Chapter 2

I’d already seen how intimate they were three days ago.

That day, I’d planned to give him his celebration gift in advance—an architectural sketch I’d drawn by hand, polished and reworked for an entire month.

I was holding the sketch when I pushed open the door of the spare lounge next to his office and saw the two of them kissing in the shadows of the curtains. Her head was tipped back as she breathed out his name, “Nico,” eyes shining with a wet, glassy light.

He was biting at her lips like a starving beast. Their shadows tangled together on the glass, suggestive and wild. I froze in the doorway, barely able to breathe.

Emma’s eyes went blood‑red inside me, fury surging like a breaking dam. “Claire, don’t stay quiet! Men like him always say they ‘only love you’ while they’re sleeping with someone else!”

“I just… don’t want to believe it,” I whispered back to her. “He’s always so good to me, always the first to apologize, always the one to comfort me…”

The vibration of my phone cut my thoughts off. I wiped away the tears that had somehow started sliding down my face. It was my professor calling.

“Claire, the research institute has approved your application,” he said. “You can move into the base in two days.”

I took a deep breath. “Thank you, Professor.”

“Use the next few days to say goodbye to your family,” he added.

Family?

I swallowed down the sting in my eyes. My parents had died four years ago. The only person I could still call “family” was currently sitting in a bar, chatting casually about how he slept with his little sister.

“Professor, there’s no need,” I said softly. “Could you help me erase my document instead?”

There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by a quiet sigh. “Are you sure? Once we wipe you from the system, it’ll be as if you never existed.”

“I’m sure.”

The moment the words left my mouth, a familiar voice sounded behind me.

“Who’s getting erased?”

I turned and met his slightly furrowed brows.

“My supervisor,” I said calmly. “It’s about the research institute’s project files—the system registration.”

Before my professor could even react, Nico had already walked over and pressed a kiss to my forehead. It was his usual move, carrying that familiar Alpha scent—wood, mint, and the faint heat of alcohol.

“You’re a little off today,” he said with a smile. “Something bothering you?”

I smiled back at him—gentle, appropriate, perfect. My body, however, instinctively retreated half a step.

He stiffened. That tiny bit of distance between us felt like an invisible wall. “Claire, have you been overworking? You look really pale.” His voice was tender, his eyes still the kind that could make any she‑wolf’s heart flutter.

I chuckled lightly and didn’t answer.

On the day of our Bond, under the Moon Goddess’s gaze, he’d sworn that if he ever betrayed me, he’d lose me forever.

Looked like it was time for that oath to come due. In two days, I would disappear from his world completely.

Nico opened his mouth to say something else, but a female voice cut in.

“Nico, here’s what you asked for.”

Nora walked over in a simple white dress, light brown eyes soft and pure—completely different from the seductive girl I’d seen pressed against him in his office.

Nico took the gift box from her and waved her away. Inside was a necklace set with a blue diamond.

“I’ve seen you eyeing this necklace for weeks,” he said. “Today is supposed to be my celebration party, but I know this victory is all thanks to you.”

I stared down at the necklace, a little dazed. If I hadn’t already caught him cheating with my own eyes, I might never have found the man who deeply loved me had changed long ago.

Nico leaned down, about to kiss me, when the notification sound from his phone suddenly cut in. Annoyance flashed across his face at the interruption—but when he saw the name on the screen, his expression froze for a brief second.