Chapter 2

Rebecca laughed proudly and urged Elias to hang up.

Alpha Hector looked ashamed. He didn't have the face to keep persuading me to wait for Elias to come around.

"Are you sure about choosing Leo? His background..."

I cut him off and looked straight into Leo's eyes, which were churning with dark undercurrents.

I took a deep breath.

"I choose him."

My mother once mentioned she'd seen Leo at a high-end private auction.

This illegitimate son wasn't as simple as Alpha Hector imagined.

Between love and profit, I had to grab hold of one.

The groom's suit needed to be remade, so Leo and I set our wedding date for one week later.

Alpha Hector's expression was complicated as he let out a long sigh.

"On your wedding day, I'll announce the change in the Dubois Pack's Alpha heir."

With a new groom, naturally everything else had to change too.

When I went to the jewelry store to select new wedding rings, I unexpectedly ran into Elias and Rebecca, who had just returned.

When our eyes met, Elias's expression went cold.

"Clara, you really have some nerve, getting Dad to freeze my bank accounts."

"What I hate most in this life is people forcing me to do things. Don't think just because I came back that I'll marry you."

His eyes showed a trace of annoyance.

"Did you specifically find out my schedule to ambush me here?"

Rebecca pushed him and said coquettishly.

"Clara's devoted to you—what kind of attitude is that?"

Rebecca linked her arm through his without any restraint, raising her eyebrows with a cheerful smile toward me.

"That's just how he is. Don't take it to heart. Don't worry, I'll definitely train Elias properly before handing him over to you."

Elias let her press tightly against him, his expression full of indulgence.

But before, when I'd gone shopping with him and just wanted to hold his hand, he would subtly pull away.

"So many people are watching. It's kind of awkward."

Turned out, he was only uncomfortable with my affection.

I took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in my heart.

"Don't worry. I won't force you to marry me."

Elias froze, his brow just beginning to furrow when the clerk walked over.

"Miss Clara, the wedding rings you selected have been wrapped."

Elias scoffed and raised an eyebrow.

"Already picking out wedding rings, but you still say you don't want to marry me?"

He grabbed my hand.

"Put it on. Let me see if it fits."

His words suddenly stopped as his gaze fell on the fading ring mark at the base of my finger.

His voice caught.

"Where's the ring I gave you before?"

"I threw it away."

My tone was flat.

The day I decided to switch grooms, I threw it away.

That was the first gift Elias ever gave me, with both our initials engraved inside the band.

The usually rebellious Elias had rarely blushed as he shoved it into my hand.

"I carved this myself. If you lose it, you'll have hell to pay."

But later, he was the one who lost it first.

When I dug his broken ring out of the trash, Elias awkwardly rubbed his nose.

"Rebecca got drunk and insisted on taking it off to look at it. Somehow it ended up like this. Just throw it away. I'll make a new one."

But I waited forever, and he never made a new one.