After that, I kept myself so engrossed in my work that I rarely went home, making Xavier feel that something was wrong.

One day my mother-in-law who had always seen me as a dirty orphan, unworthy of their status called unexpectedly.

"Mia, Xavier told me that you were fighting with him when it was majorly your fault to delay us that day at the royal banquet. Even though you were born poor without anyone to teach you manners, the least you can do is not to pull my son's status down at your level!

You are soon going to give birth to the future Alpha so stop with your nonsense, the people around us have already started creating rumors about you and Xavier separating. I have organized a dinner today, inviting Xavier's close friends. Arrive on time with Xavier and do not create a scene here."

From starting to the end she ordered me around before hanging up.

I wanted to see the faces of the people who betrayed me, treating me worse than an animal one last time before leaving for the capital city, so I took a taxi to my mother-in-law's house.

Xavier's mother was sitting at the head of the table when I entered the hall. A hush covered the arena as Xavier's friends rolled their eyes when they saw me.

"Aunty, why did you even invite her here, when all she is going to do is spoil the mood?"

"The witch is here to intrude between the loving couple again." Their voice was not low as they deliberately spoke for me to listen to their harsh words.

"Mia sit down here." Xavier's mother pointed to a seat only for me to ignore her as I was already seated at the end of the table.

"Hey Mia, what was your surname again? Oh my apologies I forgot that you were without any surname, since you don't have a father." Xavier's best friend Theodore smirked as he waited for me to make a fool of myself.

"Who are you again?" when I raised my head staring directly at him with disinterest like he was a clown jumping over to make everyone laugh, their smiles were wiped off their faces.

Shortly after, Xavier arrived with Vanessa by his side, when he saw that I had arrived earlier than the designated time and was looking between him and Vanessa, he quickly maintained a distance with her.

I noticed Vanessa had removed the pendant and without another word followed my mother-in-law to the kitchen.

Xavier quickly took the seat beside me, smiling gently as he moved my hair to one side before clasping the diamond pendant on my neck creating a show of loving couple.

"This will be your first time wearing diamonds in your entire life right, right? Rest assured I will buy you your favorite Sapphires next time."

Without a sense of shame, he looked at me and lied smoothly, “I lost it at the pack house, and after talking to you when I realized that it was gone I rushed to search for it.”

The pendant around my neck especially felt suffocating thus I took it off without another word shocking Xavier.

“Mia, what the hell do you think you are doing?”

“To think that she is so greedy, no wonder aunt does not like her.“

“Mia, Why did you take it off?” My mother-in-law glared at me.

“It's just too tight.” I ignored the murmurs around me and just sat quietly without speaking a word to Xavier.

In reality, the diamonds were considered dishonorable for the royal family to wear. In older traditions, the outcasts of the royal family were given a single diamond as the last thing of monetary value before they were banished from the palace

And I was not banished.

I was going to return to my home.

From the kitchen, I heard my mother-in-law gently laughing with Vanessa,as she clung to her arm acting spoiled. "Auntie, how can you work so hard all alone, if I was here these past years I would have never let you work.”

"This child! Of course it would have been different if it was you.

Oh Vanessa, let Mia help the servant with the dishes, you must have never done these things and to think you are so kind even to the maids.

If only Mia was half as sensible as you. But since she had started living at Xavier's house, he kicked out the maid. She can do all manual work by herself, wiping the floor and washing the dishes is just normal for her. Don't ruin your beautiful hands I will make Mia do it.” I bit my lip as my husband agreed to his mother seeing nothing wrong in overworking his wife.

They soon came out of the kitchen hand in hand, with Vanessa sitting right in between Xavier and my mother-in-law.

"Aunty these past years I have missed you a lot. There hasn't been a single day I had not missed Xavier." the people sitting at the table did not feel anything wrong with Vanessa's words to long for another man when she was already mated to someone else.

"Of course dear? If the things didn't go wrong, you would have already been my daughter-in-law-." Xavier’s mother teased, casting a quick glance in my direction before pulling Vanessa closer to which Xavier did not speak a word, angry that I rejected his gift.

Turning to me, my mother-in-law added with feigned innocence, "Oh my? I must have spoken too much because of my old age. Mia meet Vanessa, my goddaughter, she and Xavier are childhood friends and were raised alongside.

I heard that you were making a fuss at home because of her, but Vanessa is like a sister to Xavier so you should not throw a tantrum out of jealousy.

These two have always been so close, so you must trust your husband a little and stop keeping tabs on him."

"Auntie is absolutely right, Vanessa was only doing a favor to you." Xavier's friend Colin spoke with a smug look on his face. He was the one who supported the ‘perfect match’ and gave me the nickname ‘homewrecker’ in secret.

"Yes, Mia, you’re always checking up on Xavier. You are just too controlling, do you think we are going to ruin Xavier's life? Since Vanessa and Xavier are inseparable, if he wanted to leave you, he would have done that long ago."

Besides, Xavier promised Vanessa to soon join two of our packs together to make a larger one, so it's better if you accommodate her. That's the least you can do as a luna."

My eyes widened when I realized that our Jade moon pack was going to be amalgamated with another one. As the Luna I was not even aware of any such thing

Realizing he’d said too much, Colin instantly fell silent, exchanging uneasy glances with the others as the room went quiet.

"Do you even understand how serious this is, if the other pack committed any crime we would be held equally responsible-"

"Mia, I know that you don't like me but please don't besmear my pack like that."

I turned to look at Xavier only for him to glare at me before saying.

"Vanessa is right, you did not even have a proper education so you would not know much about the pack affairs. How would you understand if this is beneficial or not?"

It's better to leave the responsibilities of the pack on me. Vanessa served as a Luna for more than three years, I cannot be biased in your favor when you are just an illiterate orphan." My body trembled when my husband insulted me in front of everyone.

The dinner was tasteless, I did not speak a word after that, making Xavier look at me once in a while. My mother-in-law did not seem displeased with the argument and was rather boisterous with Vanessa. It was only when I picked an oyster to taste did she suddenly interrupted me harshly.

“Mia I understand that you did not have any parents to teach you anything, but are you just plain stupid to eat such a spicy dish in your second trimester?

Do you not care about the baby at all? No wonder Xavier had to go to such lengths to protect you."

"Like he is protecting me right now against your relentless attacks?" As soon as the words left my mouth the chattering quietened down with my mother-in-law too shocked to speak. Xavier on the other hand froze, before looking at me in confusion.

"This was the oyster the nurse cooked for me for better digestion. I brought it here because you asked me to hurry up while I was having my lunch, asking me to bring food for everyone here. But it feels like I am in too much of a trouble to be sitting here amongst you. Coming here was a mistake."

"Mia!" I quickly got up without eating while Xavier followed me outside cautiously.

“Mia, mom did not meant it like that. Come back with me right now!"

"To tell you the truth, Xavier, my parents are very well alive and if I had listened to them in the first place, I would have never chosen such a terrible place for me where I am never welcomed."

Xavier held my shoulders, shaking his head thinking that I was making up stories to console myself.

"Mia let it go this once. You have to be a good daughter-in-law and a wife."

"Xavier! Vanessa is having trouble breathing, you must come quickly." our conversation was interrupted by Colin who looked between us with some hesitation.

"Mia come inside, it's going to rain heavily. I must quickly help Vanessa, so for the time being please wait.”

I looked at the man like he was a stranger. He hesitated as if searching for the right words, but ultimately he just squeezed my hand before letting go and rushing to Vanessa's aid.

My mother-in-law messaged me instantly: [ you can come inside now, earlier I just assumed things.]

[ let's not waste this dinner party] I smiled through tears as I realized that I was never once welcomed in this household, it was all about status and prestige for them.

Three years ago I was kidnapped by the rogues, and my father and brothers did not left any stone unturned to search for me, but my identity was never revealed for it could have endangered my life.

At last, it was the Alpha of Jade moon pack-Xavier who rescued me along with others from the captivity. My mother decided to give him a hefty compensation only for me to tell her, that I liked this man and wanted to be mates with him.

My brothers were completely against this relationship. They had told me that since I was the only princess of the royal family, I had never seen hardships and marrying a cold person like Xavier would not fare well for me.

How foolish I was to think that pure love would surpass all status when today my husband was the very person who told me that I was useless because of no status.

The rain drenched me completely as I ignored Xavier’s mother’s insistence for me to come back. At this moment I felt stupid to fall in love with such a heartless man. I was embarrassed to return to my home... What would I even say to my parents?

Would they even accept me back?

Suddenly, I was covered with warmth as Xavier embraced me tightly, he was soaked with the rain but he quickly took me aside.“ Are you alright? I am sorry I shouldn't have left you in this state but why don't you just follow orders and go inside.

“See, Vanessa is terribly sick” he continued, his voice softening. “ She came because I invited her, I could not have left her like that but even then she sent me to you, you should learn something from her.”

“Mom has been trying to call you, she even messaged you to come inside, why can't you stop being stubborn for a moment!” he sighed, almost complaining before he saw my pale face.

After that he quickly took me to a nearby store to change into fresh clothes so that I would not fall sick.

"Are you alright Mia? I am calling a taxi to take you home" I shook my head before asking.

“Are you not coming back with me?”

"I have to do some work-"

"Are you going to drop Vanessa off at her home now?"

“What?” Xavier asked, taken aback, that I would see right through his excuse.

Xavier’s expression shifted from indulgence to that of guilt and anger as he carefully answered.

“I will be home right after that. Please try to understand Vanessa is a single mother and she is really sick. What if something happens on her way home?”

I cut him off before he could continue. “ I understand, you want to drop her because she is sick and cannot take care of herself, while I can very well go home by myself.”

"Again with your stupid accusations! Its nothing like that!"

"Then what is it? You and Theodore both came by car today, why does it have to be explicitly you to drop her off?"

A flicker of irritation crossed his face, and he sighed heavily. “Mia, are you again being jealous of Vanessa? How many times do I have to explain it to you that I only see her as my sister!”

“She’s completely alone here, separated from mate and raising a child on her own. How can you not feel sympathy for her?” he continued, regaining his composure. “She is my childhood friend and I cannot leave her suffering like that.”

“If she is really separated then why would she want to amalgamate our two packs together? Does she not know how much trouble it can cause you?” I stepped away from Xavier, not liking the way he held onto me when he was clearly worried about another woman more than his wife.

Xavier looked annoyed before he tried to console me. " You should just sit at home and do what you are best at! When our two packs will be joined, our territory will expand. We will get a major advantage in this.”

Xavier stepped forward kissing my forehead gently to coax me to leave as he held my hand. “Don’t overthink it mia. You’re going to be a mother. If you keep being so jealous, how would you raise our child?" I smiled at that before looking at my husband of three years who was not even aware that i lost my child due to his negligence.

" But wasn't it you who talked among your friends who said that since I am an orphan, I would not know how to raise a baby and Vanessa must help me." Xavier felt a bucket of ice cold water was poured over him as his eyes widened.

"Are you spying on me? this is a misunderstanding, I was heavily drunk that day... I didn't know what I was saying. I didn't mean it like that."

I opened my mouth to respond, but just then, Xavier’s phone rang with Victoria's caller ID flashing on the screen.

Xavier hesitated before I asked him to pick up the phone. The moment he answered, a child responded from the other end, cheerfully greeting him. “Daddy,I miss you a lot! When are you going to come and play with me and mommy? When are you both coming back?”

Horrified that I had heard the entire conversation, Xavier paled before gently answering.

"Mark, you can call me uncle."

"Why? Mommy told me that I could call you dad." taken aback by the child's response Xavier quickly answered him before hanging up.

"Your mother is here with me, we will come back soon."

"Mia" I looked at my mate, too tired for more explanations.

With dead eyes, I nodded at him. “You can do whatever you feel like.” with that I turned around, trying to move away only for Xavier to embrace me from behind.

"You just need to learn how to adapt. I can not indulge you always but from now on I will be present taking care of our baby."

He leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss on my cheek.

I was not even home yet when Xavier's friend Theodore messaged me.

[Sister-in-law, Vanessa is really sick so Xavier would not be home tomorrow.]

Xavier was actually organizing a grand banquet welcoming Vanessa's pack tomorrow but since I was not in favor of combining our packs together it looked like my husband did not wished for me to come.

While reading the text I could not help but tremble as I felt so miserable.

With teary eyes I opened my social media to find an update from Vanessa: “Shopping for tomorrow's party, trying hard to select a twinning suit for both of my men.” The photo displayed my husband holding Vanessa's son in his arms, while the so-called best friend leaned on him.

"Madam, lower your head!" My tears were abruptly stopped when the driver screamed terrified and, as soon as I looked up I saw our car right in front of a truck, the driver quickly turned the steering wheel but it was already too late as our car collided with brutal force turning upside down.

"Mom...Dad...elder brother." With tears in my eyes I recalled snippets of my past as the memory played again and again like a broken record.

I was faintly aware of the blood dripping down my shoulder as I dialed my father's number on the verge of passing out, his voice was the last thing I wished to hear before my death.

He picked up on the very first ring, his voice stern but somewhat filled with concern.

"What is it Mia? How is it that you remember your father now-"

"D-Dad..." I breathed heavily, barely able to spit out what I always wished to say.

"Mia! Where are you?! what is happening?!"

"Dad, I a-am s-so...ugh...s-sorry to disa-appoint y-you and mom. I love you all...." with that the phone slipped past my hands as I accepted death calmly, not even once thinking about the people who had made my life so miserable.

"Mia! Mia! Damnit! Where are you, my daughter?!"