I woke up in a hospital, the white ceiling above me unfamiliar and glaring under the fluorescent lights.
My body felt heavy, my throat raw, as though I had been clawing for air for hours. A doctor stood beside me, checking my vitals with calm precision.
When he noticed my eyes flutter open, relief softened his expression.
“You’re awake,” he said gently. “You had a severe allergic reaction. You nearly died from respiratory failure. Fortunately, someone brought you here in time. Any later, and it would have been too late.”
The words sank into me like stones dropped into deep water. I swallowed, the ache in my throat sharp, and whispered hoarsely, “Who… who brought me here?”
He glanced at his notes before answering.
“They didn’t leave a name. They just said they saw you collapse outside and rushed you here. A passerby, it seems. A stranger.”
A stranger.
I forced a small smile and whispered my thanks, but inside, something broke.
Why had I expected it to be my family? Why had I hoped it was Adrian, rushing through the night to save me?
I should have known better.
My chest tightened as memories surfaced unbidden of the early days when Adrian courted me, when his voice was soft and filled with promises.
He had sung songs of love to me, painted visions of a future where we would build a family, raise children, and grow old in happiness. I thought we were meant for forever.
But now, looking back, it all felt like pretense.
Perhaps he had never really seen me at all. Maybe Lyanna had always been the shadow in his heart. After all, we shared similarities with some features a resemblance in our younger years.
Maybe every smile at the table, every night we shared the same bed, every dream I thought was ours had been borrowed from his longing for her.
And I, foolish enough, had assumed I was the one he loved.
The door creaked open, pulling me from my thoughts.
A man stepped into the room. His presence filled the space immediately. His smile was charming, his aura calm yet commanding.
There was something in the way he carried himself, something formidable, that reminded me of the Alphas I had lived beside.
He approached the bed slowly, his gaze steady. “You’re awake,” he said.
“You are…” A thought suddenly came to me. I tried to sit up, but my body protested. “You… were the one who helped me?”
He nodded once, casually, as if it had been nothing.
“Why did you help me?” I asked.
He looked at me, and his gaze seemed to hold something peculiar.
“I only did it because I pitied you. I was dining at the restaurant. I saw what happened.”
Shame burned my skin. I gave a self-deprecating smile, trying to hide how hollow I felt.
“It must have been disgraceful to see me like that… coughing, crying, being dragged out like a nuisance.”
He didn’t answer right away. His eyes studied me, quiet and calculating. Then his voice lowered, steady but piercing. “Do you want revenge?”
The question stunned me. I blinked, trying to make sense of it. “Revenge? What are you talking about?”
He leaned closer, his expression unwavering. “I took a fancy to you.”
My heart stumbled. I shook my head quickly. “No, you don’t understand. I’m married. I have a child.”
His lips curved faintly, though his eyes remained sharp.
“Married?” He gave a short laugh, quiet and dismissive. “Is that what you call it? Because what I saw wasn’t a wife. You looked more like a servant than anything else.”
The truth of his words cut deep. I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t.
He was right.
That was exactly what I had become, an outsider in my own home, a shadow in my own family.
He straightened, his voice turning deliberate.
“I am looking for a Luna. Not in the traditional sense, but as a substitute. Someone to stand beside me, to pretend as my wife. In exchange, I will give you wealth, security, and most importantly, your worth back. No one will treat you like a shadow under my side.”
I stared at him, breath caught in my chest. His offer dangled in front of me like a poisoned fruit. It was dangerous, tempting, impossible to ignore.
“But,” he continued firmly, “you will have to leave your family behind. Your Alpha. Your child. Everything. So I ask you… are you willing?”
