Chapter 6
On the way home, I received a frantic call from Alpha Lucas. He was trying to explain himself.
I let out a soft laugh.
“Lucas, whatever you say, I’ll believe you. We can still get married as planned, can’t we?”
He paused for two seconds, then feigned
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indignation.
+ 5 Points
“Josephine, I dream about marrying you every night. You can’t back out now.”
What sweet words.
In the past, the naïve me would have believed them without hesitation.
I swallowed the nausea and softened my voice. “Alright, I was just teasing.”
Of course, Eclipse pack would never dare take the initiative to break off an engagement with the Silver Claw Pack.
When I got home and saw my parents sitting side by side, as loving as ever, I was overwhelmed with guilt.
After hesitating for a long while, eyes red, I turned to my father and asked,
“Dad, Claire’s back. She’s… she’s actually your Illegitimate daughter, isn’t she?”
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+ 5 Points
Our gazes locked. My mother, seated beside him, flared up instantly and demanded an explanation.
My father’s expression darkened. He finally admitted everything.
Claire was the daughter of his college sweetheart–the one he broke up with. She’d kept the pregnancy a secret and gave birth to Claire on her own.
Nervously, he tried to justify it to my mother.
“It’s been nineteen years. Her mother’s dying wish was to find me. I didn’t have the heart to turn her away… I accepted Claire under the pretense of adoption, but I never had any ulterior motives.”
But Dad–back then, you told us Claire was the orphaned daughter of an old friend in Crown Shadow Pack.
Out of kindness, Mom encouraged me to accent this “new sister” into our lives
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+5 Points
Even five years ago, when I caught Claire blatantly throwing herself at Alpha Terry–the boy I’d liked for years–and she flew into a rage and pushed me down the stairs…
Even then, when the fall gave me a concussion and shattered the bones in my right hand so badly I could never play piano again, not even once did she apologize.
She just blamed me, loudly and shamelessly, for stealing everything that should’ve been hers.
To protect her, Dad, you sent her overseas to study.
And now, five years later, both of your daughters are pregnant–with the same man’s child.
I turned my face away and wiped the tears I’d been holding back. Taking a deep breath, I said quietly,
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+ 5 Points
“Dad, it’s time you acknowledge her. If we want that piece of land from the Silver Claw Pack, then let her marry Alpha Lucas in my place. Claire is carrying his child.”
My mother’s eyes widened in disbelief. She jabbed a furious finger at my father.
“Buck, how could you? You heartless man. You lied to me.”
“Five years ago you tricked me into raising your illegitimate child. And now you expect my daughter to sacrifice her marriage for your mistake? What kind of father does that?”
Normally elegant and poised, my mother had transformed into someone unrecognizable -screaming and clawing at my father like a woman pushed past the brink.
In the span of twenty minutes, what started as a quiet return home had turned into a full–blown shouting match. A farce.
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I finally snapped.
“Enough!”
+ 5 Points
Mom, who had always been the most innocent in this mess, stared at me with tear–filled eyes. Her lips trembled. “I’m so sorry, Josephine. I’m sorry.”
I rushed to embrace her.
“Mom, please don’t be sad for me. I’ll be alright.”
I asked them to keep my decision to study abroad a secret, and made Dad promise to carry out my instructions exactly as I’d said.
The Eclipse Pack had invested everything into this alliance. That land–Grandfather’s legacy–was too important.
I couldn’t–wouldn’t–stand by and watch Alpha Lucas ruin everything because of some sick obsession.
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+ 5 Points
Back in my room, I packed two suitcases. In the process, I pulled out that old journal where I’d written ten years‘ worth of confessions about my feelings for Alpha Terry. Each line bled with the pain of that long, thankless chase.
As I flipped through the first few pages, I noticed something strange–the childhood photo I had once pasted inside had been torn out. The paper beneath was loose, clearly tampered with.
And then it hit me–my bracelet. The Platycodon grandiflorum charm I’d worn since I was little. I’d lost it years ago… but had never figured out how.
My hands shook as I unblocked Alpha Terry’s number and typed out a message:
“Alpha Terry, the day you saved me… you dropped a Platycodon grandiflorum bracelet. Do you remember it?”
His reply came quickly
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His reply came quickly.
“What bracelet?”
I froze.
The world stopped spinning.
And then I laughed.
+ 5 Points
I laughed until my ribs ached. Until tears blurred my vision.
