I was immediately rushed to the hospital all bloody and wounded, pregnant and involved in a car accident while coming home on my anniversary.

***

In the ambulance when the doctors asked me for my husband, my eyes teared up as I lied about being divorced. After going through a life-threatening surgery, the doctors shook their heads declaring, "Madam we are sorry but we could not save your child. He suffocated to death, if your husband had picked up your call we could have arrived much earlier, preventing this catastrophe."

Still in shock, I was discharged after three days with my husband being clueless about the state I was in. To inform him I unlocked my phone only to see the post of my mother-in-law.

In the post there was a photo of my husband Alpha Marco Snow with his childhood love Lucia. My husband gently held Lucia with his eyes softly gazing at her.

The caption being: 'They would make the best couple. She would have been my daughter-in-law if only my son wasn't snatched by a dirty orphan with no status.' My eyes stung when I read the heartbreaking taunts.

All of them were attending an event together at the royal palace of werewolves not knowing that I was the youngest child of the Alpha King and Luna Queen.

Earlier, I had bought a lot of gifts for my husband and was rushing home to the candlelight dinner I had set up, only for my car to be hit by a speeding bus.

My hands trying to shield the child in my belly were embedded with glass shards as I called my husband numerous times to my rescue while suffocating inside the broken car.

He did not pick up even after calling twenty-three times but messaged me instead.

[Marco: Stop bothering me! I will not be home today so don't wait, if you are useless the least you can do is to not create unnecessary drama.]

[Marco: Cancel the anniversary dinner by the way.]

By the time a rescue team arrived at the scene, I had almost lost my consciousness. They hurried me into the ambulance with sirens echoing all around.

"Damn she has lost a lot of blood, we have to operate on her immediately."

"Operate, we can't, she is pregnant, she might lose her child?"

"My baby.." I groaned in misery, trying hard to stay awake.

"Ma'am we need your husband to sign"

"I am divorced. P-please just save..save my child…"

The procedure was quickly done as I was taken to the emergency ward with the beeping sounds of machines all around me.

I felt pain blossoming in each pore of my body as soon as I woke up.

"My child.." I called out, only to be greeted by a female doctor who looked at me with pity.

"Ma'am, your child could not be saved. It was a life-threatening situation…if only we could have arrived earlier. We saw you called your husband so many times but he did not pick up, ma'am your child suffocated to death during that time." She sighed, yet my ears rang with fear as color drained from my face.

"What?"

"Ma'am please calm down"

"My child is dead? My baby!" I facepalmed, crying hard.

For the three days that I stayed at the hospital, Marco did not call me even once. As soon as I was discharged, I unlocked my phone to contact my husband only to come across my mother-in-law's post.

There was a photo of Marco and his mother eating at my favorite sushi restaurant, with my husband closely embracing Lucia, his childhood sweetheart, as he gazed at her lovingly.

The next photo made my blood run cold as the two posed in front of the werewolf royal palace, the home of my parents, the Lycan King and the Luna Queen.

They were attending the party exclusively meant for mates together. I trembled in shock, tears trailing down my cheeks.

This was a party that I had secretly asked my parents to organize because I wanted them to meet my mate Alpha Marco.

Yet Marco abandoned me, his pregnant mate, and took another woman to such a place while I was bleeding in the car, losing my baby.

The comments below the post were heartbreaking to read.

"Our college's hottest couple, god you people are still together?! Congratulations!"

"Lucia is the first and last choice of Marco, of course he would choose her over someone useless and poor."

"Lucia, only you are suited beside Marco."

"You look so good together, your child would be blessed to have your genes."

The ones commenting were Marco and Lucia's childhood friends, some of them already aware that Marco was married to me, yet their friend group had always been tight,four boys and one girl, closely knitted best friends, the group that I could never be a part of.

Marco and Lucia had been the perfect couple until Lucia found her mate, the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, for whom she left Marco.

After living three years abroad she finally returned after getting rejected by her abusive mate, earning the sympathy of the entire group and Marco.

Soon I became a villainess, a 'witch' who snatched Lucia's fortune named Marco and made him mine.

Marco's friends believed that her misfortune was all caused by me and I was the intruder breaking off the golden couple thus, I practically became the outcast of the pack, the most hated one.

Lucia was the princess of the group while I was the third wheel who caused her misery by always being 'dramatic.'

When I was at the palace, my father hated for me to do any work but I learned cooking, especially for Marco. The process was difficult and I often got burned, yet knowing that my mate could not digest oily food, I worked hard.

When he went out with his friends, I remembered to cook him light dishes along with his favorite seafood that I was allergic to. Even touching it developed blisters on my skin, yet this was treated by his friends with distaste.

They thought of me as a leech, thinking that I was an orphan trying to climb up the ranks by holding onto Marco who was an alpha.

"The witch." That was the nickname they called me behind my back.

Whenever his friends visited our home, they gave me a list of dishes to prepare for them. At first I refused because it was too tedious, yet when Marco insisted I prove myself useful, I gave in.

Today, yet again, Marco had chosen them over me. Maybe it's better this way. At least now, I won't be tempted to soften.

I liked my mother-in-law's post, which I knew she had specifically made for me to see, going as far as to comment.

"They look perfect together."

The comment section suddenly quietened down with Marco calling me almost instantly.

"Mila, there is no need to misunderstand my friends. They just like to joke around with Lucia and me, your comment made them uncomfortable. I know you must be sad to see the post, but understand, you disappointed Mom too much this time. She wanted us to attend the royal party together but at the last moment you were absent. I know I couldn't make it to our anniversary dinner but I am busy unlike you, you can't throw tantrums like this always."

I listened without a word, making Marco feel odd.

"Mila, when you come home let's sort this out first, you should apologize to Mom quickly."

"Okay." Horrible emotions choked my throat as I barely managed to utter a word. The man who killed my child was asking me for an apology.

"Mila…why aren't you asking anything about me?"

"No need, I already have my answers." With that I did not wait for him to respond as I hung up quickly, breaking into heart-wrenching sobs that made my entire being immersed in pain.

My parents were against I and Marco's relationship, yet when they realized that I loved this man too much to live without him, they gave our relationship a chance. But it was all in vain.

I booked a taxi home, and it was almost dawn when Marco arrived in a delirious state. The pitter-patter of his feet woke me up, and when he saw I was wide awake he froze, trying to come up with an excuse.

Marco, fearing that I would scold him for drinking so late, asked why I hadn't been home for the past three days. I just turned my body away from his direction.

"Are you now pretending to be angry with me?" he asked somewhat softly.

"No sobering soup for me tonight?"

"I am tired." Taken aback by the cold response, he sighed before adjusting the duvet to warm me up.

"You are pregnant, you should rest well. The child will be the future alpha." When Marco sat beside me, the aroma of a fruity perfume assaulted my senses, making it impossible to sleep.

I got up, collecting my pillow and blanket before making my way outside amidst tears.

"Mila?"

"I don't feel comfortable here." As soon as I shut the door behind me, Marco looked at the empty space beside him in shock.

The next day I left for the office early in the morning without waiting for Marco to wake up.

"This project is the most tedious and would require you to work overtime. Does anyone want to take it? The budget allocation is higher and you will be paid a good bonus."

"I will do it." As soon as I agreed, my colleagues were all startled while my boss asked hesitantly.

"Mila, what about your husband…also you are pregnant so we thought you would soon be going on maternity leave"

"Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage so I would not be needing any leave." The tense atmosphere made the meeting abruptly come to an end. My boss asked the others to leave while retaining me in the conference hall.

"Mila, I am sorry if I am overstepping my bounds but is everything alright between you and your husband?"

"You are an exceptional employee and I always wished to promote you, but then you would not have liked being separated from your family. I was wondering if you want to work at the main branch in the capital city." Her tone was careful not to offend me.

I smiled gently. "Thank you for considering me. I would love to relocate."

Surprised, she paused. "Actually, my husband was at the Southwest bar last night when he heard Alpha Marco talking to his friends." When I saw her hesitating I urged her to continue.

"He was discussing your baby, saying that since you are an orphan, you might not know how to raise a child, thus he asked a friend of his, Lucia, to help him around with the baby. I am sorry Mila, I just thought that if I were at your place I would want to know if my husband talked like this about me outside."

I felt like a bucket of ice-cold water was poured over my head.

So this was what my husband really thought about me.

I gave a teary smile, shaking my head. "Thank you."

At that moment my phone rang with Marco's caller ID flashing across the screen.

"Mila, did you leave early today? You are working too much, and you are already in your second trimester. Didn't I tell you already to resign? I am not sure if you ate your breakfast because when I woke up, there was none for me." At first he sounded concerned yet there were hints of displeasure in his voice.

I simply hummed as he continued.

He paused. "Even though I could not attend the anniversary dinner, I got a gift for you."

"Did you?" I asked indifferently.

"You love diamonds in a heart shape don't you? I bought a pendant for you…Strange, where did I keep it." He mumbled under his breath incoherently as I heard the sounds of shuffling around.

I heard him fumble through his pockets, muttering, "Strange, it's not here"

The rest of the words were swallowed as he recalled that he had given the pendant to someone else. In yesterday's photo, Lucia was wearing a diamond heart pendant around her neck. The imagery flashed across my eyes, making me tear up.

To quickly cover up the incident Marco made an excuse.

"I must have lost it somewhere"

"No need. I forgot to get you anything anyway."

"Mila, you have been like this since yesterday. Since you cannot do much, the least I expect from you is to take care of the household chores, cook and look good for me. Stop behaving like it was a big deal!"

"Yes, it was unimportant." Tears dribbled down my eyes listening to his cruel words.

Yes he did buy me a gift. One that must have first been worn by his childhood sweetheart and later given to me as charity.

"I can never make you happy no matter how hard I try.

Also Marco, my favorite gemstones have been sapphires since I was a child. Not once in my life have I ever worn diamonds."

With that, I hung up.

After that, I kept myself so engrossed in work that I rarely went home, making Marco 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.

"Mila, Marco 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 to 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 Marco separating. I have organized a dinner today, inviting Marco's close friends. Arrive on time with Marco and do not create a scene here."

From start to finish she ordered me around before hanging up.

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

Marco's mother was sitting at the head of the table when I entered the hall. A hush fell over the room as Marco's friends rolled their eyes the moment they saw me.

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

"The witch is here to intrude between the loving couple again." Their voices were not low. They spoke deliberately, making sure I heard every word.

"Mila sit down here." Marco's mother pointed to a seat only for me to ignore her, already seated at the far end of the table.

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

"Who are you again?" I raised my head and stared directly at him with complete disinterest, like he was a clown performing for an empty crowd. Their smiles were wiped off instantly.

Shortly after, Marco arrived with Lucia by his side.

When he saw that I had arrived earlier than expected and was looking between him and Lucia, he quickly put distance between himself and her.

I noticed Lucia had removed the pendant. Without another word she followed my mother-in-law to the kitchen.

Marco quickly took the seat beside me, smiling gently as he moved my hair to one side and clasped the diamond pendant around my neck, putting on a show of a loving couple.

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

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

The pendant around my neck felt suffocating. I took it off without a word, shocking Marco.

"Mila, what the hell do you think you are doing?"

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

"Mila, why did you take it off?" My mother-in-law glared at me from across the table.

"It's just too tight." I ignored the murmurs around me and sat quietly without speaking another word to Marco.

In reality, diamonds were considered deeply 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 home.

From the kitchen I heard my mother-in-law laughing warmly with Lucia 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 Lucia, let Mila help the servant with the dishes. You must have never done such things and to think you are so kind even to the maids. If only Mila was half as sensible as you. But since she started living at Marco's house, he kicked out the maid. She can do all the 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 Mila do it."

I bit my lip as my husband agreed with his mother, seeing nothing wrong with overworking his wife.

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

"Aunty, these past years I missed you so much. There has not been a single day I did not think about Marco." Nobody at that table felt anything wrong with Lucia's words, longing for another woman's husband while already mated to someone else.

"Of course dear. If things had not gone wrong, you would have already been my daughter-in-law." Marco's mother teased, casting a quick glance in my direction before pulling Lucia closer. Marco did not speak a word, still angry that I had 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. Mila meet Lucia, my goddaughter. She and Marco are childhood friends and were raised alongside each other.

I heard that you were making a fuss at home because of her, but Lucia is like a sister to Marco 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, Lucia was only doing a favor to you." Marco's friend Colin spoke with a smug look on his face. He was the one who quietly championed the perfect match and gave me the nickname 'homewrecker' behind closed doors.

"Yes Mila, you are always checking up on Marco. You are just too controlling. Do you think we are going to ruin Marco's life? Since Lucia and Marco are inseparable, if he wanted to leave you, he would have done that long ago.

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

My eyes widened.

Our Jade Moon Pack was going to be merged with another. And as the Luna, I was not even aware of any such thing.

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