After that, I kept myself so engrossed in work that I rarely went home, making Marco feel that something was wrong.
One day my mother-in-law, who had always seen me as a dirty orphan unworthy of their status, called unexpectedly.
"Mila, Marco told me that you were fighting with him when it was majorly your fault to delay us that day at the royal banquet. Even though you were born poor without anyone to teach you manners, the least you can do is not to pull my son's status down to your level!
You are soon going to give birth to the future Alpha so stop with your nonsense. The people around us have already started creating rumors about you and Marco separating. I have organized a dinner today, inviting Marco's close friends. Arrive on time with Marco and do not create a scene here."
From start to finish she ordered me around before hanging up.
I wanted to see the faces of the people who betrayed me one last time, those who treated me worse than an animal, before I left for the capital city. So I took a taxi to my mother-in-law's house.
Marco's mother was sitting at the head of the table when I entered the hall. A hush fell over the room as Marco's friends rolled their eyes the moment they saw me.
"Aunty, why did you even invite her here? All she is going to do is spoil the mood."
"The witch is here to intrude between the loving couple again." Their voices were not low. They spoke deliberately, making sure I heard every word.
"Mila sit down here." Marco's mother pointed to a seat only for me to ignore her, already seated at the far end of the table.
"Hey Mila, what was your surname again? Oh, my apologies, I forgot that you were without any surname since you don't have a father." Marco's best friend Theodore smirked, waiting for me to make a fool of myself.
"Who are you again?" I raised my head and stared directly at him with complete disinterest, like he was a clown performing for an empty crowd. Their smiles were wiped off instantly.
Shortly after, Marco arrived with Lucia by his side.
When he saw that I had arrived earlier than expected and was looking between him and Lucia, he quickly put distance between himself and her.
I noticed Lucia had removed the pendant. Without another word she followed my mother-in-law to the kitchen.
Marco quickly took the seat beside me, smiling gently as he moved my hair to one side and clasped the diamond pendant around my neck, putting on a show of a loving couple.
"This will be your first time wearing diamonds in your entire life right? Rest assured I will buy you your favorite sapphires next time."
Without a sense of shame he looked me in the eye and lied smoothly. "I lost it at the pack house, and after talking to you when I realized it was gone I rushed to search for it."
The pendant around my neck felt suffocating. I took it off without a word, shocking Marco.
"Mila, what the hell do you think you are doing?"
"To think that she is so greedy, no wonder aunt does not like her."
"Mila, why did you take it off?" My mother-in-law glared at me from across the table.
"It's just too tight." I ignored the murmurs around me and sat quietly without speaking another word to Marco.
In reality, diamonds were considered deeply dishonorable for the royal family to wear. In older traditions, the outcasts of the royal family were given a single diamond as the last thing of monetary value before they were banished from the palace.
And I was not banished.
I was going to return home.
From the kitchen I heard my mother-in-law laughing warmly with Lucia as she clung to her arm acting spoiled.
"Auntie, how can you work so hard all alone? If I was here these past years I would have never let you work."
"This child! Of course it would have been different if it was you.
Oh Lucia, let Mila help the servant with the dishes. You must have never done such things and to think you are so kind even to the maids. If only Mila was half as sensible as you. But since she started living at Marco's house, he kicked out the maid. She can do all the manual work by herself, wiping the floor and washing the dishes is just normal for her. Don't ruin your beautiful hands, I will make Mila do it."
I bit my lip as my husband agreed with his mother, seeing nothing wrong with overworking his wife.
They soon came out of the kitchen hand in hand, with Lucia sitting right between Marco and my mother-in-law.
"Aunty, these past years I missed you so much. There has not been a single day I did not think about Marco." Nobody at that table felt anything wrong with Lucia's words, longing for another woman's husband while already mated to someone else.
"Of course dear. If things had not gone wrong, you would have already been my daughter-in-law." Marco's mother teased, casting a quick glance in my direction before pulling Lucia closer. Marco did not speak a word, still angry that I had rejected his gift.
Turning to me, my mother-in-law added with feigned innocence, "Oh my, I must have spoken too much because of my old age. Mila meet Lucia, my goddaughter. She and Marco are childhood friends and were raised alongside each other.
I heard that you were making a fuss at home because of her, but Lucia is like a sister to Marco so you should not throw a tantrum out of jealousy. These two have always been so close, so you must trust your husband a little and stop keeping tabs on him."
"Auntie is absolutely right, Lucia was only doing a favor to you." Marco's friend Colin spoke with a smug look on his face. He was the one who quietly championed the perfect match and gave me the nickname 'homewrecker' behind closed doors.
"Yes Mila, you are always checking up on Marco. You are just too controlling. Do you think we are going to ruin Marco's life? Since Lucia and Marco are inseparable, if he wanted to leave you, he would have done that long ago.
Besides, Marco promised Lucia to soon join two of our packs together to make a larger one, so it's better if you accommodate her. That is the least you can do as a Luna."
My eyes widened.
Our Jade Moon Pack was going to be merged with another. And as the Luna, I was not even aware of any such thing.
Realizing he had said too much, Colin instantly fell silent, exchanging uneasy glances with the others as the room went very quiet.
