Chapter 1

Before my wedding to Alpha Liam, he slept with another woman.

He explained to me, "She's the mate the Moon Goddess destined for me. She has an irresistible pull on me. You understand, don't you?"

"Don't make a fuss. At least you're the only one I'm willing to Mark."

I smiled and nodded, then turned around and slept with his friend Chase, deliberately letting him find out.

But Liam just calmly pushed open the door and sat down beside us, asking mockingly, "How does it feel?"

Chase got off me.

"Not bad, just a bit awkward."

"Liam, have you never trained her? Her movements are way too stiff."

My carefully planned revenge was nothing but a joke to him. He didn't care at all.

I completely broke down and was sent by Liam to a correctional facility on a deserted island to learn how to become "normal."

He didn't know that there were no doctors there—only a group of lunatics who took pleasure in tormenting Omegas.

A year later, Liam came to pick me up, but by then, I no longer loved him.

The facility administrator pushed the door open. "Ellie, Alpha Liam has completed your discharge paperwork. You're free to go."

I nodded numbly.

As I walked out of that gray building, I could still hear the whispers of a few staff members behind me. "Poor thing, driven to this state by her fiancé."

"What's so pitiful about it? Her fiancé is a top-tier Alpha—handsome and rich. He just has a mistress. She should've just turned a blind eye. She really doesn't know how to appreciate what she has."

A year ago, words like these would have made me hysterical. But now, they couldn't even make me pause.

Outside in the clearing, Liam stood waiting for me beside a helicopter.

I walked up to him.

He raised his index finger, wanting to touch my face. "You've gotten thinner."

I tilted my head slightly, dodging him.

His hand froze in midair for a moment before he withdrew it.

He pulled open the cabin door. "Get in."

Climbing into the helicopter, the first thing I saw was a piece of exquisitely crafted women's lingerie on the seat.

Liam followed my gaze, froze for a moment when he saw the lingerie, then picked it up and casually stuffed it into his coat pocket.

"My assistant is so scatterbrained. Don't mind it."

I smiled but didn't reply.

That lingerie style was typical of that woman named Serena's taste.

It seemed that before coming to pick me up, they'd done something in this helicopter.

But it didn't matter. I stopped caring long ago.

As the helicopter took off, Liam's fingertips tapped lightly on the armrest a few times before he spoke. "I've cut things off with her completely. I threw out all the bedding in the bedroom and replaced it with a new set—the style you like."

"Mm." I responded lightly.

He continued, "I had the maids dust all your things every day. Nothing's gotten dirty."

"Thank you." I smiled faintly.

Liam turned his head to look at me, something dark and unclear flickering in his eyes.

He pulled out a small red velvet box from his pocket. "I had the ring reordered. The diamond's bigger than before. Want to see if you like it?"

I didn't take the box. Instead, I said, "About the wedding—let's forget it."

Liam didn't take my words seriously and just tossed the box into my lap.

"Enough with the tantrum. I slept with her, and you slept with my friend. We're even now."

"Besides, I've kept the position of my wife for you all along. You're a werewolf who can't even shift, yet you get to become the Luna of Shadow Fang Pack. What more could you possibly be dissatisfied with?"

I stared at the small box in my hands, didn't argue, just smiled bitterly.

I wasn't throwing a tantrum. I was just going home.

It wasn't as prosperous as this place—just the old territory of a fallen Pack, where my mom and dad were buried.

But there was no Liam there. No pain.

The helicopter landed on the rooftop helipad.

Everything here remained unchanged.

I didn't walk into the bedroom that belonged to me and him. Instead, I dragged my suitcase toward the guest room.

Liam blocked my way. "What's the meaning of this?"

"I got used to sleeping alone at the facility." I turned to glance at the room that once belonged to me and him. "And besides, I don't want to sleep in that bed anymore."

On the day I discovered he'd slept with that woman, I checked the surveillance footage and found out it wasn't just once.

He'd once promised me he would never accept the mate fate assigned him, that he would only ever love me.

Yet after rejecting Serena in front of me, he secretly installed her in the villa.

He slept with her almost every month.

Even that bed specially customized for me bore traces of them. When I saw that scene, my heart ached so much I couldn't breathe.

Liam stared at me for a few seconds, then let out a cold laugh. "Do whatever you want. Just don't overdo it. You always pull this stunt, then end up begging to move back in anyway."

I watched his retreating back, but the heartache I used to feel didn't come.

It seemed the "correction" at the facility really worked. I'd forgotten what it felt like to have my heart beat for him, to have my emotions rise and fall with his.

Late at night, accustomed to the hard plank bed at the facility, I couldn't get used to sleeping on this soft, plush bed anymore.

During the year I spent at the facility, Liam didn't come to see me even once.

I would always cry and beg the administrators, threatening to hurt myself to make them let me call him.

Once, twice, three times...

When the call connected, I would cry and beg him to come see me, or at least say a few words to me.

And he would only respond in that icy voice devoid of any emotion: "Ellie, reflect on yourself properly. When the time comes, I'll naturally come get you."

Gradually, I grew numb and finally stopped wanting to call him.