Chapter 4

That night, my parents came to see me at the hospital.

They also handled my discharge procedures.

Luna Eleanor personally rushed over to express her apology to me.

"Dear, I didn't know this would happen. In fact, we truly expected you to become Liam's mate more." She held my hand. "Even if you can't be together, you shouldn't have been hurt by him."

I was very grateful for this.

"Can't you really stay? You could become captain of the guard squad. Your abilities are sufficient for this position."

"No." I shook my head. "Liam and I were once secret lovers. If Chloe finds out about this, she'll be angry too. I must leave here. You know that."

I didn't want to become a third party.

Luna Eleanor sighed and eventually nodded.

She could understand what I meant. If it were her, she also couldn't accept Alpha Benjamin keeping some lover around him.

"I'll personally write a letter to the Luna Queen to express your wishes."

After saying this, Luna Eleanor looked at me with guilt.

I knew she wouldn't reveal what Liam had done to me.

That was fine. I wouldn't resent her for it.

Luna Eleanor had just left when Liam arrived with Chloe.

"Aria, I have good news for you. In a while, Chloe and I will hold our marking ceremony. You're the first person I'm telling."

Looking at their tightly clasped hands, I nodded, my tone flat.

"Congratulations."

Chloe's eyes overflowed with happiness. She smiled shyly. "Thank you for your blessing. Beta William said you were seriously hurt. Are you feeling better now? I brought fish soup. Have some."

As she spoke, she had Liam hurry and serve the soup.

Seeing him obediently comply, I was stunned for a moment before reacting.

"Thank you, but I don't need the fish soup."

Hearing this, Liam's face immediately turned cold. He looked at me with displeasure. "This is soup Chloe personally cooked. I didn't want to give it to you in the first place. Chloe was concerned about your injury, so I reluctantly agreed to bring you a serving. How can you be so ungrateful?"

As he spoke, he poured a bowl and shoved it into my hands, insisting I drink it right now.

I tried to explain, but he grabbed my wrist.

In the struggle, the bowl was knocked over and hot soup spilled all over my wound.

"Ah!"

The pain made cold sweat break out on my forehead. My whole face crumpled. I was as pale as paper.

Chloe was startled and pulled out tissues to help wipe it, her face full of guilt.

Liam was afraid she'd get burned, so he quickly protected her behind him. "Chloe, this has nothing to do with you. She's been rough and tough since childhood. It's not a big deal. Don't blame yourself."

My hand holding the tissue trembled several times. My heart constricted.

The next second, my father pushed the door open. Seeing my wound starting to bleed again, he was so frightened he quickly called for a nurse.

My mother was heartbroken, but she still patiently put away the fish soup and explained to Chloe.

"Chloe, Aria is allergic to seafood. She can't have fish soup. We appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thank you."

Liam stood frozen in place, his expression becoming unnatural.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Looking at the gauze stained red with blood, my heart was full of bitterness.

Before, he always remembered my dietary restrictions.

Every time we went to a restaurant, he would emphasize repeatedly to the servers: no peanut butter, no seafood.

But now with Chloe, his heart and eyes were full of her. Naturally he wouldn't remember such small things.

A person's heart is only so big. It can only hold one person.

The one they love most.

After a long silence, I smiled and answered him.

"You didn't give me a chance to speak."

The hospital room fell into dead silence. Chloe looked like she was about to cry from guilt.

Liam felt sorry for her. Without saying anything, he left with her.

I originally thought the wound suddenly bled because it hadn't fully healed yet and had been pulled open.

But when the healer came to examine me, they told me there seemed to be some silver seeping into the wound, which caused the bleeding again.

I was stunned for a moment but ultimately only told the healer it was an accident.

Even though I had my suspicions.

After applying more herbal medicine and the wound healed again, I went home with my parents.

The kingdom school had already sent Father an invitation.

Alpha Benjamin and Luna Eleanor also agreed to let our family leave.

They had already chosen a new beta and gamma for Liam.

Upon receiving the notice, the family immediately started packing.

My parents couldn't spare the time, so they prepared a generous gift and had me make a trip to the Alpha's house.

As soon as I entered, Luna Eleanor pulled me aside again and kept apologizing.

"Ari, I'm so sorry. After all these years of connection between you and Liam, in such a dangerous situation like the car accident, he only protected Chloe and ignored you, causing you such serious injury. I feel terrible about it. We'll definitely make him apologize to you."

I shook my head and gently comforted them.

"Chloe is Liam's fated mate. He searched for her for so long. It's right that he focused on protecting her. I'm fine. You don't need to worry."

I didn't tell them about the "silver" matter.

Seeing I didn't take it to heart, Alpha Benjamin and Luna Eleanor finally let go of their guilt.

The three of us exchanged pleasantries for a while before I brought up the real business, telling them the specific timeline for our family's departure.

Alpha Benjamin sighed.

"So soon?"

I apologetically answered, "I think perhaps leaving Liam as soon as possible is the best choice for all of us."

Longtime old friends were leaving. Alpha Benjamin and Luna Eleanor felt sad, their voices full of reluctance. "Perhaps in the future, you can still come back to visit."

I smiled. My voice was especially clear in the quiet living room. "Once I leave this time, I won't come back again."

Liam, who had just returned, pushed open the door and frowned as he looked over.

"Who's not coming back?"