Chapter 3

Circe and I had been rivals since childhood.

We were like fire and water, completely incompatible.

Her mother seduced my father, then moved in with her. My mother attempted suicide from depression.

I almost lost my mother.

My father even arranged for her to attend the same school as me for convenience.

Not long after, my mother returned to the Stormheart pack where my grandparents lived.

And I stayed at my father's house.

I thought if I went too far, Circe and her mother would back down.

My methods weren't sophisticated, even a bit foolish.

Pouring ink into their cups—I was afraid they would actually drink it, so I poured black ink that had color.

I just wanted to scare them, to establish dominance in front of Circe.

Unexpectedly, Circe went to my father to complain. My father's face darkened and he scolded me with a furrowed brow.

I hated them but didn't dare do anything truly excessive.

And everything I did only made my father feel he had wronged them.

In high school, at my strong insistence, Circe and I finally weren't at the same school.

What made me completely give up on my father was when I was seventeen. My father took Circe to a banquet.

He didn't deny that Circe was his daughter.

He even wanted Circe to take his surname and also be called Smith.

I told him that if he let Circe change her surname to Smith, I would stop calling myself Violet Smith and change to my grandparents' surname, becoming Violet Miller.

His eyes filled with rage as he looked at me, his arm raised in mid-air about to strike me.

But he was stopped by a tall figure.

That person was Elias.

At that time, Elias was still the Alpha heir, and my father was the Beta of Rimefang pack. Because of my father's position, I had naturally seen Elias before.

But this time was the first time I truly formed an impression of Elias, and he quietly walked into my heart.

When I was eighteen, I discovered I was Elias's fated mate. The joy in my heart was beyond words.

But it wasn't until after marriage that I learned Circe was his ex-girlfriend.

And Elias had even gone to my house as Circe's boyfriend to meet my father.

So when my father learned about my marriage to Elias, his face darkened and he clutched his chest, almost unable to breathe.

"You did this on purpose?"

"You knew Alpha Elias was Circe's ex-boyfriend and you still married him?"

I was stunned for a long time, even forgetting to explain that I was Elias's fated mate.

In the years of our marriage, I was always reluctant to return to my father's house, but one day Elias insisted on taking me back.

At my father's house, Circe and I got into another conflict.

During the argument, we shoved each other and both fell in the yard.

Elias quickly caught Circe.

I fell hard.

Later, inside the house, I asked Elias with red eyes why he didn't catch me.

He cut fruit with an indifferent expression.

"I didn't see."

When Elias was leaving, Circe came into the bedroom.

She smiled as she looked me over, telling me about everything between her and Elias in high school.

In her words, there was a side of Elias I didn't know.

My heart constricted.

Later, Circe and I crossed paths again.

We both chose careers as wolf pup trainers and ended up working at the same school.

She and I chased each other, neither one willing to concede.

She held the status of the Beta's daughter of Rimefang pack, making the principal treat her with deference.

Now she had the added identity of the Alpha's ex-girlfriend.

Everyone put her on an even higher pedestal.

I knew the promotion slot would most likely not be mine, but I still led my team working overtime to prepare the training demonstration.