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.

I carefully packed up the wedding gown and sent it to the small villa under my own name.

On the way back, my phone kept buzzing.

The screen filled with one taunting text after another from unknown numbers, every word dripping with Selene's barely concealed smugness and malice.

I scanned them expressionlessly, left them all unread, and blocked the number directly. The world instantly became peaceful.

When I pushed open the front door, I was surprised to find the living room lights on.

Ethan was actually home.

He sat on the couch, seeming somewhat restless, and immediately looked up when he heard the door.

I thought he'd instantly demand answers for me slapping Selene earlier, even prepared myself for another fierce argument.

However, the look he gave me was unusually gentle, even carrying a hint of guilt.

He stood and walked toward me, pulling out a bracelet from his pocket.

"Aria, you're back."

"I was wrong about earlier today. I got too emotional. On my way back, I saw this bracelet and thought it would suit you. Want to try it on?"

He paused, his gaze falling on me, something complex—like reminiscence and longing—flashing in his eyes.

"That wedding gown means something different to you, a keepsake from your mother. I shouldn't have said what I said about it. The design is truly beautiful and unique. You'll definitely look stunning in it."

I stood there, watching coldly, not even accepting the bracelet.

If I remembered correctly, the photo Selene had just sent me included a matching necklace.

A bonus gift, yet he expected me to accept it with joy.

Seeing my silence, he tried to do what he'd done countless times before—caress my cheek and pull me into his embrace.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch my skin.

His phone exploded with sound from his pocket.

Ethan's movement froze.

His impatient expression instantly changed after hearing the call's content.

"What?! I'll be right there!"

Ethan dragged me to an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs.

Pale lights illuminated the chaotic scene outside the warehouse entrance.

Several Alpha Council enforcers were still setting up barrier tape, and Selene sat on a broken crate, wrapped in an oversized jacket, crying inconsolably.

The moment she saw Ethan, her tears flooded out even more dramatically as she threw herself into his arms.

"Ethan, you're finally here. I was so scared, I was really so scared..."

She sobbed breathlessly, yet her gaze kept drifting toward me.

"I don't know why Aria would do this to me. Yes, I'm the daughter of a mistress, but I didn't get to choose my birth. If I could have chosen, I'd rather not have come into this world than carry this original sin."

She cried until she could barely breathe. Ethan's heart ached terribly as he patted her back repeatedly, consoling her constantly.

"It's okay now, it's okay, Selene, don't be afraid, I'm here."

As if encouraged, Selene looked at me even more miserably.

"Just because of this birth I couldn't choose, does Aria have to hate me this much, even hire rogue wolves to ruin me? Just because I accidentally touched your mother's wedding gown today? But I really didn't mean to. I didn't know the gown was so fragile. If I'd known, I absolutely wouldn't have touched it."

At this emotional point, she choked up so much she could barely speak, looking so fragile she might faint at any moment.

Ethan's expression grew darker and darker as she spoke.

He looked at me, his face full of disappointment.

"She's your sister. How could you do this to her?"

I bit my lip hard.

"I didn't do it."

"If not you, then who!"

Ethan didn't believe me at all.

"Selene has always been kind to everyone. Besides her friction with you, who else would do something this vicious to her? Over a wedding gown, you can't tolerate her existence? Aria Greenwood, you've disappointed me so much!"

My gaze swept over one of the rogue wolves being held by enforcers nearby, cursing and swearing.

The rogue wolf's eyes flickered, glancing imperceptibly toward Selene.

I understood immediately.

This was all her staged performance.

I gritted my teeth, trying to defend myself.

"It wasn't me. You can check the security footage, I—"

"Enough!"

He wouldn't listen to any explanation, just convicted me on the spot!

"After all this, you're still making excuses. You're hopeless!"

Selene trembled in his arms, speaking at just the right moment.

"Ethan, don't blame her. She just hates me too much. It's all my fault."

Ethan suddenly grabbed my arm, ignoring my struggles, and shoved me into an adjacent empty, abandoned storage room covered in wolfsbane rust.

"You stay here and clear your head! When you recognize your mistakes and truly reflect on them, I'll let you out!"

"Ethan, let me say a few more words to Aria, okay? Maybe I can talk some sense into her. I'm a bit worried about her being alone in there."

Ethan's steps paused. He glanced at me coldly.

As if waiting for me to soften and beg for mercy.

But I just stood straight in the center of the dim warehouse, silently meeting his gaze.

My silence and stubbornness completely enraged him.

"Whatever! If you want to talk to her, go ahead. Look at her attitude—she doesn't know what's good for her!"

With that, he irritably shook off his hand and strode away to deal with the aftermath outside.

But then Ethan's guards returned. "Sorry, Miss Aria. Alpha said that in order to prevent you from hurting Miss Selene again, we need to tie you up with silver chains."

The silver seared into my skin instantly, the burning pain making me cry out.

I felt my wolf being suppressed, pushed down, rendered completely powerless.

The silver burned deeper, leaving angry red marks across my wrists and arms.

All my werewolf strength drained away. I was left as weak as a human, unable to fight, unable to escape.

The others and enforcers gradually dispersed. Soon, only Selene and I remained at the warehouse entrance.

Almost the instant other people's footsteps faded, the fragile expression on Selene's face vanished completely.

She turned and walked toward me step by step, her face showing only triumph.

"SLAP! SLAP!"

She used all her strength to viciously slap me twice across the face.

Burning pain instantly spread across my cheeks.

"That's for the ones you gave me earlier today!"

"Aria Greenwood, you have this day too?"

She pressed closer, her lowered voice filled with twisted pleasure.

"See? Ethan will always believe me! In his eyes, you're just a jealous, vicious madwoman! You and your dead mother are both worthless! You deserve to be abandoned by men! No one will ever love you. Everything you have is mine!"

After pouring all her smugness and humiliation onto me, she finally snorted with satisfaction.

Like a victorious peacock, she turned and swayed away.

The heavy iron door was pulled shut from outside again, the sound of the lock clicking into place clearly audible.

Not long after, the door suddenly showed a crack of light.

Instinctively, I looked up, only to discover in horror that several rogue wolves had pried the door open and slipped inside.

Seeing me, their eyes lit up immediately.

"Well, well, she really is a fine catch!"

My heart panicked terribly. I had no intention of exploring what they meant.

"Stay back! I'm the fiancée of Caspian Shore, Alpha of Shore pack!"

Those rogue wolves laughed heartily.

"You? Then I'm the President of the Alpha Council!"

They closed in on me bit by bit, completely ignoring my shouts and warnings.

The silver chains held me fast. I couldn't shift, couldn't fight back.

I tried to call for help, but there was no signal here.

Just as I was about to despair.

"CRASH!"

A massive collision suddenly rang out!

That impossibly heavy iron door was forcibly smashed open from outside with tremendous force!

Blinding headlights suddenly flooded in, instantly dispersing the darkness inside the warehouse. The brightness made me instinctively close my eyes.

A tall figure against the light rushed in anxiously, his voice carrying unprecedented panic and concern.

"Aria! I'm sorry, I'm late!"

Almost simultaneously, my phone, which had been silent all night in my pocket, finally caught a sliver of signal. A text notification from Ethan appeared on the screen.

I looked down instinctively.

"After being locked up all night, have you learned your lesson?"

Looking at this condescending message, then raising my head to see the man whose face was full of anxiety for me in the backlight.

I suddenly smiled.

I sent Ethan one final message.

"Let's break up. I hope you and she are perfect for each other. May you have a wonderful life together."

Then I decisively blocked and deleted him with one click, completely erasing that name I'd once treasured from my world.

After finishing all this, I lifted my head and looked calmly at the man at the door who had come for me.

Slowly and firmly, I extended my hand and placed it in his warm, strong palm.

"Let's go."

From now on, Ethan and I would have nothing more to do with each other.

Caspian held me tightly in his arms, looking coldly at the thugs who'd collapsed to the ground nearby, bloodlust flashing in his eyes.

"Don't be afraid. I won't let a single person who hurt you get away with it!"