Chapter 4

When I refused to hold the pup, my mother simply pushed me inside.

The realtor had been in my home just three hours earlier.

In only three hours, the house now reeked of Michael and the pup—like they had always belonged here.

Hands trembling, I pulled up my medical records again. Suddenly, a stack of prenatal checkups I had never seen flooded the screen.

Michael removed his apron, caught my hand, and whispered gently:

“Darling, don’t be nervous. We can get through the memory loss. You’re not alone.”

His tenderness cut deeper than cruelty. Tears fell silently, striking the floor one by one.

My body betrayed me. My head tilted toward him, aching for a kiss of comfort.

No! Run!

Save me!

My mother, busy changing the pup’s diaper, spoke without looking up:

“See? You’re blessed. A pup, a mate who stays home to take care of you.”

Michael’s hand stroked my hair. His pale blue eyes gleamed with temptation.

“Fake,” Emma hissed inside me.

And my mother’s voice droned on:

“Didn’t you once fight with me, saying you’d never marry? And yet here you are, living under the Goddess’s bond after all.”

Something snapped in my mind. I remembered last year—

How my mother had lined up a hundred men for me to meet, desperate for me to bond.

I refused them all. I felt nothing.

Then she left on a long trip. When she returned, she never mentioned bonds again.

I thought she had given up.

But now—this man, this pup—it all reeked of her doing. A bond arranged behind my back.

The bloodline scent might be real. But the scheme was hers.

Rage ignited, scorching through me.

I leapt to my feet, shouting at her:

“Even if you force me to bond, you can’t do it like this!”

“I don’t love him. I don’t love this pup. You’ve ruined me!”

I stormed into the bedroom and dialed the enforcers.

Mother slammed on the door, palms thudding.

“Zora, stop this madness!”

“You brought him home yourself. You showed him to me, to the elders, before we approved the bond!”

“Now you accuse me of forcing you? Ungrateful girl!”

I shoved a desk against the door.

“Stop lying! I’ve called the enforcers. Let them sort it out.”

“This time—I won’t bow.”

Soon, the enforcers arrived. Through the crack of the door, I told them everything.

They frowned, checked their records, their expressions hardening. One showed me the files.

“Miss Moss, we’ve been here five times already. Each time, the story was the same. He is your mate. The pup is yours. We even have the bloodline test on record.”

Shock paralyzed me. My first time calling them—yet their records showed five?

Michael hunched, murmuring apologies, hiding his eyes. Behind that mask, triumph glittered.

“She forgets everything, always. Forgive us for the trouble.”