."

He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Okay. I’ll come pick you up before our next ceremony."

He took a deep breath and gently pulled Sophia to his side, his arm instinctively protective around her waist.

"This is Sophia, my fated mate. Her mental state is very fragile right now. I can't just leave her alone."

He didn't look at me when he said this. His tone carried a sense of entitlement, as if this explanation should make everything okay.

Sophia stood timidly beside him, her fingers clutching his sleeve, her head bowed in silence.

Linda looked at me with a conflicted expression. "Emily, maybe... we should all sit down and talk this through?"

Just as I was about to refuse, Sophia suddenly spoke up, a flash of provocation in her eyes.

"Why don't you stay, Emily? The more, the merrier, right?"

*Slap!*

The sharp sound of a slap echoed through the room.

My eyes widened in shock as I watched my mother strike Sophia across the face.

"Sarah!" Robert gasped.

My mother glared at them, her eyes red and her voice shaking violently.

"I carried Emily for nine months. Do you think I don't know my own daughter?"

"She has been with you since she was seventeen, Daniel! She is twenty-four now! Seven years! For you, she turned down the Beta position at the Silver Creek Pack just to stay here and manage your pack affairs. She learned how to cook your favorite meals, and she knows where every single pair of your socks is... If her heart weren't completely broken, would she be leaving?"

"I never demanded she marry into extreme wealth, but you abandoned her at your own mate ceremony for some Omega, and today you have the nerve to bring her into our home? As her mother, I will not stand for this!"

"If Emily won't stand up for herself, I will do it for her!"

My mother's words hit me like thunder, making my eyes burn.

Sophia held her cheek, tears welling in her eyes, but she didn't dare make a sound.

Daniel immediately blocked her, his face dark and menacing.

"Emily! How old are you? Still running to your parents to fight your battles..."

Before he could finish, I stepped forward and slapped him hard across the face.

"Daniel, you are the one who deserves this the most!"

After the slap, I grabbed a piece of paper from the coffee table drawer and threw it at him. It was my medical report.

"Do you want to know what my biggest regret is?"

Daniel picked up the paper. The moment he read the words, his pupils shrunk.

"Emily... you're pregnant?"

Looking at the sudden joy lighting up Daniel's eyes as he rushed toward me, shouting, "I'm going to be a father!" I felt a wave of disgust.

He forgot Sophia standing right there. He forgot his abandonment at the ceremony. He forgot his cold shoulder over the past few days. He behaved as if a baby could magically erase all his sins.

But how could those nights of tears, those moments of being abandoned, and my shattered heart be forgotten?

I shoved him away with all my strength, screaming with tears in my eyes:

"You're celebrating too early!"

"Yesterday, when you were begging me to help you protect Sophia, I booked an appointment to terminate the pregnancy."