I took a deep breath outside the pack office building before pushing the door open.

This pack had once been all of mine and Ethan's blood, sweat, and dreams.

Back then, though he was the young heir of the Stormwind pack, he stubbornly insisted on carving out his own territory.

The Stormwind family rules were strict. Without proving yourself, you received no support whatsoever.

Those early days were unimaginably difficult.

The funds dried up, we couldn't pay salaries, enemies surrounded us on all sides.

To help him through that crisis, I picked up my paintbrush and painted day and night.

One painting after another, selling them to galleries, to anyone willing to pay, using that meager income to barely keep the pack afloat.

The massive painting at the pack office entrance, "Daybreak," was the first painting I ever sold.

My technique was still immature back then, but it was full of reckless determination.

After the pack's situation improved, the first thing Ethan did was track down that buyer by any means necessary, buying it back at ten times the price.

I remember how carefully he hung it there himself, then gently and proudly ruffled my hair amid all the pack members' teasing, his eyes shining brilliantly.

"Aria, look, it's come home. Later, when we're even more successful, I'll buy back every single painting you sold for me and fill our home with them!"

His words back then were a burning promise.

And I believed him.

But he only recovered this one.

After that, he encountered Selene again.

This promise, like so many other things, was silently shelved and forgotten, never mentioned again.

The moment I stepped into the pack office, my heart sank.

The most prominent wall by the entrance was empty.

Where "Daybreak" had hung, there was now a saccharine, technically precise commercial floral oil painting.

My heart jumped.

I rushed to the front desk, my voice tight. "What happened to the painting at the entrance? Why was it changed?"

The receptionist looked up and saw me. Her eyes flickered, her smile awkward.

"Alpha Stormwind ordered it changed. Miss Selene said the original painting's tones were too heavy and depressing, so Alpha Stormwind had someone replace it with something brighter."

Selene didn't like it, so he replaced it.

This painting was the pack's origin story, the witness to our love, and his promise to me from years ago.

But now, just because of Selene's casual complaint, he'd removed it from this position symbolizing our beginning and glory, disappeared to who knows where.

My heart felt like it had been struck by a blunt object, a dull, spreading ache bringing a suffocating daze.

As I stood before that empty wall, trying to digest this bone-chilling coldness, the security guard walked in carrying a large rectangular box.

"Miss Greenwood, you're here. You have a delivery that just arrived. I need you to sign for it."

I froze.

"My delivery?"

I hadn't sent anything personal to the pack office in a long time.

The guard checked the name on the receipt.

"Yes, the recipient is definitely you."

Confused, I signed and took the heavy box.

I went to the nearby break area and opened the package.

Beneath layers of protective paper, a pristine white emerged.

When I fully unfolded it, my breathing nearly stopped.

It was a wedding gown.

Classical lace long sleeves, delicate pearl embroidery, an elegant A-line skirt.

Every detail was so familiar it made my heart tremble.

This was the style of the wedding dress from my mother's old photo album, the one she'd worn!

My phone buzzed at that exact moment.

A text from an unknown number appeared.

"The wedding gown recreated from your mother's photo—do you like it?"

Seeing that text, I froze for a few seconds before suddenly remembering who owned this number.

My freshly minted, not-yet-public flash mate-to-be, Caspian Shore.

He was one of the most powerful Alphas in the Northern Territories, and Ethan's most hated rival.

Last month, after Ethan once again abandoned me without hesitation for one of Selene's phone calls, Caspian found me on the roadside.

He didn't offer comfort. He just draped his jacket over my shoulders and asked bluntly.

"Aria Greenwood, watching him treat you like this, do you still plan to continue? Want to consider switching to someone else?"

At that moment, alcohol and fury were burning through my rationality.

The deadline for my mother's dying wish was approaching, yet Ethan kept breaking his promises again and again.

I spoke without thinking.

"Switch to someone else? What's the point of just dating! Caspian Shore, why don't you just marry me?"

The moment the words left my mouth, the cold wind sobered me up considerably.

God, what was I saying?

I'd just proposed to Ethan's mortal enemy?

He'd definitely think I was insane, mock my delusions with the most cutting words.

However, Caspian simply raised an eyebrow slightly.

He agreed without any hesitation.

"Alright. It's a deal."

Now, looking at that line about the wedding gown on my screen, I couldn't control the slight upward curve of my lips.

Did I like it? I more than liked it.

The design for this gown was drawn by my mother's own hand, stroke by stroke, when she was pregnant with me.

She'd said it was a gift for her future daughter, hoping she'd wear this gown and walk toward the happiest moment of her life.

Before she fell ill, my mother was one of the country's top wedding dress designers. The words she said to me most often were:

"Aria, the moment a girl puts on her wedding dress is the most beautiful flash of her entire life. I'll make sure you become the happiest bride."

I'd mentioned it to Ethan more than once, begging him to help me find the best craftspeople to turn my mother's design into reality.

I wasn't greedy. I didn't even dare hope I could actually wear it at a wedding ceremony.

I just wanted to wear it to my mother's grave someday, twirl around for her to see.

Then tell her that her daughter wore the gown she designed, that I was happy, so she could rest in peace.

Ethan always readily agreed.

"Sure, sure, baby, I'll find someone after I finish this project."

"Don't worry, I remember. Next time I'm in Italy, I'll ask the master craftsmen."

But one "next time" followed another. The promise always stayed verbal.

Perhaps in his heart, anything related to me, important or not, always sat at the very bottom of his priority list.

The Plan B that could be delayed or canceled at any time for other people.

Yet this dream I'd anticipated for so long, this wish I couldn't fulfill, had suddenly materialized in an almost dreamlike way through the alliance marriage partner I'd chosen in a fit of spite.

A complex mixture of bittersweet emotion and warmth welled up inside me.

I took a deep breath and reached out, wanting to touch that delicate lace and pearls, to feel this intention from my mother.

Just as my fingertips were about to make contact.

Another well-manicured hand with nude-colored nail polish reached in from the side, getting there first, lightly pinching a corner of the gown's sleeve between her fingers.

The owner of that hand spoke with feigned surprise.

"Oh, what a beautiful wedding gown! Aria, is this for your ceremony with Ethan?"

Selene showed no care at all, her sharp nails catching on the lace, her rough movements even tearing off several small diamonds sewn to the cuff.

"What are you doing! Stop!"

My heart clenched instantly, fury rushing to my head. Without thinking, I stepped forward and shoved her away hard.

"This isn't something you can touch! My mother designed this! You're not worthy!"

Selene stumbled from my push, staggering back two steps, her eyes immediately reddening.

She sniffled, her voice trembling as she looked toward Ethan behind me.

"Ethan, I've just never seen such a beautiful wedding gown before. I couldn't help myself. Is Aria misunderstanding something?"

She turned her gaze timidly toward me, then quickly lowered it, as if terrified.

"Aria, did Ethan prepare this gown for you? Are you two getting married? If so, just tell me. I'll definitely prepare a wedding gift early and sincerely bless you both."

Ethan looked somewhat guilty, unusually speaking to her coldly.

"Aria is my future Luna. If I don't marry her, who would I marry?"

Selene choked, jealous hatred flashing in her eyes.

She bit her lip, her voice low.

"But having the wedding gown delivered to the pack office like this seems a bit inappropriate, doesn't it? It looks like she's forcing you to marry her."

A look of "I knew it" flashed across Ethan's face as he looked at me knowingly.

"Aria, I know you love me, but this week really won't work. How about this—I promise you, we'll do the marking ceremony on Monday. Okay?"

Selene leaned against Ethan's side. When she heard "marking ceremony," jealous hatred flashed through her eyes.

I watched the two of them in their seamless performance.

My heart felt like it was being repeatedly torn, aching unbearably. But at the same time, an extremely absurd sense of ridiculousness welled up.

I couldn't be bothered to argue with them anymore. I just silently bent down, wanting to carefully pack up the wedding gown and leave this nauseating place.

Just as I lowered my head to arrange the skirt, Selene suddenly leaned close to me, speaking in a voice only we could hear, smiling triumphantly.

"You think these pathetic relics from your dead mother are enough to compete with me for Ethan? Your mother couldn't keep a man back then, and the daughter she gave birth to is just as useless and worthless! She deserved to die early—"

"SMACK—!"

I used every ounce of strength in my body.

Selene screamed, her head snapping to the side from the slap. But her hands violently shoved me back!

Caught off guard, I stumbled backward hard, my lower back crashing brutally into the cold edge of a desk. Sharp pain shot through me instantly, making my vision go black.

And Ethan didn't even glance at me.

"Selene!"

Ethan gasped, immediately pulling her into his arms.

Seeing the red mark on her cheek, he was both shocked and angry, looking at me with complete disappointment.

"She's your sister. How could you hit her?"

Selene sobbed pitifully, looking utterly wronged.

"I was just trying to help Aria arrange the wedding gown. If she didn't want me to touch it, she could have just said so. Why treat me like this?"

"You're being completely unreasonable."

Ethan gave me one cold look.

He lowered his head and patiently comforted Selene.

"Selene, don't be scared. I'll take you to the healer."

His voice carried unprecedented nervousness and tenderness, completely different from the cold harshness when he'd just reprimanded me.

He held her, turned, and left without looking back.

Leaving only me, clutching my agonizing waist, standing there alone.

Looking at the wedding gown that had been pulled into disarray, and the empty doorway.

I laughed soundlessly, though tears rolled down from the corners of my eyes.