Chapter 4

Under the guise of patching things up, Margaret hosted a family dinner.

Over the phone, her voice was drenched in tearful remorse, claiming she and Sophia had realized their mistakes and begging for a chance to make amends.

Victor answered the call. I thought he would dismiss it as before.

Instead, he said, "We'll be there on time."

I looked at him, bewildered.

He offered only one sentence: "Some matters must be settled face-to-face."

I understood then—he wanted to back me up and show them who I belonged to.

Yet I never imagined this so-called family gathering was nothing less than a grave prepared exclusively for me.

The moment we stepped into the Silver Creek Pack hall, a suffocating, hostile atmosphere closed in around us. The air reeked of countless conflicting wolf scents—spiteful, calculating, and treacherous.

The people of Silver Creek were unnervingly hospitable.

Robert clapped Victor on the shoulder, his posture bordering on servile. Though both were Alphas, Robert shrank in Victor's presence, outmatched in both power and presence.

Ethan sauntered over to raise a toast, his sleazy gaze drifting repeatedly toward my stomach.

It made my skin crawl.

Midway through the dinner, Margaret personally brought a steaming bowl of soup to me.

"Allison, darling, Mom brewed this tonic especially for you. Drink it while it's hot. Mom was wrong before, please don't hold a grudge." Her maternal smile was so tender, as if I were truly her flesh and blood.

Looking at the dark, murky liquid, a terrible dread seized my chest.

[Do not drink that! It's laced with wolfsbane—enough to kill a full-grown wolf! They want both of us dead!]

The wolf’s voice screamed through my skull like a siren.

[They’re in on it with Liam! They want you to drink it in front of everyone so you miscarry right here, exposing that you're carrying a child that isn't Victor's!]

My hands and feet turned to ice.

Snapping my head up, my eyes bypassed Margaret’s fake smile and landed on the second-floor landing.

Sophia and Liam were standing side by side at the top of the stairs.

Sophia leaned casually against the railing, gazing down at me with a venomous, triumphant smirk.

In that split second, everything clicked.

It was an inescapable trap.

A lethal binary choice.

Either I drank the poison and died with my baby on the spot.

Or, if I refused the soup, they would use another pretext to lure me near the staircase, where Sophia would "accidentally" push me over the edge to achieve the exact same result.

They had calculated every angle. There was nowhere to run.

Every pair of eyes in the hall was fixed on me.

Margaret cooed gently, "Allison, why aren't you drinking? It's getting cold."

Upstairs, Liam looked down with cold amusement.

Victor seemed to sense the shift in the air and started to stand.

Too late.

I looked at the soup, then up at the vile couple on the balcony.

The very last shred of attachment I had clung to for this family shattered into dust.

Fine.

If you want my life so desperately, I'll give it back to you.

Under the shocked stares of the guests, I picked up the bowl.

Then, swinging around violently, I hurled the boiling broth straight into Liam's face as he hurried down the steps!

As he shrieked in agony, I didn't pause for a single second. Gathering every ounce of strength I had, I charged toward the staircase like a madwoman.

The sneer on Sophia's face froze as she saw me barreling toward her like a missile.

She screamed, instinctively raising her hands to shove me.

But she wasn't my target.

A single step before reaching her, I swerved violently and slammed my own body into the heavy wooden banister, throwing myself down the stairs.

The world spun violently.

Agonizing pain tore through every nerve in my body.

With the last shred of my strength, I curled tightly, shielding my lower abdomen with my arms.

Blood spread beneath me, staining the pure white fabric of my dress crimson.

Before darkness took me, I caught glimpses of horrified faces, Sophia and Liam’s bloodless lips, and Victor lunging toward me with terrifying speed.

I looked at them all, my soul strangely calm.

This life... I've returned it to you.

From this moment on, we owe each other nothing.