Seven years later…

Taking a deep sigh, I gazed around the luxurious yacht. It could board at least a hundred creatures, but only half were present because my client wanted the celebration to be exclusive to her close friends and family.

To be honest, in this small country of ours, I could count on my fingers those who were powerful and influential—all present tonight. So I guessed the birthday celebrant was as extravagant as them because these creatures would rather slit their throats than befriend anyone standing beneath their social rank.

I didn’t know who my client was because she booked anonymously, but I made sure that my team and I met her expectations.

Over the years, I managed to fight against the challenges that tried to bring me down. Now, I was an event coordinator who was slowly being recognized in the field.

I also had a daughter and a husband now—both full of love, and it was impossible to ask for more because they were already beyond everything in this world.

"Ma'am, lauv, it's all set. We can start the celebration now."

I was yanked away from my thoughts when one of my staff appeared next to me. Nodding at her, I ordered her to get the rest of them to their stations.

The guests at this celebration were the elites, so everything needed to be perfect.

Walking to the corner, I straightened my back and took a deep breath as the hostess began to speak. She was a mermaid in her human form—I could confidently tell that, even from where I stood, by the way she smelled.

She smiled brightly as she hyped the guests, the warmth of her presence making the atmosphere lighter—until she uttered the name of the birthday celebrant.

"Let's welcome Luna Zaira Vera with a round of applause!"

My brows furrowed as I tilted my head to the side, trying to recall where I had heard the name. It was blurry in my mind, but then it made sense when the woman emerged from the shadows.

My lips parted.

Zaira Vera... the girl I grew up with in the orphanage who bullied me.

She was beaming from ear to ear as she waved to her guests, mouthing her thanks before stepping down from the small platform.

Kissing the cheeks of her close friends, I turned away when her eyes accidentally landed in my direction. My heart was pounding violently against my chest, making it very difficult for me to breathe.

It had been so many years, and I thought the pain was gone, but the moment I saw her, it all came rushing back—deeper and more tormenting.

It took almost a minute before I was sure that she wasn't looking in my direction anymore, but I still kept my mask on to hide my face. It failed to muffle my gasp when another figure appeared next to her, his arm possessively snaking around her tiny waist.

It took my breath away, freezing me from head to toe like a statue, with only my eyes moving. I stared at him from head to toe, my heart twisting as I realized he hadn’t changed one bit.

Alpha Johnson Reaper still looked the same as he did seven years ago.

My supposed-to-be-dead fiancé was standing next to another woman, laughing with her when one of their friends said something.

Tears stung my eyes, but they dried away when a thought struck my mind.

If he was alive... then my hike to The Resurrection Mountain must've worked!

My hands shot up to my mouth to stifle my gasp, and the tears I’d been holding back since earlier finally poured down.

I looked so stupid crying in the corner of the yacht while everyone else beamed with joy, but no one understood that these tears were also from happiness—until it was shattered when Johnson and Zaira started kissing.

I was a married woman now, with a daughter, but I still couldn’t stop myself from being hurt.

Johnson and I never had closure, and I blamed myself for his death. But then I realized that we both had our own lives now, and we were both happy—even though the truth behind his second chance still nagged at me.

I had no clue when he came back to life, if he looked for me, if he knew what his mother had done, or how he met Zaira. But I guessed what mattered now was the present.

Taking a deep breath, I wiped my tears with both hands before pulling myself away from the wall I had been leaning against.

I had planned for a peaceful exit, but the unexpected happened. Due to my trembling body and wobbling knees, I accidentally bumped into a passing waiter.

The tray he was holding, along with the bottle of wine on it, shattered on the floor, spilling some all over my chest. I gasped and took a step back, but it had already caught everyone's attention.

They all turned their heads toward me, and I quickly bowed down, fixing my hair on both sides of my face to create a curtain that hid my identity. I scrambled to wipe off the stain on my shirt, but then someone knocked me down.

It was an accident. His broad shoulder slammed into mine as he ran to someone behind me, but when I fell, he turned back and offered me a hand.

I hesitated, but eventually took it—which turned out to be a big mistake because he recognized me.

"Lauvrai?"

"Lauvrai?"

My blood ran cold the moment my name slipped from the man's mouth, my eyes widening in both anxiousness and anticipation of the rest's reaction.

The man leaned closer to my face, studying it to make sure it was really me, until he gasped.

"Holy shit," he muttered under his breath. "Johnson, you wouldn't fucking believe this!"

Frowning, Johnson and Zaira walked over to us—the former's brows furrowing deeper when he saw me. Our eyes locked, but his held only confusion.

"Oh, shit. Right," the man chuckled to himself. "I forgot that you have amnesia."

My heart dropped, the hope that lingered just seconds ago shattering into a million pieces. I looked at Johnson again, searching for recognition, but he only returned a frown.

"This is Lauvrai Moonroe," the man—probably his friend, whom I hadn’t met before but who, for some reason but knew me—introduced. "She was your fiancée—the one I was telling you about. Remember her?"

Alpha Johnson stared deeper into me, until recognition finally crossed his eyes. "I was informed that I had a fiancée, but I don't know what she looks like. Can you remove her mask?"

"No—" Before I could finish my protest, the mask was already yanked away from my face—revealing it to everyone.

The moonlight caught the scar across it, making it glint as gasps and murmurs cut through the sound of the waves.

I tried to cover my face with my hands, but it was useless—everyone had already seen it.

"What the hell?" Alpha Johnson muttered, his voice filled with utter disgust. "I was engaged to... to this disgusting creature? What was I thinking?"

His friend's lips parted as he stared at me, confused, as he said, "S-She was beautiful—" He cut off his own words. "She was decent seven years ago. She didn’t have that scar."

Johnson was about to speak again, but Zaira interrupted. Tilting her head, she moved a little closer to get a better look at my face.

"Wait..." she said. "I know you."

"How?" Johnson asked.

"I was an orphan, husband." Zaira smeared her hand across Johnson’s chest, but it wasn’t that which took me aback—it was the word she used to call him.

Husband…

"As was Lauvrai," she said. "We grew up together in the orphanage, but we never got along because she was a bully."

My lips parted in shock.

She was the bully! She made my life miserable in that orphanage, treating me like a slave—just like the nuns did.

"Look." Zaira lifted her right hand, ensuring that everyone could see it. "I have this scar because of her. She burned my skin."

Another wave of gasps spread through the crowd—including mine—because no one else knew the truth except for me that she was lying.

I didn’t burn her! She got that scar when she tried to escape the orphanage during a blackout and accidentally knocked over a torch on her way out.

It had been a crime back then, but instead of punishing her, I was punished—because I was supposed to be looking after her.

The nuns hit me that night, burning my hands with candles so I would carry a "reminder" of the incident.

"She did that?" Alpha Johnson asked, his voice laced with anger—then what he said next sent me screaming. "Seize her!"

Their friends gripped both of my arms, restraining me as Alpha Johnson strode toward us. His expression was dark, while Zaira grinned behind him.

"You will regret hurting my wife," he said, and I winced in pain as he gripped my face.

Tears streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably from the way he was treating me, a stark contrast to how he had treated me before.

I didn’t want him back as my lover, because I loved my husband too much, but he should at least treat me as someone he once loved—not as his enemy, hurting me like he hadn’t promised to cherish me forever.

He raised his hand to slap me, and I squeezed my eyes shut, but the impact never came. I opened my eyes and found him staring at my neck.

His friend laughed when he also noticed what Johnson was staring at.

"She’s still wearing the engagement ring you gave her. What a desperate woman."

He was right about the first part—the ring Alpha Johnson had given me was dangling around my neck, made into a pendant on a necklace.

Hope flourished in my chest when Alpha Johnson gently took the ring in his hand—but it shattered when he yanked it away. The force was so brutal that the necklace snapped, grazing the skin of my neck and instantly drawing blood.

My tears poured harder, especially when he tossed it into the ocean.

I had been wrong when I said nothing had changed about him because the truth was, the change was drastic. He was no longer the Alpha Johnson Reaper I fell in love with. He was now a stranger to me—one I loathed more than anything.

"I think you're doing too much, husband," Zaira interrupted as she stepped forward. "My turn."

Grabbing a torch from the wall beside her, she stepped toward me. I screamed and thrashed harder as she brought it close to my hair. She burned it—the sickening smell suffocating me along with my sobs.

I tried to ask for help, but everyone was just watching—laughing at me. Their mockery and insults mingled with my cries, until finally... I just stopped.

Darkness swallowed my consciousness after they tossed me aside like garbage.