Chapter Two

Three years, Three lies, One Betrayal

Anna's POV

Natalie walked away, her hips swaying with a confidence that sliced through me like a knife. I stood frozen, my heart splintering into pieces too shattered to ever be whole again.

The silence in the room was suffocating. When I finally lifted my gaze, I met a sea of eyes filled with nothing but disdain. Judgment clung to the air, thick and unrelenting, pressing down on me like a weight I couldn't shake off.

They despised me. Every single one of them.

Not because of who I was, but because I was the one who became Luna. Because they had already decided that I was unworthy. Because they had chosen to believe the lies.

The weight of their judgment pressed down on me, each stare like a dagger to my chest. They didn't know the truth—had no idea how it all happened, yet their disdain was undeniable.

Logan had been my savior that night, pulling me away from a drunken predator at the party. At that moment, something shifted. Gratitude turned into something deeper, something I hadn't expected, love.

One night, one mistake, and everything changed. What started as comfort spiraled into something irreversible. I found out I was pregnant. In our world, a child born out of wedlock was unthinkable. My father, a man of power, and Logan's late grandfather would never have allowed it.

And then, Logan looked at me, desperation in his eyes, and begged me to get rid of the baby, but I couldn't. The very idea of a life growing inside me felt surreal, almost magical.

Even though I knew Logan felt nothing for me, I had already made my choice. I would raise this child, with or without him.

But the elders didn't care about my feelings or his. In their eyes, there was only one solution. And just like that, Logan and I were forced into marriage, bound by duty rather than love, despite not being true mates.

He never forgave me for it. To him, I was the reason his life had taken a turn he never wanted. I became the villain in his story, the one who ruined everything. He never missed a chance to remind me of that.

And still, like a fool, I tried. I tried to make him happy, to make him see me, to make him love me. I even handed over everything that was mine, hoping—praying—it would be enough.

I had handed him the keys to my family's empire, whispering secrets into his ear, trusting him with everything. And because of that trust—because of me—he rose to become one of the youngest billionaires in the world.

But now, watching everything crumble around me, the truth struck like a dagger to the gut. I had set the fire that burned me alive.

Natalie's voice sliced through my thoughts as she sauntered closer, her words laced with mockery. "So, you're really going to be the nanny now? Is that why you're still here?"

My gaze locked onto hers—the same eyes that once felt like home. A bitter laugh escaped my lips, my voice barely a whisper. "Why did you do this to me? It shouldn't have been you."

Natalie merely rolled her eyes, her lips curling into an indifferent smirk. "What was I supposed to do?" she said, shrugging as if my world wasn't shattering at her feet. "Fate played its hand, and my mate just happened to be your husband. What did you expect me to do, walk away?"

A lump formed in my throat, thick and suffocating. My voice barely made it past my lips. "How long?" The question trembled in the air between us. "How long has this been happening?"

She leaned in, her warm breath ghosting against my skin, sending an unwelcome shiver down my spine. "Three years," she whispered, her tone almost... victorious. "I've always loved your husband, my best friend."

The floor beneath me felt unsteady. Two years. Three years of lies. Three years of betrayal wrapped in the guise of friendship.

And I had never seen it coming.

It was unsettling.

The same woman who urged me to tolerate Logan, who reassured me when doubts crept in, was the one who had driven a dagger into my chest.

All those times I suspected Logan had another woman, Natalie had chastised me, made me feel guilty for doubting him. And now, I knew the truth—she was the other woman.

Leaning in, her breath ghosting against my ear, Natalie whispered, "Do you want to hear something even more interesting?"

A chill slithered down my spine. Dread pooled in my stomach. I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"The night your son was buried, when you called me in tears, desperate for Logan to be by your side because you couldn't sleep—do you have any idea where he really was?"

"He was right next to me. In my bed. And that was the night he marked me as his mate."

A whirlwind of emotions crashed through me, but anger burned the fiercest. My hands twitched, itching to wrap around her throat, to squeeze until her smug words faded into silence.

The beast inside me clawed to the surface, demanding vengeance. My fingers trembled, aching to strike, to make her feel just a sliver of the agony ripping through me.

A sudden wave of fury crashed over me, and before I knew it, I had shoved her to the ground with force.

Rage ripped through me as I screamed, my voice raw with betrayal. "How could you? I trusted you…" My voice faltered, emotion threatening to choke me.

"I did," I whispered, the words barely escaping my lips.

But they weren't worthy of my tears. They didn't deserve to see me break.

My glare burned into Natalie, fueling the fire inside me. As she struggled to push herself up, I tore my gaze away, locking onto Logan. He stood there, gripping an envelope tightly in his hands.

"How dare you…." he roared.

My hands curled into fists, and my jaw locked. Without a second thought, I stormed toward Logan, yanking the envelope with the divorce papers right out of his grip.

"You dare lay a hand on my mate?" he snapped.

I shot him a piercing glare, my pulse hammering as I snatched the pen from his breast pocket.

Slamming the divorce papers onto the ornate table, I shoved a bottle aside, sending it crashing to the floor. Without hesitation, I scrawled my name across the page.

"What on earth are you doing? Why are you making such a scene...?"

I silenced Logan by slamming the pen down with force.

"This is it, Logan—the divorce papers."

Though my hands trembled, I lifted my head high in defiance. Slowly, I slid the wedding ring off my finger.

Without hesitation, I flung it at him, the metal clinking sharply as it hit the ground at his feet.

His voice was cold and emotionless as he glared at me, but I refused to look away, meeting his stare head-on.

Crossing his arms behind his back, he smirked. "Good! Now that you've signed the divorce papers, get out!"

A dry chuckle nearly escaped my lips. The tension in the room was suffocating as I took a step closer. "You know, the only reason you're treating me like this is because my father is lying in a coma."

"Leave!"

"I will, but mark my words—I'll be back!"

Logan let out a burst of mocking laughter. "Back to pleading for me to take you back as my wife? You really are delusional."

I slowly shook my head, a smirk tugging at my lips. "No, this time, you're the one who's mistaken."

"Alpha Logan, I won't be coming back to plead—I'll return to shatter you so completely that you'll be the one kneeling at my feet, begging for mercy. Remember that."

As I stepped out of the pack house and made my way to my car, a voice suddenly stopped me in my tracks.

"Luna Anna."

My stomach twisted at the title. I wasn't the Luna anymore, so why…?

I turned to face Emma, my personal maid, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Please, don't leave," she pleaded.

Gently patting her back, I fought the lump in my throat before slowly stepping away. "Emma, why are you acting like this? There's a new Luna now. Why do you still call me that?"

She clasped my hands, giving them a tender squeeze, and murmured, "To me, you'll always be my Luna."

Gently holding her face, I wiped away her tears and forced a reassuring smile. "You'll be okay, Emma. I promise you'll be safe here."

Just as I was about to turn away, she suddenly grabbed my wrist. I turned to her with a questioning look. "What's wrong, Emma?"

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she handed me an envelope. "Your family's doctor came searching for you. He wanted to wait, but Alpha Logan forced him to leave."

A wave of unease tightened my stomach, and my hands curled into fists.

Masking my concern with a faint smile, I took the envelope from her grasp.

As I unfolded the paper, I sighed. "What now? What illness am I dealing with this time?" With the way everything and everyone seemed to be against me, it wouldn't even shock me if the test results declared I had cancer or something worse…" My voice faded as my eyes froze on the words before me.

For a brief moment, my vision blurred, as if my mind refused to process what I was seeing.

This had to be a mistake—an illusion, even. There was no way this was real.

Pregnant? How could I possibly be pregnant?