I opened my eyes to a familiar ceiling. Every bone in my body felt like it had been broken and reconnected. The pain was unbearable, but I was still alive, and that was all that mattered.

Even though my body was wrecked, the thought of what I was going to do next gave me a surge of adrenaline that got me out of bed.

I used to believe going through the mate bond with Drevan was my only way to survive. I had also convinced myself it was for his sake. But the truth was that there had always been a more ruthless and decisive way to break the Sympathetic Pain curse.

If my mate sincerely rejected me, I could cut my own flesh to forcibly reverse the Sympathetic Pain curse and send all that suffering back to him tenfold.

I'd always known this was possible, but I'd loved Drevan too much. The thought of causing him pain felt unbearably cruel, so I'd chosen three years of torture over letting him suffer even the slightest bit.

But at the altar, Drevan had publicly crushed whatever love I had left for him. It was replaced by cold, empty hatred.

He was just an enemy now, which meant the forbidden method I'd refused to use out of love had become my best shot at freedom. I turned away, my expression turning blank.

Just then, the door slammed open. Drevan strode in, looking down at me without a trace of concern.

"You're awake? Then stop lying there and playing dead."

He tossed a plain-looking dress onto the bed. It was something modest enough to hide my bruised and battered body.

He continued, "Put it on. You have ten minutes to change out of those filthy clothes. The guests outside are gossiping that I abused my former mate for Belle's sake.

"You're going to walk through the banquet hall and tell everyone you were just pretending to be sick and that you're perfectly fine. Remember, don't ruin Belle's and my celebration with that sickly act of yours."

I didn't argue and picked up the dress in silence.

My indifferent compliance seemed to please him.

"Now, that's more like it. Later, you'll cut the cake for everyone. Once you're done, you can finally leave the Darkmoon pack for good."

If I were cutting the cake, it would mean there would be a knife. I had to appreciate the irony of him providing both a public stage and a weapon for what I had planned.

"Got it," I agreed without hesitation.

…

The banquet hall was brightly lit and filled with the sound of clinking glasses.

I stepped inside expressionlessly while wearing the dress that hid my injuries. The hall erupted immediately into harsh murmurs.

"Can't believe she had the nerve to show up here."

"If I were her, I'd never show my face again."

"Just looking at her is depressing."

I kept my head down and walked toward the main table under everyone's gaze.

Drevan was there with his arm around Belle, both of them swirling wine in their glasses. The second Belle spotted me, she let out a giggle and slid a silk-covered box in my direction.

"Come over here, Kyra." She deliberately raised her voice. "This is a special honor Drevan prepared just for you. After all, you're my elder sister, so you should be the one to cut the last cake."

I walked over and pulled back the silk covering. Ignoring the sickly-sweet cake, I only focused on the ornate knife. It had a long handle and a slender blade polished to a mirror shine. Under the chandelier light, it gleamed with a cold brightness that I found deeply satisfying. I wrapped my fingers around the handle.

"Well? Cut it already," Drevan urged impatiently. "What are you waiting for? Cut it nicely, and don't ruin my cake."

I ignored the cake completely and slowly raised my head to look at him. The eyes that had once been filled with love were now empty and dead, boring straight into him with nothing but cold emptiness behind them.

Drevan seemed rattled by my stare, and I saw him shiver before he stammered, "Kyra, w-what are you looking at?"

"Relax," I said, my voice sending shivers down everyone's spine. "You're about to see a very memorable cutting technique."

Before anyone could react, I twisted my wrist and drove the blade straight through my left palm. The sound of steel puncturing flesh rang out clearly, and blood sprayed across the white tablecloth and onto the cake like a fountain.

Belle shrieked, and Drevan shot to his feet.

"Kyra! Have you lost your mind?" he shouted.

The hall erupted into chaos around me, but I felt perfectly calm. The pain was my liberation, and I felt an unprecedented power surge through my blood.

I stared at Drevan's terrified gaze and slowly recited the incantation. "The blood bears witness, and the heart offers a sacrifice.

"You rejected me, right?"

I pulled the blade out, splattering droplets of blood across his face.

"So now, I'm granting your wish. It's time to pay back every bit of suffering you put me through these past three years."