Chapter 2

"Of course," Vanessa said, raising an eyebrow with smug pride. "We've been married for five years, and our son is already this big. Why? Do you have an issue with that?"

Married for five years.

And Nathan and I had been married for seven.

In these seven years, he had never Marked me. Every time I asked, he made excuses, saying we should wait until the formula succeeded. He never made our relationship public either, claiming my status as an ordinary werewolf would damage his authority.

To protect his pride, I never dared to mention his name in public.

Even my closest subordinates didn't know about my relationship with Nathan.

I looked at Vanessa and suddenly laughed.

I laughed so hard my tears almost came out.

"What are you laughing at?" Vanessa snapped, her expression darkening as my laughter unnerved her.

"I'm laughing at you," I said. "You’re acting like the lady of the house when you’re nothing but a thief."

Vanessa’s face twisted in rage. She raised her hand to slap me.

"Who do you think you are! How dare you speak to me like that!"

I caught her wrist mid-air, locking it in a tight grip, and shoved her back.

She was wearing high heels and stumbled back, nearly crashing to the floor.

"Mommy!" The little boy dropped his toy, terrified, and ran to cling to Vanessa’s leg.

Just then, the door to the side parlor was thrown open.

"Vanessa, the car is ready. We..."

Nathan’s words died in his throat.

He looked at me standing in the middle of the room. The gentleness and warmth on his face vanished instantly, replaced by absolute, paralyzing terror.

"Sca... Scarlett?"

His voice was trembling.

Looking at his pathetic, cowardly face, I felt a deep sense of shame for ever loving this man.

Vanessa recovered her footing and immediately put on a pitiful, victimized expression, throwing herself into Nathan's arms.

"Honey! This crazy woman came out of nowhere! She started insulting me and even put her hands on me!"

Nathan stood stiff as a board. He looked at me, then at Vanessa, cold sweat visibly breaking out on his forehead.

"Honey, call the guards to throw her out!" Vanessa whined, tugging at his sleeve.

Nathan took a deep breath, forcing down his panic, and pushed Vanessa away.

"Vanessa, take Julian and wait for me in the car."

Vanessa was stunned.

"Honey?"

"Go!" Nathan’s voice cracked with a sudden, sharp authority.

Startled by his tone, Vanessa shot me a suspicious look. Still, she gritted her teeth, picked up the boy, and walked out.

The door slammed shut.

Only Nathan and I were left in the quiet parlor.

The silence was suffocating.

Nathan looked at me, his Adam’s apple bobbing. The fear on his face quickly transitioned into a tired, helpless sigh.

He stepped forward, reaching out to grab my hand.

"Babe, why are you here? You should have told me you were coming."

I took a step back, dodging his touch, and looked at him coldly.

"If I hadn't come, how would I have known that you have a wife of five years and a son?"

Nathan sighed, rubbing his temples, adopting his usual tone of patronizing patience, as if I were just being dramatic.

"Scarlett, calm down and let me explain."

"Her name is Vanessa, and she’s the daughter of the Stone Creek Pack’s Alpha. You know our formula testing is in its most expensive phase. The Stone Creek Pack agreed to fund us, but their condition was a political marriage."

He looked into my eyes, sounding incredibly sincere.

"To get the money, I had to play along. The child is adopted. It’s just to build a 'family-man' image so the Stone Creek Pack would trust me with their funds."

Looking at his familiar face, I felt a wave of nausea.