Chapter 2

I took a deep breath.

Michael had some pack business to attend to, but he would arrive at the Crimson Pack territory in two days to pick me up.

I just needed to survive forty-eight hours.

"Fine. I'll drink."

"Don't sip it!"

Jasmine snatched the glass from the table, crossing her arms.

"Sipping it ruins the punishment!"

Suppressing the rage burning inside me, I tilted my head back and gulped it down.

Instantly, my stomach felt like it was on fire. My limbs grew numb and weak.

When I finally finished the poison, Jasmine gave me a disgusted look.

"Ugh, I hope that doesn't kill her here. It would ruin my mood."

Fortunately, the dosage wasn't lethal, or I would have collapsed on the spot.

"Are you stupid, Jasmine? Don't you know how wolfsbane affects a werewolf?"

"How dare you talk to my mom like that!"

Leo snapped. He grabbed the glass with the leftover liquid and forced it down my throat. My vision began to blur.

Seeing my violent reaction, Ethan looked a bit panicked.

"Sophie, stop faking it."

"She’s a great actress. It was just a little wolfsbane. Anyone would think she drank a lethal dose," Jasmine sneered, turning to walk upstairs.

I curled up on the floor in agony.

Through the haze, I heard Ethan ordering someone.

"Do what the Luna said. Call a Healer here. If anything happens to Sophie, treat her immediately."

Before leaving, Ethan knelt down and snatched the diamond ring off my finger.

"What are you doing!" I screamed at him.

"Even if you're lying, the thought of another Alpha touching you makes me sick. You were once my Luna, after all."

Ethan tossed the priceless ring into the trash can.

"You've gotten brave over the last five years, Sophie."

"But have you forgotten how you used to beg me to spend just a little more time with you?"

With that, Ethan walked upstairs.

The wolfsbane kept me awake and in pain all night. The Healer only gave me a basic potion to ease the burning.

In my feverish state, my mind drifted to the past.

I only married Alpha Ethan because my mother was critically ill, and I needed money to pay the Healers.

I didn't care who he slept with. Ethan's mother, Margaret, told me that as long as he stayed with me and I gave him an heir, she would pay me enough to leave.

"The women Ethan brings home are too dirty. No one even knows whose pups they carry. I need a pureblood heir. Give me a grandchild, and you can go."

Ethan was cruel. He used to drug me to make me please him.

He even sent humiliating photos of me to his friends. I was degraded in every way possible.

My mother passed away after those photos leaked. She was literally shocked to death by the shame.

After she died, the money meant nothing to me. But by then, I was pregnant, and my heart softened for the baby.

On the day I gave birth, the Healer called him.

"Alpha Clark, congratulations on your newborn son."

Ethan just gave a distracted hum and hung up.

So, I left. Despite the Healer’s warnings that I needed rest, I couldn't stay a second longer.

I never wanted to see Ethan again.

When I went to Margaret to say goodbye, she tried to persuade me.

"Ethan knew you gave birth today. He went to prepare a celebration feast for you. He was just busy when he hung up."

"Sophie, do you really think you could have carried this baby to term without Ethan’s silent protection?"

"Stay. Ethan won't admit it, but I can tell he cares about you."

"But I only have hatred for him."

My face was filled with disgust. Hearing the word "care" from them made me sick.

"You promised to let me go. Please keep your word."

Five years had passed since that day.