Chapter 2

Back in my bedroom, I began packing my things.

There wasn't much to take, really. Aside from a few old clothes, there was only the moonstone necklace my mother left me.

She had used her very last breath to fasten it around my neck before she passed away.

To anyone else, it might have been just an ordinary piece of stone. But resting against my skin, it felt like her unending heartbeat—a constant reminder that I wasn't alone.

The door was pushed open. Chloe walked in, flanked by two burly servant women. She had completely shed the pitiful, fragile act she had put on in the great hall. Now, her eyes brimmed with a victor's gloating and undisguised malice.

"Packing your bags, Maeve?" Chloe drawled, her gaze landing on the necklace in my hand.

"Get out," I said coldly, tucking the necklace into my cloth bag.

"Don't be so cold. I came specifically to thank you." Chloe giggled. Suddenly, she lunged forward and snatched the bag right out of my hands.

"Give it back." My eyes darkened as I took a step forward.

"What's the rush?" Chloe took a half-step back, yanking the moonstone necklace from the bag and inspecting it. "So this is the junk your dead mother left you? I heard this thing can soothe an Alpha's mental energy. What a pity—you couldn't even soothe your own man."

"I'll say it one last time. Give it back." I clenched my fists, my nails digging deep into my palms.

Seeing my suppressed anger only deepened the smirk on Chloe's lips.

She suddenly opened her hand. The moonstone necklace, the vessel of all my remaining memories, dropped to the stone floor and shattered into countless pieces.

"Oops. My hand slipped." Chloe covered her mouth, but her eyes danced with sheer provocation.

I stared at the fragments on the ground, a piece of my heart shattering alongside them.

I took a deep breath, forcing down the murderous rage roiling in my chest. I was just about to speak when Chloe suddenly drew a hidden blade and sliced a long, bloody gash across her own forearm.

Blood instantly welled up and spilled over.

"Help! Dante, save me!" Chloe dropped the knife and let out a bloodcurdling scream. She collapsed onto the floor, weeping uncontrollably, the very picture of a battered victim.

Almost instantly, frantic footsteps thundered down the hallway.

Dante burst into the room. The moment he saw Chloe sitting on the floor, bleeding, his eyes snapped blood-red. His violent, dominating Alpha pheromones instantly suffocated the entire room, heavy enough to crush the air from my lungs.

"Chloe! What happened to you?" Dante rushed over and scooped her into his arms.

"Dante... I just came over to talk to Maeve, to convince her not to marry Lucian. But she... she just went crazy and slashed me..." Chloe leaned into Dante's embrace, trembling violently. "My stomach... it hurts so much... Our baby..."

Dante's head snapped up. The look he gave me was as if he were staring at his sworn, unforgivable enemy.

"Maeve! You vicious bitch!" he roared. Standing up, he reached to his waist and uncoiled a long whip lined with fine, vicious barbs.

I instinctively flinched. But compared to the whip that was about to fall, the absolute disgust in Dante's eyes felt like being flayed alive. "I didn't do it. She cut herself, and she shattered the necklace my mother left me."

"You still dare to lie?! Chloe is pregnant! Why would she ever risk her own body like this?!" Dante completely shut out my explanation. He stormed up to me, his eyes freezing over with absolute ruthlessness. "I thought you were just throwing a tantrum, but I never imagined you could be this utterly venomous. Today, I am going to teach you a lesson you will never forget!"

Before his words even settled, he raised his arm. The whip slashed brutally across my back.

My clothes tore instantly. The barbs shredded my skin and flesh, and a searing, agonizing pain exploded through my entire body.

The strike drained every ounce of strength I had to stay standing. The pain was agonizing. I curled into a tight ball on the floor, my body violently trembling uncontrollably as cold sweat and tears cascaded down my face.

"Admit your fault!" Dante roared, bringing the whip down for a second, vicious strike.

Blood ran down my arm, dripping heavily onto the floor.

"If Chloe or the child suffer even the slightest harm, I will strip you of your life! Kneel down! Grovel before her, apologize, and swear you'll never dare lay a hand on her again!"

I looked up at the man I had once believed I could entrust my entire life to. In that exact moment, my heart completely died.

"Never again?" I suddenly let out a bleak, hollow laugh, blood trickling down the corner of my mouth. "There is no 'again.' Have you forgotten? You've already sold me off to the... tomb keeper in the back mountain. For the grand price of a single coin."

Dante halted, his raised arm suspended in the air.

Taking in the blood soaking my clothes and the deadened look in my eyes, a sudden, unwelcome pang of panic pierced through his anger.

He swallowed hard. The leather whip trembled in his hand before he finally lowered it, abruptly losing the stomach to strike again.