Chapter 2

I walked home after school, covered in bruises.

Sophia was extremely popular in class. The second I threw my pen at her, a boy had jumped up and shoved me hard.

My forehead slammed against the sharp corner of a desk. Everyone watched, their eyes filled with cold indifference and amusement.

From elementary school to high school, I hadn't made a single friend. Sophia made sure to lead the entire school in isolating me.

I wasn't afraid of being alone. I was afraid because the teacher demanded my parents come to school on Monday.

The boy's parents had come to the school that very afternoon, fiercely defending their son.

"My son was just doing the right thing! Everyone saw it. Ella attacked Sophia first. Sophia is the Alpha's daughter! What right does a demoted Omega have to put her hands on Sophia?"

"Oh, my sweet boy, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Someone as unstable as Ella shouldn't even be allowed in this school. Who knows what she’ll do next?"

With blood trickling down my face, I couldn't help but think: *If my mother were here, she would have defended me like that too.*

She wouldn't turn a blind eye to my injuries, the way my father did.

When I got home, Richard was carefully checking Sophia's face for any scratches. The moment he saw me walk in, his face darkened instantly.

"You knew Sophia had her Heir Recognition Ceremony tomorrow, yet you tried to ruin her face."

"Ella Blackwood, your mother was the kindest soul. How did she give birth to such a malicious child like you? Sometimes, I seriously doubt you're even hers!"

"Was ruining your mother's life not enough for you? Now you have to ruin Sophia’s too?"

I stared at his face.

I had been looking at that expression of pure disgust for ten years.

Ten years ago, he wasn't like this.

When my mother was still here, he adored me. Although he sometimes expressed regret that I didn't look like her, he still gave me his absolute best.

He named me Ella, telling me I was the most precious treasure of the Sunward Pack.

He bought me gorgeous dresses and expensive jewelry. For my fifth birthday, he gifted me an entire estate.

Once, when a kid pushed me at preschool, he was so heartbroken that he not only made the kid's entire family apologize, but he also ordered the pack’s elite warriors to train me in self-defense.

He told me, "If anyone bullies you, Ella, you fight back. I don't care who they are."

He also told me, "No matter what happens, Mommy and Daddy will always have your back."

The man who once promised to always have my back was now standing before me, demanding to know why I had hurt his precious Sophia.

"Go back to your room and rot. Don't come out until I give you permission!"

From beginning to end, Richard didn't spare a single glance at the bleeding wound on my forehead.

And from beginning to end, I couldn't summon the courage to tell him what the teacher said.

He wouldn't go to school for me anyway. For the past ten years, the only parent-teacher conferences he ever attended were Sophia's.