Chapter 9
The next day, I opened my eyes.
Standing before me was Ryan.
The night before, he had secretly moved me out of that pack house.
He had injuries on his body, a dark bruise staining his neck.
His eyes were bloodshot, clearly showing signs of sleepless nights.
He looked at me with pain in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
I felt numb.
I had heard too many apologies these days.
He looked at me tenderly. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
I looked at him and said flatly, “Don’t you think it’s ironic for you to ask me that?”
The two of them had taken turns hurting me. What difference did it make who hurt deeper?
He pressed his lips together.
He wanted to ask why I hadn’t told him I was pregnant.
But when he opened his mouth, no words came out.
After all, they had said it themselves.
If I got pregnant, they’d just tell me to leave.
He knew he had no right to ask now.
He clenched his fists at his sides. “Tessa, you’ve known from the start it was all a game.”
“So this past year, every kiss, every hug, every passionate moment we shared, every ‘I like you’ you said to me, was it all
just an act?”
I wanted to tell him that he was right. It was all an act.
But instead, I let out a long sigh. “Ryan, I’m not a professional actress. I can’t fake love.”
“The day you kissed me first, I was so happy I didn’t sleep all night. I thought maybe you finally wanted to be good to m
“I told myself then that I would treat you twice as well.”
“I really thought about having a pup with you, living a good life together.”
His pupils trembled violently as the color drained from his face inch by inch.
Chapter 9
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I looked at him, my voice calm as if recounting someone else’s story,
“I admit, on my birthday, when you gave me a whole garden of moonlight flowers, when you woke me from nightmares
and patiently soothed me back to sleep no matter how sleepy you were, I was truly happy.”
“That day, I braved the pouring rain just to come tell you I was pregnant.”
“But you and Damien gave me a cruel truth that shattered everything in that moment.”
“Now, I can say with certainty, I hate you both! I wish you both would go to hell!”
His eyes filled with tears.
He raised his hand to touch me but pulled back suddenly, biting his lip until it bled.
“Please… don’t sentence me to death and let things end up like this.”
“Tell me at least, tell me what I can do to make things right again.”
Outside, the wind swept dried leaves against the glass.
I looked into the shattered hope in his eyes and whispered, “Let me go.”
He clenched his fists, trembling as he took a shaky breath.
After a long moment, he forced out broken words from his throat,
“Alright. I’ll let you go.”
Linda had heard about the trouble I’d had at the Pack hospital and searched for me everywhere.
By the time I returned to our den, she was already in tears from worry.
“Jesus! Thank goodness they didn’t do anything cruel to you.”
I smiled faintly and gave her a comforting hug.
After that, I never saw Damien or Ryan again.
Linda and I began a new life together.
