Chapter 7
After that day, my parents treated me with an unusual tenderness.
Every morning, they would wake up before dawn to prepare breakfast. They watched me eat with such eagerness, but every time, they seemed to hold back, as if there was something they wanted to say but couldn’t.
“Just say it. Holding it in won’t do you any good.”
Dad sighed, his eyes heavy with the weight of the words he was about to speak.
“Ursula… she couldn’t handle it. She broke mentally and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.”
I allowed the faintest smile to tug at the corner of my lips.
“Seems like karma caught up with her.”
Dad studied my expression carefully, continuing, almost as though searching for a sign of sympathy.
“Paxton tried to take his life… but they managed to save him.”
I swallowed the last bite of my sandwich, my stomach satisfied. I leaned back and let out a small, contented burp.
“He got what he deserved.”
I wasn’t in the mood to dwell on them. They had all earned their fates. Their consequences only added to my amusement.
Nothing more.
“Is that all? If so, I’m off to training.”
Dad looked at me, but said nothing more.
Later that evening, after training, I returned to the pack house to find a stranger sitting on the couch.
“Hello, I’m Joe Marks, the defense lawyer Alpha Tristan hired for Ursula.”
I rolled my eyes. My brother was a total fool, blinded by his loyalty.
“Cut to the chase. I don’t have time for games.”
He cleared his throat, his nerves palpable.
“Ursula’s trial is approaching, but she’s in a fragile state. The pack’s healer diagnosed her with severe anxiety and moderate depression.”
I raised my hands in exasperation.
“And what does this have to do with me?”
“Your brother would like you to write a letter of forgiveness. After all, she’s still family, and he doesn’t want things to escalate into a bigger mess.”
“And where’s my brother?”
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He adjusted his glasses, slightly flustered.
“Sorry? What?”
I couldn’t help but smirk, a sharpness to my expression.
“Tell my brother to speak to me directly. I don’t appreciate him hiding behind people like a coward.”
Mr. Marks shifted uncomfortably, not expecting me to act so out of line.
“Okay, I’ll talk to him,” he muttered, clearly trying to defuse the awkward situation.
A few days later, Tristan, Mom, and Dad sat down across from me.
“June, I know you’ve been hurt, but Ursula has faced consequences for her actions. Why keep tormenting her?” Mom
said, her tone firm, as Dad silently agreed.
I turned to face Tristan, my eyes unwavering.
“Can you truly forgive her for cheating?”
For the first time, Tristan’s eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“Everyone makes mistakes, June. It’s a part of life.”
She makes mistake after mistake, and somehow, she’s forgiven. But when I make one, I’m condemned for life, branded
with a mark that I’ll never be able to erase.
In a flash of rage, I squeezed the cup in my hand until it shattered, shards digging into my skin, blood staining my palm.
“Forget it. I will never forgive her-not even until the end of my days.”
Mom and Dad sighed in unison, the heaviness of the moment seeming to age them beyond their years.
As I expected, it didn’t take long for Paxton’s parents to show up.
They stood before me, their expressions heavy with desperation. “June, for the sake of you and Paxton being mates, can
you find it in your heart to forgive him?””
I stared at them, my face an unreadable mask. Inside, I felt nothing.
Their pleas were pointless-only serving to deceive themselves and harm their own bodies. It wouldn’t change anything.
“I gave him countless chances, but he threw them all away. And now he’s blaming me. If I hadn’t been careful, I’d be
rotting in prison right now.”
“Leave. I won’t write that letter of forgiveness, no matter what.”
Paxton’s mother shot me a venomous glare.
“You heartless woman!”
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