Chapter 1

The day Alpha Thorne announced his engagement, the city blazed with fireworks.

That same night, a fatal dose of Wolfsbane coursed through my veins as I knelt on a club floor, scrubbing.

He held Vespera in his arms and stepped onto the back of my hand, the bones crunching under his polished shoe.

"Look carefully, Elara. This is the woman I will marry."

"And you? You belong in the gutter, atoning."

I bit down, swallowing the coppery sweetness in my throat. I said nothing.

He didn't know these hands had already been ruined, digging through rubble for three days and nights to pull him out.

He knew even less that the "me" he despised had just three months to live.

Since atonement is what you want, I'll repay you with this life. Will that suffice?

To celebrate that woman's return, , Thorne had booked out the entire penthouse lounge.

The manager found me in the changing room, dry-swallowing a handful of painkillers.

My stomach was on fire, pain wringing cold sweat from my skin.

"Elara, hurry up! Thorne personally requested you to serve drinks tonight. Don't you dare embarrass me."

The manager urged, yanking away the janitor's uniform I'd just put on.

She threw me an extremely revealing bunny girl outfit instead.

"Wear this. Make Thorne unhappy tonight, and that vegetable brother of yours, Orion, will be out of his hospital bed by morning."

At the mention of Orion, the refusal I'd been about to voice died in my throat.

I looked at myself in the mirror-pale, skeletal, barely human.

I forced out a smile that looked worse than crying.

Elara, what are you being so precious about?

Your dignity was torn to shreds by Thorne's own hands three years ago on that rainy night.

The moment I pushed open the private room door, a wave of noise hit me.

But I still spotted Thorne immediately, sitting in the seat of honor.

He wore a black shirt with the collar slightly open.

He swirled half a glass of red wine in his hand, his gaze cold and lazy.

Nestled in his arms was Vespera in a white dress.

When I walked in, the air in the room seemed to freeze for an instant.

Then came the unrestrained laughter of those rich heirs.

"Well, well, isn't this the Alpha's daughter from Frostwind Pack? How did she fall so low?"

"You didn't hear? Frostwind Pack collapsed ages ago. They even sold their crest for scrap metal."

"That's karma for you! Back then, she nearly got Vespera killed just to climb the social ladder. A woman with such a venomous heart deserves this!"

Thorne looked up lazily at the sound.

His gaze landed on me, utterly devoid of warmth.

"What are you standing there for? Come over here and pour Vespera a drink."

I moved stiffly forward.

When I reached the coffee table, I knelt down and picked up the decanter with trembling hands.

My stomach cramped violently.

My hand shook, and a few drops of red wine splattered onto Vespera's snow-white dress.

"Ah!"

Vespera cried out and shrank into Thorne's embrace.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

I frantically tried to wipe it away, but Thorne kicked me hard in the chest.

"Get away! Don't touch her with your filthy hands!"

The kick was brutal, showing no mercy whatsoever.

I flew backward, my back slamming into the hard edge of the table. The pain made my vision go dark.

The metallic taste surged up my throat.

I bit down hard on my lip, terrified that if I coughed up blood, it would dirty his sight.

Thorne looked down at me from above, his eyes full of disgust.

"Elara, you're revolting. You can't even do something this simple right. You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Trying to get my attention with these pathetic tricks? As if you're worthy."

I lay on the floor, taking a long time to barely prop myself up.

Get his attention?

Yeah. In his mind, I, Elara, was just a shameless woman who'd do anything for money.

Even if I were dying right now, he'd only think I was faking illness.

Vespera's eyes reddened as she tugged at Thorne's sleeve.

"Thorne, don't blame Elara. I'm sure she didn't mean it... But what a shame about this dress. It was the birthday present you gave me."

Thorne patted her hand tenderly.

When he turned to look at me, his expression instantly turned ice-cold.

"Since you ruined Vespera's dress, you'll pay for it yourself."

"There are ten bottles of wine on that table. Drink them all, and I'll forget today ever happened."

"Otherwise, crawl out of here."