Chapter 3

Seeing no reaction from me, hatred flashed in Sophia's eyes. She slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

"Eleanor, why couldn't you keep a leash on Alexander?!"

"He's an Alpha! Why did you let him push me and my boyfriend to the brink of ruin?!"

"I ended up like this all because of your uselessness! You did this to me!"

"If I don't get to be happy, neither of you culprits will ever find peace!"

She lunged forward, throwing her entire weight onto me.

My lower back slammed hard against the sharp metal edge of the table. The excruciating pain stole my breath away.

I tried to shove her off.

Yet before I could even apply any force, she threw herself backward onto the floor, sending the plates and forks crashing down around her.

I turned around and saw Sophia clutching her lower belly in agony. Blood was already staining the fabric of her skirt crimson.

Was she... pregnant?

The maids' screams echoed through the villa, followed by Alexander's frantic shouts from the foyer.

In the next heartbeat, a vicious, stinging slap struck across my face.

The blow was so brutal that the metallic taste of blood instantly filled my mouth.

"Eleanor!"

"I thought bringing you back for a few months would teach you how to behave, but you're still as vicious as ever!"

A surge of suffocating bitterness rose in my throat, tasting thick and foul.

I choked out through cracked lips, "I didn't push her..."

Alexander didn't care to listen.

He scooped Sophia into his arms and sprinted out the door.

The man who never flinched at any boardroom negotiation or pack battle was trembling visibly as he ran.

A week later, Charles called me.

"Eleanor, could you ask Alexander why he suddenly cut off the Pack account that was paying down my debt?"

"If it's too much trouble... forget I asked."

I gave a muffled hum. I knew Charles was far too proud; he would never have called if he hadn't been backed into a corner.

When I dialed Alexander, he answered almost immediately, as if he had been waiting by the phone.

"Which account? Oh... that one. I thought it was compromised, so I unlinked it. Is there a problem?"

His tone was completely nonchalant.

Yet it struck my heart like a sledgehammer.

My fingers nervously twisted my shirt hem as I forced myself to speak.

"Charles can't wait any longer... Darling, could you just care for me one more time, like you used to?"

*Darling.*

I hadn't called him that in ages.

The other end went dead silent.

After some rustling noises, a different voice picked up. It was Sophia.

"Eleanor, do you have any idea how tight Pack finances are right now? You and Charles are like bottomless pits. No matter how much money he pours into you, it's never enough. You're going to drag him down completely."

*Tight finances...*

The headline I had seen that morning suddenly flashed across my mind:

*Alpha Alexander Harrison Splurges Millions on New Flame! Multimillion-Dollar Estate and Luxury Fleet Transferred to Sophia!*

So that was why Pack funds were "tight."

An endless wave of bitterness washed over my tongue, gnawing at me like a swarm of insects, sending tremors through my soul.

"Alexander left this matter for me to handle," Sophia said smoothly. "If you can please me, maybe he'll clear your brother's debts after all."

I agreed without a second thought.

"I'll send you an address. Come see me tomorrow, and I'll tell you what to do."

I never imagined that the address Sophia sent would be my childhood home.

Standing at the gate, looking at the familiar exterior walls, it felt like another lifetime.

The peach blossom tree outside the gate was in full bloom.