I was once the Alpha's adopted daughter, but I took the fall for the man I loved and spent three years in the Pack prison. Then I had his pup before we were ever mated.

This was the ninety-ninth time I'd asked for a mating ceremony. He swept his arm across the desk and sent everything crashing to the floor.

"You really think you deserve to be mated to me? You've done time. You're nothing."

"I've been too good to you. You've forgotten your place."

But he was the one who'd promised. He said once I had the baby, we'd have the ceremony and be mates.

He slammed the door on his way out. He didn't come home for three months. He cut me off completely. The power and water were shut off.

My pup Lily had a fever that wouldn't break. I had no choice. I carried her to Pack headquarters to find him, and that's when I heard him talking to Serena.

"Babe, when are you finally going to leave that trashy Ivy? We're the ones who actually went through the ceremony. We're the real mates."

His voice went all soft and indulgent, and it made my skin crawl. "I want to cut ties with her too. It's her fault — she couldn't give me a son."

"She's done time. How could she ever be worthy of me?"

But he seemed to have forgotten — the reason I was locked up in the first place was because I took the fall for him.

I barged into Zane's office. Serena scrambled off his lap the second she saw me.

When Zane saw it was me, his face was pure irritation.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long breath, then hissed through clenched teeth, "Who said you could come to Pack HQ? Look at yourself — you're a mess. Don't you have any self-respect?"

I held my sick child tight against my chest. The accusation on my tongue came out as a weak explanation instead.

"I called you, but you didn't pick up. Zane, our daughter is sick. I had no other choice, so I came here to find you."

He slapped me across the face, then pointed at the office door and snarled under his breath.

"Get out. I give you two thousand a month. If you'd been less wasteful, how would you not have enough to take the pup to a healer?"

Two thousand a month, and it had to cover every expense in the house. Not a single cent of that money was ever spent on me.

Tears poured down my face. My knees buckled and I dropped to the floor in front of him.

"Say whatever you want about me, but please — save our daughter first. I can't afford the healer's fees anymore."

He struck me again, then put his arm around Serena's waist and walked out of the office.

All he said was: "You reap what you sow."

I sat in his office holding my child, crying for a long time.

My tears dripped onto Lily's small hand. She struggled to open her eyes, her voice scratchy, and called out, "Mama."

That one word pulled me back to reality. Right — I still had to save Lily.

I carried my daughter and walked on foot to the Whitmore Pack House. I wasn't their biological daughter, but they'd raised me for twenty years. That had to count for something.

They wouldn't even let me through the door.

"You're not even a real Whitmore. Why should we lend you money?"

Catherine's words hit me hard. I called out in disbelief, "Mom."

She glanced at me with irritation.

"You're a fraud. Serena is our real daughter."

My voice shook. "Mom, I'm your daughter too."

The way she looked at me — there was disgust in her eyes. She turned and walked into the living room, then came back holding a glass of water. I reached out eagerly to take it.

Of course. No matter whether I was her biological daughter or not, she still loved me.

The next second, she threw the water in my face. It soaked my child too.

Before Serena came back, Catherine had loved Lily — her granddaughter — more than anyone.

I didn't have time to confront her. I pulled off my jacket and wiped the water from my child.

"Lily. Lily."

Lily's face was deathly pale, but she forced a smile for me.

Lily passed out. I didn't think twice. I scooped her up and ran toward the Pack healer's ward.

Halfway there, I spotted a familiar car. Without a second thought, I ran into the middle of the road and blocked it.

Zane stepped out and shouted at me with pure annoyance. "What do you want now? Where was all this urgency when you were blowing through money? Did it never cross your mind that this day would come?"

I stood in front of him, small and powerless. The words stuck in my throat were shoved back down by his accusations.

I bowed to him and begged him to drive us to the healer. He said nothing and got back in the car. I thought he'd softened.

But before I could get in, the car was already gone.

In a daze, I thought I saw the old Zane.

Back when I was still the Alpha's daughter, I was the only one in his heart. He'd look at me with those pitiful eyes and mumble, "I'm useless. All I do is spend your money. Once I make it on my own, I'll pay you back for everything."

After we got together, he got exactly what he wanted — the Whitmore Pack's backing. He established himself in the city.

But the way he treated me did a complete one-eighty. Especially after he found out I wasn't a Whitmore by blood.

Lily's breathing was getting weaker. By the time I reached the healer, she'd almost stopped breathing entirely.

Before they took her in, Lily held back her tears and asked me, "Mama, is Daddy going to come?"

I choked back sobs and promised her — when she woke up, Daddy would be there.

The light above the ward burned into me, so painful I could barely breathe.

The healer came out and told me it was bad — severe lung infection, collapsed chest cavity. She might not make it.

I called every friend I had. None of them would lend money to someone who'd done time.

I sat outside the ward and wailed.

I called Zane one more time. On the other end, I could hear them — his family, laughing together.

That laughter cut through my heart. I choked out the words. "Lily's with the healer. It's serious. Can you come?"

Before I could finish, Zane cut me off. "The healer? Your tricks to scam money are getting more creative, aren't they? It's just a cold and a fever. Why would she be in the ward?"

I heard them laughing on his end, and then Serena's mocking voice.

"Sis, did the dungeon rot your brain? A cold doesn't land you in the healer's ward. Next time you lie, at least think it through first."

The line went dead. I lost the last bit of strength I had left to fight.

Tears blurred my vision. I thought I saw the old Zane again, gripping my hand tight, saying, "I'm here. Don't worry. Lily's going to be fine."

When the healer came out with another payment slip, I was out of options. I made the call.

"I'll join your Pack. But I need a year's salary in advance. And I can't start until next month."

The person on the other end laughed. "A million. It's in your account."

I sat outside the ward in agony. I don't know how long it was before the door finally opened.

The healer pulled down his mask under my hopeful gaze and bowed his head. "We did everything we could."

I collapsed to the floor. Lily's sweet face floated through my mind.

"Lily was such a good girl. How could this happen? How?"

They wheeled out her small body. I grabbed her and held her, sobbing like a madwoman.

"Lily, this is Mama's fault. If Mama had been just a little more careful with money, then maybe you wouldn't have — you wouldn't —"

This time, Lily didn't answer me.

I carried Lily through the streets. Rain soaked us both. Through the haze, I thought I heard her call out "Mama" from my arms.

I answered her, wild with joy. But when I looked down, all I saw was her pale, still face.

Something inside me snapped. I dropped to my knees in the rain and howled.

After I laid Lily to rest, I went to the Whitmore Pack House.

Laughter rang out from inside. My hand froze in the air, mid-knock.

My Lily was dead, and they were in there laughing.

I wiped my tears and knocked on the door.

The second it opened, Catherine's voice hit me. "What are you doing back here? This isn't your home. Take that cursed child of yours and get out."

Serena put on a show, dabbing at tears that weren't really there. "Mom, why is she so selfish? She stole twenty years of my life, and now she's trying to steal my parents too."

I ignored her. I walked straight to Zane and slapped him hard across the face.

I stared at him, teeth clenched. "You're a monster. You watched your own daughter die and did nothing. You don't deserve to call yourself a father."

Zane stared back at me, indignant. "Have you lost your mind?"

I stared at him blankly. I checked again and again. He wasn't the Zane I used to know. That Zane never raised his voice at me.

Catherine pulled Serena behind her, shielding her.

"Your father and I have seen how Zane treats you all these years. How can you stand there and say that?"

I let out a bitter laugh and threw her words right back at her.

"Treats me well — so he had a ceremony with Serena behind my back?"

"Treats me well — so he manipulated me into staying home as his unpaid servant?"

"Treats me well — so he set me up to take the fall and let me rot in the dungeon for three years?"

Catherine's eyes blazed. She slapped me and snapped, "You stole Serena's life. Everything you had should have been hers."

"Besides, you've done time. How could you ever be worthy of a mate like Zane? You should be thanking Serena."

Her words cut into me. So they all knew about the ceremony. Every single one of them. I was the only one who didn't.

I looked at them all. I felt nothing.

I had nowhere to put all the pain. I didn't go home. I went to the Pack cemetery instead.

A place that used to terrify me from a distance now felt like the only place that welcomed me.

When I got home, Zane was sitting in the living room waiting for me. That never happened.

It was just like the early days, when we first got together. He'd sit right there, waiting for me to come home.

"What's your problem? You didn't pick up the pup, you didn't cook dinner — are you trying to starve me?"

His words dragged me back to the present. The old Zane, no matter how useless he was in the kitchen, would at least have a bowl of noodles waiting for me when I got home. Then he'd sit there, waiting for me to praise him.

"What are we, Zane? We're nothing. And this is my house. Get out."

He stared at me, his frown deepening. "Just because I cut off your money, you're going to act like this?"

"I was trying to teach you a lesson. Break that spending habit of yours. You think money grows on trees?"

I let out a hollow laugh. Right. Money doesn't grow on trees.

When we were together, I used to transfer him fifty thousand a month for pocket money. I bought him gifts every other week.

Now he knew money didn't grow on trees.

"Get out."