For our college graduation trip, I spent a whole week glued to various travel apps, finally snagging a half-price couples' train package.

I was just about to share the good news with my boyfriend and call it a night when his message came through.

"Anna's going through a breakup. She needs to get away and clear her head. We're gonna use those tickets."

"See if you can grab yourself another single ticket. It's not that much anyway - like five or six hundred bucks."

For a moment, I was speechless.

Before he received the scholarship my dad’s pack had specifically established for him, five or six hundred dollars used to be his entire monthly allowance.

After a moment of silence, I picked up my phone:

“Dad, prepare a private jet for me. I want to take a trip alone before graduation.”

For our college graduation trip, I spent a whole week glued to various travel apps, finally snagging a half-price couples' train package.

The payment confirmation popped up on my phone screen, and I let out a long breath of relief.

I was just about to share the good news with my boyfriend and call it a night when his message came through.

"Anna's going through a breakup. She needs to get away and clear her head. We're gonna use those tickets."

"See if you can grab yourself a single ticket. It's not that much anyway - like five or six hundred bucks."

I stared at the travel app showing my modified booking order.

For a moment, I was speechless.

Before he received the scholarship my family's pack had specifically established for him, five or six hundred dollars used to be his entire monthly allowance.

When he first started college, he couldn't even afford a fifty-dollar pair of shoes.

How could he have the nerve to say something like that?

After a moment of silence, I picked up my phone:

"Dad, does our pack have any tourism businesses?"

My father was so stunned by this question that he didn't speak for several seconds.

My father was the Alpha of the most powerful pack in the entire Northern Territory.

But except for things related to my boyfriend Chase, I have never spent a penny carelessly and never asked the family for special privileges.

"We do, sweetheart. Dad just opened a travel company."

My father knew me well. He understood I wasn't the type to cause trouble without reason.

I knew him just as well. I knew our pack couldn't care less about the measly profits from tourism - we didn't have a travel company. But he'd register one the moment I hung up.

For once, I didn't stop him:

"Before graduation, I want to take a trip."

"Of course, leave everything to Dad. I'll arrange the guides, private jets, hotels, activities - everything. I'll make sure you have the time of your life."

I hummed in agreement and hung up.

The phone barely had time to rest before it started ringing again, urgent and shrill.

It was Chase.

"Quinn, what's your deal? Now you're ignoring my messages too?"

His voice dripped with aggression and accusation, like a lion whose territory had been challenged.

"I ask you to buy one extra ticket and this is how you react? You're that stingy about a few hundred bucks?"

I gripped the phone, my knuckles white, fingers trembling with rage:

"That was a couples' package I fought for an entire week to get. Did you even think about how I'd feel?"

"I had my reasons."

Chase launched into his self-righteous lecture:

"When I was up for that scholarship, Anna helped me out. Without her, I never would've gotten it. She's heartbroken and needs support and comfort."

"How can you be so insensitive? Don't you get basic human decency?"

She helped you? What about me?

I pulled three all-nighters organizing your application materials.

I swallowed those words.

"Chase, this is our graduation trip - just the two of us. I saved up for half a month to afford this ticket."

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wanted to create something beautiful and unforgettable in our youth, and you're dragging a stranger into it. What's that supposed to mean..."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

Chase's voice cut right through mine.

"Money, money, money. That's all you ever think about."

"Don't you understand gratitude? She's all alone here, no family or friends, dumped by some jerk, and she needs a little comfort. You won't even do this small thing?"

"Gratitude? What are you planning to repay me with for everything I've given you?"

My heart turned to ice as I whispered those words, barely audible.

"Hello? Quinn, don't play dumb with me. Speak up! Is buying one train ticket gonna kill you or what?"

"I skipped dinner for half a month to afford this ticket, and you just casually give away my hard work?"

"It's just one ticket. You're being way too dramatic."

Chase's tone was completely dismissive.

"Besides, nobody forced you to skip dinner. You chose not to eat dinner - whose fault is that? When did you become such a drama queen?"

Hearing his words, I couldn't help but laugh.

Me, a drama queen?

After everything I'd sacrificed for him, not even getting a thank you - just being told I'd become "such a drama queen"?

He had no idea that just moments ago, with one sentence from me, this world had gained a new competitor powerful enough to bankrupt countless travel companies.

I used to want to keep this as a surprise, to reveal my true identity before we got officially mated.

Now, I didn't want to say anything.

I wanted to see just how far he and that attention-seeking "pick-me girl" could push things!

During my silence, Chase seemed to think I was feeling guilty. His tone softened, turning persuasive.

"Look, maybe I messed up, okay? When we get back from the trip, I'll take you out for a nice dinner. That should make up for it, right?"

"Just try to snag another ticket. Anna and I will wait for you at the gate."

His tone was so patronizing, like he was doing me some huge favor by throwing me a bone.

"No need." The words came out ice-cold.

Chase didn't get it at first, barely keeping his temper in check.

"No need for what? I've explained everything to you - why are you still being such a brat about this?"

"Do I need to tear into you before you'll listen?"

His anger didn't spark anything in me. I felt completely numb inside.

"Take the tickets and go. Don't wait for me. Hope you two have a blast."

"Quinn, what the hell is your problem?"

Chase's voice got even sharper.

"This whole trip was your idea, and now you're bailing? Are you screwing with me? Stop acting like a spoiled princess. You came from nothing - stop being such a pain in the ass!"

Ha!

I couldn't help but snort inwardly.

If I came from nothing, then there are barely any rich people left in this world.

I pushed down the bitter laugh and tried to keep my voice steady:

"I'm not bailing. I mean I'll figure out my own way there. Might not be on the same train as you guys. You and Anna just go ahead and have fun - I'll probably get there later than you."

Seeing me cave and say exactly what he wanted to hear, Chase was satisfied.

"Now that's my girl."

"You know, you're way too stubborn. Nobody else would put up with your attitude but me."

"Alright, I gotta help Anna pack. You better get on booking that ticket."

"Mm."

I couldn't bring myself to say another word - just made some emotionless sound through my nose.

After hanging up, I couldn't help thinking about how things used to be.

He wasn't always like this.

I first met Chase when I was eight years old.

Back then, Mom and Dad were busy building our pack. Every day they were either dealing with border wars against rogue wolves or expanding our pack's business ventures in the human world.

My parents thought it was too dangerous for me to stay at the pack compound, so they sent me to live with my grandparents in a remote rural area. I only got to see Mom and Dad once a year, at Christmas.

The other kids said I was some abandoned kid with no parents. They wouldn't play with me.

Not only that, but they formed their little cliques at school, excluded me, bullied me.

I remember this one time, some older girls cornered me in the bathroom demanding money.

I didn't have any, so they wouldn't let me leave.

Chase suddenly showed up, shoved the bullies away, and saved me.

That was the first time we met.

From then on, we became best friends, playing together every day.

He was the one bright spot in my dark childhood, bringing me the only joy and warmth I knew.

Later, Mom and Dad's pack became the strongest and wealthiest in the entire Northern Territory. The companies they've established in the human world span multiple industries.

I moved back to continue school at the pack territory, forcing me and Chase apart.

But I never forgot about Chase.

I kept asking my parents to secretly help his family, to help him.

With our family's hidden support, Chase went from elementary school in the countryside, to middle school in town, to high school in the city.

When he finally transferred to the big city where I was, I excitedly asked Dad for my first real favor - to transfer to Chase's school and class.

When I got my wish and tried to greet him, barely containing my excitement, he acted like he didn't know me.

He'd forgotten me.

I didn't give up.

If he'd forgotten, then we'd start over.

A few months later, I confessed to him first, and we naturally became a couple.

We've been stumbling along together ever since.

But what I never expected was this:

Chase hadn't just forgotten me - he'd changed completely.

These past few years, I've been hiding my identity, wanting to struggle alongside him, to grow together.

Dad couldn't talk me out of it. When he couldn't stand watching anymore, he donated fifty million to the school.

He specifically created a scholarship program for the two of us, hoping our lives would improve.

But still.

Chase changed.

Completely and utterly changed.

He was no longer the light that brought me warmth and joy.

He hurt me over and over again, bringing me nothing but pain.

The more I loved him, the less he valued me.

It wasn't until now that I finally woke up completely and saw everything clearly.

With Dad handling all the travel arrangements, I didn't need to worry about anything.

I'd just laid down to get some rest when my phone started buzzing again.

Chase.

Looking at his name on the screen, I raised an eyebrow, hit accept, and put the phone to my ear.

I didn't say a word.

"Quinn."

His voice had none of the irritation and arrogance from before.

"Did you get the ticket?"

"You just hung up. I haven't even finished reading the travel package details and you're already calling back."

I threw that little jab at him without much feeling.

"Oh, right, no worries, no rush." He laughed it off and kept talking.

"I mean, it's peak travel season. Tickets are hard to come by. Just keep looking and don't stress yourself out."

Chase never comforted me without an ulterior motive.

I knew he was about to hit me with some outrageous request.

In the past, I would've gotten angry at demands like this, argued with him, and eventually given in under his pressure.

But now I felt absolutely nothing.

I stayed quiet, waiting for what came next.

"Actually, there's one more thing."

"I remember you snagged a discount voucher for that photography studio, right?"

"After we get back from the trip, Anna wants to do a photo shoot. Could you let her use it and just grab another one for yourself?"

"Getting one ticket or two - it's all the same, right? Besides, you've got nothing else going on. Think of it as keeping yourself busy."

I couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

That voucher was for a wedding photography session.

I'd been planning to use it with Chase after graduation - stepping from college straight into marriage.

He'd been so righteous about it back then.

"We're still young. We should focus on our careers. Once we have money, we can have the good life. No point wasting cash on superficial stuff like that."

I'd been stupid enough to believe him.

Turns out he was saving it for Anna, that manipulative little snake.

Anna wasn't just stealing my tickets - she was stealing my man.

Though honestly, who'd even want a guy like that anymore?

Now that I was thinking straight, I felt completely calm.

A man like this wasn't worth my love - hell, he wasn't worth anyone's love.

My brief silence made Chase think I was upset and unwilling.

"You spend all day cooped up in your dorm anyway, not studying, just scrolling on your phone. You're turning into a total waste of space. Getting tickets would be good mental and physical exercise for you."

"Anna's going through a rough time and needs looking after. This would help her feel better faster. Don't you think?"

Disgusting.

Every word out of Chase's mouth made me sick.

How could anyone be so shameless?

I agreed coldly:

"Fine. I'll send you the voucher."

In Chase's mind, I'd caved and submitted once again. His tone got cheerful.

"Now that's more like it. Admitting when you're wrong - that's my good girlfriend."

"Check if there are any paid add-ons with that voucher. Don't want them hitting us with extra charges when we get there. That'd be a real buzzkill."

"If you can snag another one, I'll do a shoot with you sometime."

He talked about taking photos with me like he was doing me some huge favor.

"Sure." My voice was ice-cold.

"Gotta go. Anna's calling me."

He hung up in a rush, like he had something incredibly urgent to attend to.