Chapter 4

Viya's POV

I woke in Sophia's guest room with a headache, a dry throat, and the humiliating memory of kissing Caesar Blackwood in public.

I pulled the pillow over my face.

Sophia walked in with coffee. "Good morning, disaster."

"I hate you."

"You threw yourself at North America's most terrifying Alpha and lived. That deserves breakfast."

I groaned. "Tell me I didn't say anything too terrible."

Sophia sat on the edge of the bed. "You told him he was late."

I lowered the pillow.

Her teasing faded. "Were you talking about Lucius or Caesar?"

"Yes."

She handed me the coffee and a folder.

"Divorce papers," she said. "Asset separation, clinic independence, provisional evidence packet. I drafted the first version years ago."

"Years?"

"Viya, I'm a lawyer. I prepare for disasters. Your marriage had disaster written in calligraphy."

Despite everything, I laughed softly.

Then I opened the folder.

Seeing my name beside Lucius's in legal language made something inside me ache. Not because I still wanted him. Because once, I had wanted the name Luna Wilde to mean chosen.

"When can I have him sign?" I asked.

"As soon as possible. Before he knows you know."

An hour later, I drove back to the Wilde mansion.

Miranda's car sat in my parking spot.

My books, coats, medical journals, and framed photos were scattered across the front lawn like trash.

For a moment, I simply stared.

Then the front door opened.

Miranda stepped out wearing my silk robe.

"Viya," she said sweetly. "You didn't come home last night. Lucius was worried."

"No," I said, walking past her. "He wasn't."

Her smile stiffened.

Inside, the house smelled of roses. Her scent. Her claim.

"You threw out my things," I said.

"I reorganized."

"You put my medical journals in wet grass."

Miranda tilted her head. "They looked old."

I turned to face her fully. "Be careful. Stupidity can be forgiven. Malice is harder to explain."

Her mask slipped.

"Don't act superior," she hissed. "Everyone knows why Lucius married you. You were useful. That's all."

"Useful enough to be Luna. Useful enough that you had to sneak around like a thief."

Her eyes flashed. "He loves me."

"Then why are you wearing my robe in my house, waiting for me to notice?"

She stepped closer. "Because soon this will be my house."

"Say it louder."

"What?"

I smiled. "Say you want my husband, my title, my bedroom, and my life. Say it like a woman brave enough to own her choices."

Miranda's lips parted, but no words came.

Of course not. Women like her needed shadows. Tears. Plausible grief.

"You're pathetic," I said quietly. "Not because you love him. Because you need me humiliated to feel chosen."

Her hand flew toward my face.

I caught her wrist before it landed.

Her eyes widened.

"Touch me again," I said, voice soft, "and I will make sure every wolf in this pack hears how the grieving widow tried to slap the Luna she stole from."

"You think they'll believe you?"

"No." I leaned closer. "But they'll wonder. And that will ruin you faster than truth."

The front door opened.

Lucius stepped in.

Miranda instantly collapsed into tears.

"Lucius!" she cried. "I only tried to help organize the house, but Viya threatened me."

Lucius looked first at Miranda's trembling form, then at me.

That hesitation told me everything.

"Did you threaten her?" he asked.

I laughed.

The sound startled him.

"My belongings are on the lawn, your brother's widow is wearing my robe, and you're asking whether I hurt her feelings?"

His jaw tightened. "Viya, don't twist this."

"I don't have to twist anything. Look around."

Miranda sniffed. "I didn't realize she would be so possessive. I only thought, since Lucius asked me to stay—"

I looked at him. "You asked her to stay?"

Lucius rubbed his brow. "She's grieving."

"She's pregnant with your child."

The room went silent.

Miranda's face went white.

Lucius's eyes widened. "What?"

I held his gaze. "Relax. I'm not asking you to explain. Not today."

From my purse, I pulled out the divorce papers folded beneath a clinic grant cover sheet.

"In fact, I need your signature."

He frowned. "For what?"

"A clinic document. Time-sensitive. As my husband, you're required to sign."

Miranda stepped forward. "Lucius, maybe you should read—"

I turned to her. "Are you worried about my clinic now?"

Lucius, irritated by the tension, took the pen. "Enough. I trust Viya with medical paperwork."

The irony nearly made me smile.

He signed without reading.

I accepted the papers with steady hands.

"Thank you," I said. "That's all I needed."

For the first time since marrying him, I walked away from Lucius Wilde with something he had given me willingly.

My freedom.

Before I went upstairs, Lucius followed me into the corridor.

"Viya, wait."

I stopped but did not turn around.

"What did you mean about Miranda being pregnant with my child?"

There it was—the panic beneath his Alpha voice. Not guilt. Not concern for me. Fear that his hidden world had leaked into mine.

I looked back over my shoulder. "Ask her."

"I am asking you."

"No, Lucius. You are asking whether I know enough to become dangerous. Those are different questions."

His face tightened. "Don't speak to me like I'm your enemy."

"Then stop standing on the other side."

For a moment, he looked as if he wanted to reach for me. Miranda's muffled sob came from the sitting room, and his hand fell back to his side.

I smiled faintly. "Go comfort her. You always do."

"Viya—"

"Don't worry. I won't make a scene. I know how much you hate when I inconvenience your lies."