“You are right. After you said this, I also think this bracelet doesn't look very good on your wrist. I think It will look good on Emily's wrist. What do you think, Mike?” Darek said while looking carefully at the bracelets. Mike eyes' shined brightly as he said in an excited voice, “You are right. It was one of the latest collections and very expensive. Emily would surely love it.”

Darek then turned to me before saying, “ Janette, you didn't give any gift to Emily on her birthday yesterday. I think it can be the best present you can offer to your cousin.”

“ Darek is correct.” Mike added.

They didn't go to the depth of my words and promised me to buy a new one for me that would suit me better.

“Alright,” I said flatly before turning to my wardrobe to close it. Only now did they notice my wardrobe that was all vacant.

Darek narrowed his eyes as he asked, “Janette, why is your wardrobe empty? Where are your belongings?”

“What is going with you, Janette? Is everything alright?” Mike asked in a concerned voice.

After my father’s death, his home was a heartache to me. It has always been difficult to live here without him. However, Darek and Mike were my biggest support. With them, I never felt alone. However, after Emily's arrival, their feelings for me had been shifting slowly. Most of the time, I stayed at home crying day and night, missing my father. Meanwhile they were busy making Emily feel comfortable in a new place. Seeing them moving around Emily day and night who was the cause of my father's death, my heartache. I couldn't tolerate it anymore. So, I decided to move out from this place.

I remained silent. I didn't want to tell them all this. Seeing me like this, they were worried. Darek asked in a more concerned voice, “Janette, are you having any trouble? Or you are going out on a trip? You can tell us. We will help you.”

Before I could say anything, Mike's phone rang. It was again Emily's call. He picked up the call and her pitiful voice sounded from the other end,

“Mike, where are You and Darek? I’m at the hospital alone. I’m feeling really bad. Can you please hurry up? I want to move out immediately.”

“Don't be scared, Emily. We are coming soon.” Mike comforted her before hanging up as if she was a kid who was scared in the hospital.

Both of them left immediately to bring Emily home, completely ignoring me.

I sighed and shut the door. At that moment, my phone rang. I picked up the call. It was my Mom.

“Janette,” she called me in a soft voice, “It was the death anniversary of your father yesterday. How are you now? I wanted to call you but I thought you had your friends to accompany you. I know they will never let you cry.”

My mother’s words brought tears to my eyes, but I suppressed them. She then continued, “Janette, I met with an accident yesterday and got hospitalized. I want to see you. Can you please come over and visit me when you have time?”

“Mom,” I called her anxiously, “ Why didn't you tell me earlier? How did this happen? How are you now?”

“I’m okay, dear. Don't be so worried. I didn't call you yesterday because I didn't want you to be so worried about me. It was already a hard day for you. It's just that I’m getting old. I don't know how many days I have left. I want to spend some more time with you.”

“Mom, please don't say that. You will live long and don't worry, I’ll immediately book a flight to come see you.” I replied.

“Janette, there is one more thing I want to tell you.” She paused for a while then continued, “ You see your father is no more and I’m getting old. It's time that you should also settle down and find a suitable husband for you so that your mother can rest in peace.”

“Mom, please don't worry about me so much.” I tried to stop her but she cut me off and continued,“Janette, hear me out please. I have fixed a date for you with Sebastian Moore. He is the Alpha of Knighthood pack, one of the most powerful packs among the kingdom. Earlier I didn't interfere in your personal affairs because I always thought you would pick one of your childhood friends as your husband. But, after knowing Sebastian, I think he will be the best choice for you.”

“ Janette, your father's pack was not strong enough and after his death, it's so hard on you to handle pack duties alone. Besides, many people in the pack oppose you because you are a girl. After you get married to Sebastian, your position in the pack will never be challenged and he will even help you in handling pack duties.” She added.

I remembered how my parents used to celebrate my birthday together every year, even after their divorce. They will joke how close I was with Darek and Mike that made them think I would surely marry one of them after growing up. On this, Darek and Mike would fight. They both used to take their names and say that I will choose them. Now, my father was gone and my two childhood friends had shifted their feelings.

“Janette, why are you not saying anything? Please, don't get anxious about what I said. If you already had someone in your heart, I would surely not force you. After all, both Darek and Mike are nice kids. I just wanted you to consider Sebastian as well. But, if you don't want…”

“I will consider it.” I replied in a stern voice and hung up.

After hanging up, I began searching for the flight and immediately booked one to visit my mother. I wanted to see her as soon as possible. Once I was done, my phone rang. It was a call from my father's beta, Uncle Mathew. I received the call and greeted him.

“Janette, yesterday I forgot to tell you something. Before dying your father had designed a beautiful piece of jwellery. He said it was the best design of his career. He said he would gift it to you on your wedding.” He paused for a while before adding, “He gave that pendant called Diamond Jade to me to keep it safe and the next day he died. It’s very expensive. I thought a lot about it and I think it can be the biggest gift for your upcoming birthday, the last piece of your father design.”

“Thank you so much Uncle Mathew for telling me this. I’ll keep his last design till my last breath.” I said with hoarse voice.

“I have sent the pendant at your home with my son. He may reach your home anytime soon.” Uncle Mathew said.

A few minutes later, Darek and Mike brought Emily with them. They busied themselves in taking care of her. One was feeding her with his own hands while the other was applying medicine on her wounds. I glanced them from upstairs and then go back to my room. I didn't want to part of this beautiful scenery. I was just waiting for Uncle Mathew’s son to see my father's last design. I heard the sound of door bell and immediately came out of my room. While walking downstairs I saw Emily collecting the jwellery from Uncle Mathew’s son. She didn't bother herself in asking for my permission and immediately opened the jwellery box. When her gaze fell on the beautiful pendant, she wanted to try it on.

“How beautiful this is! I want to see how it will look on me…” she exclaimed, her eyes filled with greed.

“Don't even think about touching it.” I yelled from behind before walking up to her. She had already snatched my two childhood friends from me who were so close to my heart. Now seeing her having ulterior motives towards my father's last gift to me, I couldn't hold myself anymore.

“Why are you being so angry, Janette? I just want to try it once. It's not like I'm taking it for real.” She pouted, still holding the jwellery box tightly.

“You don't deserve that.” I said in a cold voice while raising my hands to take the jewellery box from her hand. But, she was too stubborn. She held it tightly, not letting me take it.

“Leave it, Emily.” I struggled.

“No, I'm gonna try it first.” She replied rudely while snatching the jewellery box. In result, the pendant fell off the floor and broke down into two pieces. Tears were formed in my eyes while seeing the pendant lying on the floor. I pursed my lips as I looked up at Emily with a pair of furious eyes. Meanwhile, she began sobbing while apologizing to me, “I’m sorry, Janette. I-I was just looking at it. Why did you push me this way? You know I was just discharged from the hospital and my wounds are still fresh. If I knew you would be this angry, I hadn't touched the jwellery box at first place.”

I was surprised to see her reaction. A few minutes ago, she was being mean to me and now suddenly she turned into this. However, hearing Darek’s voice from behind I understood everything.

“Why are you being so mean to her, Janette?” Darek said while coming between me and her.

“You have now started fighting with her over a piece of inexpensive jwellery? I can't believe it's really you.” Mike also came between us. They both turned to Emily. Darek began wiping her crocodile’s tears while Mike began comforting her, saying, “Don't cry, Emily. It's not your fault. We know how sweet and kind you are.”

I was devastated looking at them like that. They called my father’s last design an inexpensive item, worth noting. But to me, it was the most precious gift from my Dad to me. He wanted me to wear it on my wedding but now it was broken. And instead of comforting me, they were blaming me for being mean.

Darek walked up to me and said, “Apologize to Emily, Janette. You made her cry over a piece of jewelry.”

“I will not.” I said stubbornly.

Mike pulled my arms to look into my eyes, saying in a cold voice, “Janette, Apologize…”

They were so lost in feeling bad for Emily that they didn't even notice my hand was also cut by the broken jwellery and was bleeding.

I suppressed the tears within me and didn't say anything this time. Meanwhile they were still insisting me to apologise to Emily. Just then my Mom called me. I took a few steps away from them to answer her call.

“Hello, Mom.” I said as soon as I picked up the call.

“Janette, I called to ask whether you have booked the flight ticket or I do it for you?” She asked.

“No need, Mom. I have booked the ticket. I’ll soon leave from here.” I replied before hanging up.

Darek and Mike overheard my conversation. They walked up to me and began asking me questions one by one.

“Are you going somewhere, Janette?” Darek asked,

“Why didn't you tell us before? We would have booked the ticket for you.” Mike added.

“Where are you going anyways? You know we don't feel good if you are away for too long.” Darek said with curious eyes.

“Yes, tell us. I hope it's not for long.” Mike said excitedly.

“Why are you not replying, Janette? Say something, where are you going?” Darek asked impatiently.

“Would there be any impact on you two if tell you where I’m leaving for?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” Darek asked, looking confused.

“Nothing,” I shook my head, letting go of the idea of telling them that I was planning to leave everything behind. I just said, “My mom met an accident a day before. She is hospitalized. There is no one in the pack to take care of her. I’m going to see her. I plan to stay with her for a while.”

“Aunt Sarah is hospitalized? Why didn't you tell us earlier?” Mike snapped.

‘Why didn't you tell us earlier?’ had become their usual questions because they were never available when I needed them the most.

“Do you want our help with anything?” Darek asked in a concerned voice.

“No,” I retorted, “I have done everything else. But, if you want you two can come with me. My Mom will be happy to see you. She was even asking about you guys.”

I genuinely wanted them to visit my Mom as she was quite fond of them. She would feel good if they could come visit her with me. However, Darek and Mike glanced at Emily before turning to me. Darek said, “I really want to go with you, Janette. But, you see Emily has just discharged from the Hospital. How can I left her alone here? I’m sorry, I can't.”

“Emily is still injured. She might need medical support anytime. Since I’m a Doctor. I should always stay with her.” Mike added.

They both denied coming with me just because they wanted to be with Emily. I was disappointed with both of my friends. There was a time when they used to make several excuses to leave their respective packs and come live in my pack just to stay close to me. Now, they were making excuses to stay with Emily. I could easily see through them.

Feeling disappointed, I go back to my room. The next morning, I came downstairs to prepare breakfast but was surprised to see all three of them available there.

“What is going on here?” I asked while raising my eyebrows.

“Janette, Emily was feeling bad for your jwellery piece. So, she has cooked breakfast for you.” Darek said excitedly.

“It was completely your fault, yesterday. But, Emily insist on doing something for you to apologise for her mistake. See how considerate she is!” Mike commented, reminding me that I should have apologized to her. Seeing them still accusing me for the last day's incident in which I lost my father's last design made me lose my hunger. I no longer wanted to eat anything.

“I’m not hungry. I don't want to have such a heavy breakfast.” I said while pointing at the Eggs Benedict.

Darek and Mike held my arms and took me to the corner of the kitchen with Darek saying in a low voice, “Janette, how could you be so unthankful. Emily woke up early in the morning just to make breakfast for you and here you are throwing tantrums.”

“I’m not throwing tantrums. I’m just not hungry.” I snapped.

“Even if you are not hungry, you can still eat some for Emily’s sake, can't you? Just be a little considerate towards her, Janette. After all, she is your cousin.” Mike whispered, “Look how hurt she is looking right now. It's all because of you.”

With a defeated sigh, I said, “ Okay fine, I’ll eat.”

I found it pointless to argue with them and came to the dinning hall. Looking at the breakfast before my eyes, I smiled ironically. My two childhood friends were so busy coaxing their new sweetheart that they completely forgot I hated eggs and they were now forcing me to eat Eggs Benedict.

I took one bite from my plate and my eyebrows twitched. It contained lemon juice and I had a very rare citrus allergy. In my reflexive response, I immediately tossed the plate aside, causing it to fall on the floor and stood up choking.

Darek and Mike stood up along with me. I thought they were going to help me. However, they were looking at me with cold eyes before shouting at me. Darek yelled, “What is this behavior, Janette? I get that you didn't want to eat but throwing it on the floor is just too much.”

“How can you do that? Can't you see the efforts Emily had put for you and be pleased?” Mike snapped. Meanwhile, Emily began crying while saying, “I’m sorry, Janette. I just wanted to ease your mind. But if you hate me because I touched your jewelry, I will… I will…”

She began sobbing. Darek and Mike rushed to comfort her.

“Don't cry, Emily. We are with you. And last night's incident. Just forget about it, okay?” Darek said while stroking her hair.

“How about we go shopping and buy new dresses for you, huh? Would you like that?” Mike asked gently. She nodded her head and both of them left with her, leaving me alone. I was choking continuously and needed someone. I had never been left alone in circumstances like this. Earlier my father and my friends were always with me. Even if I got minor scratches on my body, they would rush to offer me help. When I ask them why they care so much about me. They would reply ‘We love taking care of you.’

Their words that once filled my heart with joy were now piercing my heart like an arrow seeing how they had changed in the past six months. I didn't know that their love of ten years was so weak that it could be shaken easily by the arrival of new beauty in their life.