“She’s only a substitute,” he replied. “I married her just to shut those people up.”
In that instant, everything I had held onto—every patience, every endurance—crumbled.
I finally understood: sincerity could not buy love, and endurance could not buy respect.
That night I put three things into a box, sealed it, and locked it in the safe.
When everything was ready, I picked up the communication stone and dialed the number of the man I hadn’t contacted in three years.
“Help me take someone away.”
Diana went pale. She screamed in terror, clawing and crying, “What are you doing? Let me go! If Alpha Cole finds out about this, you’ll regret it!”
I was dressed in black, my face like frost, my eyes as sharp as blades of ice. I looked down at her convulsing on the floor. My voice was cold to the point of being nearly emotionless, but it carried an unyielding finality: “Break her from head to toe. Make her pay for this.”
The wolf-guards obeyed. Wooden clubs fell; her wails of agony and the sickening crack of bone echoed through the silent barn. Time stretched thin; pain and blood settled into the air like a stain.
Suddenly the door to the stables was kicked open. A tall figure filled the doorway, silhouette sharp in the backlight. Alpha Cole burst in, face iron-gray, barking, “Stop! What are you doing?”
The wolf-guards immediately stopped. He strode to the center, and his gaze landed first on Diana curled on the ground, barely conscious, wracked with pain—anger and pity fighting visibly in his chest. He grabbed my wrist so hard I thought my bones would snap.
“Eliza!” he shouted, his voice low, fury mingled with pleading. “I know NianNian’s death was a blow to you, but she didn’t do this on purpose! She’s been frugal since she was a child—seeing such a large sum she panicked and made a mistake. She didn’t mean harm! You should show her mercy!”
I laughed bitterly, as if mocked to the core. I looked at the man who had once vowed to protect me and, with tears and a hard smile, said, “You want me to show mercy? Alpha Cole, you actually tell me to ‘show mercy’?”
I wrenched my arm free and pointed at Diana on the floor; my voice ripped the air. “Since she came, our table has been full of leftover food; I have to calculate every bottle of cream I buy; she killed my brother! You want me to be merciful? Today there are only two paths—either she dies, or I do.”
Cole’s expression flickered with complexity; he opened his mouth to speak, but a weak, urgent moan came from the floor: “Alpha Cole… it hurts…”
That single calling arrowed straight into his chest, and in an instant his attention snapped back to Diana. His anger cooled into a stern, impatient calm. “Can’t you vent in some other way? Take her—lock her in the underground ice cell for a while. Let her cool down.”
I was furious. “Alpha Cole! How can you do this to me? I am your wife! You once said you would protect me for life!”
His face went as cold as stone; his voice was ice. “If you dare not believe me, then I’ll show you who holds power in this pack. Diana has my backing now—if you touch her, you’ll bear the consequences.”
The wolf-guards moved forward to seize me.
At that moment, Diana, weak and clenching her teeth, put on a feigned look of concern and said, “Alpha Cole, the ice cell is cold and wastes fire. Maybe don’t use it this time?”
He looked at her pale face and immediately softened, his tone indulgent. “Alright. Do as you say—how should we deal with her?”
She smiled faintly, and spat out the cruelest words: “Today I found an old sled in the junk pile that still runs. Tie her to the back and drag her around in front of everyone. Let her feel what it’s like for bones to break like mine.”
I completely broke, screaming at the top of my lungs, “Alpha Cole! You are unforgivable! I am Eliza—the girl you’ve known since childhood! How can you do this?”
He only gave a cold order: “Do as she says.”
