Chapter2

I shifted my gaze away from Leo, who was actively chewing on that Fairy Candy.

"Get out."

I looked up, staring coldly at the nurse holding the syringe. The terrified nurse stumbled back half a step.

Kael frowned, his face darkening as he turned around.

He took a step forward, looking as though he was ready to kick me straight back to the floor. "Elara, what kind of crazy fit are you trying to throw now—"

"Kael, stop this idiotic game of saving your savior!"

I cut him off, grabbing my collar with both hands. With a loud rip, I tore it open. There, just below my left collarbone and perilously close to my heart, a sunken patch of dead flesh the size of a baby's fist was fully exposed.

This ancient wound was hideous and pitch-black.

Kael's footsteps came to a violent halt.

"Look closely at this dead skin burned by a silver bullet!" I met his shocked gaze head-on. "Seven years ago in the Red Pine Forest, when you were ambushed by assassins and trapped in an iron net dusted with silver powder, I was the one who threw myself in front of you to take that poisoned silver bullet aimed at your heart!"

I pointed a trembling finger at the deformed mass of dead flesh. "I risked my absolute life dragging your unconscious body into the ice cave, and then I went out to find help. When you woke up, that bitch Chloe just happened to be passing by the mouth of the cave!"

Chloe, who had been resting against the pillows, suddenly let out a sharp gasp.

She shrank desperately into the bed, tears instantly pouring out of her eyes. "Kael... what is sister doing... It's so scary, I'm scared..."

Kael's gaze lingered on the scar for a single second before his brows knit tightly together.

My chest heaved violently. "To repay your life debt, you brought her into the pack, you gave her all your best resources, and you even directly used my blood as a medical catalyst for her. But this 'savior' you cradle in your palms is nothing but an imposter and a thief!"

"Enough!"

Kael let out a furious, low roar. He aggressively dropped Chloe's hand and closed the distance between us in massive strides.

"Elara, to drive her away, have you resorted to concocting such an absurd, deranged lie?"

"Whether it is a lie or not, you just need to closely examine who your real savior is—"

Before the words fully left my mouth, Kael abruptly spun around and marched right back to the hospital bed. He reached out and violently ripped down the collar of Chloe's gown.

My pupils constricted sharply.

There, resting just below Chloe's collarbone in the exact same location, lay a stunningly identical scar exposed to the harsh light. Not only that, but due to the flare-up of her "blood poison," that scar was actively oozing a thick, black pus, making it look utterly grotesque.

Yet, even from that fleeting distance, my Pureblood senses instantly caught the faint trace of black mist clinging to the edges of her scar. It was the forbidden mark of flesh forcefully stitched together by Dark Magic.

Chloe trembled uncontrollably, her hands flying up to desperately cover the wound. "Don't look... Kael, it's too ugly, don't pull it open... This is the last thing I ever wanted you to see..."

"It's not ugly." Kael's bloodshot eyes instantly filled with intense guilt. "This is the medal you kept for saving my life. It is the debt I owe you for the rest of my days."

After soothing Chloe, Kael let out a heavy, ragged exhale and turned his back to her. He looked at me, closing the distance between us in two quick strides.

Without a millimeter of warning, his right hand swung violently across my face.

Smack!

An unimaginably loud slap sent my entire body flying through the air. My head slammed heavily against the stainless steel medical cart nearby. My left eardrum ruptured in an instant, and hot blood gushed from the corner of my mouth and my nasal cavity.

"You are a ruthless, unhinged lunatic!" Kael pointed down at me from his towering height. "Just to compete for my attention, just to steal the credit of my savior, you actually took a knife and forcefully carved out an identical scar on your own body?"

I sprawled among the scattered, broken medical instruments. I didn't reach up to wipe away the blood dripping onto the cold floor tiles. Explaining another half-syllable to this blind, arrogant Alpha—a man who worshipped lies as the absolute truth—was a complete waste of breath.

"You frankly make me sick," Kael's voice was glacial. "Chloe was left with a lifelong blood poison because of that bullet, weeping pus and blood right up to this very day. And you? You carve off a piece of skin and attempt to claim credit? You are not only selfish, but deeply wicked. You don't even compare to her little finger."

"Mommy is a big liar."

In the corner, Leo, having crushed his candy between his teeth, frowned along with his father. He cast a disgusted look at me before turning around to tightly hug Kael's thigh. "Aunt Chloe's wound is filled with gross pus, and yours isn't even bleeding. You obviously carved it yourself in secret just to look like Auntie. Mommy, you are so bad."

The husband I had loved for seven years, the man for whom I had traded my life to save, blamed me for forging a scar to steal credit. The biological son I had carried for ten months and raised on my very own blood, called me a big liar and deemed me deeply evil.

For seven years, I carefully mended this family every single day, suppressing my innate pride and supreme power, genuinely believing my blood and sacrifices could cultivate what humans called love.

Slowly, leaning my back against the metal cabinet, I sat up. I looked at Kael's disgust-filled eyes, looked at Leo chewing his candy with blatant contempt, and looked at Chloe, who had a hidden smirk pulling at the corners of her lips on the hospital bed. I couldn't shed a single tear.

"Drag her to the isolated backup extraction room," Kael coldly adverted his gaze. "Since you love claiming credit so much, if this blood still doesn't restore Chloe today, then keep drawing. Keep drawing until she is completely stable."

Two burly female nurses immediately stepped forward, forcefully grabbing my arms from both sides and hauling me out.

I didn't struggle. I stared dead ahead at the "happily united" portrait of the family of three positioned beside the hospital bed.

Since this familial affection overflowing with lies and this utterly blind love were my shackles.

Then, it was finally time to shatter them completely.