Selena's POV:
By the next afternoon, I sat on the living room couch, holding the Rejection I had prepared long ago.
I had cleaned myself up and changed into a white set of clothes, yet the scent of blood still lingered on me.
Outside, the sound of a car broke the silence.
It was Kael's Bugatti Veyron.
He had returned.
The door unlocked, and Kael stepped inside.
He still wore the same black suit from yesterday. His tie hung loose around his neck, and stubble had formed along his jaw. Fatigue showed clearly on him.
As he entered, another scent came with him.
It was Aria's pheromones.
The moment Kael entered, his expression shifted. His brows tightened, and he lifted a hand to cover his nose, disgust showing clearly as he looked at me.
"What is that smell? The blood is so strong. Selena, what kind of witchcraft are you using in this house again?"
He had always believed I turned to dark magic just to win his heart.
I didn't respond. I only watched him.
Before this, I would have stood up right away, taken his coat, and spoken to him carefully.
Today, however, I remained where I was.
My silence only made Kael's temper rise. He walked straight toward me, and his Alpha pressure came down heavily. "Aria was hospitalized last night. She almost died. I don't have the patience to deal with your tricks right now."
"Kael, our baby is gone. It happened last night, while you were celebrating Aria," I said, my voice steady at last.
Kael's steps stopped. For a brief moment, he said nothing. Then a cold laugh left him, like he had just heard something absurd.
"Our baby?" He stood in front of me, looking down. "Selena, you've really outdone yourself this time. You want me to get rid of Aria so badly that you'd make up something like this?"
"I didn't make it up." I lifted my hand and pointed toward the garden. "It's buried in there. If you don't believe me, go see it yourself."
"Enough!" Kael snapped.
His hand shot forward and caught my chin, forcing my head up. The grip tightened, and pain spread through my jaw.
"Stop this act! It's disgusting. Yesterday, you called me and said nothing on the phone, and now you're bringing up a child? How long are you planning to keep this going? Aria drank the wrong wine and ended up in the hospital, so I stayed with her last night. Are you really this jealous?"
I looked at him. At that moment, I felt drained. Explaining anything felt pointless.
I pushed his hand away and shoved the document on the table toward him.
"Believe whatever you want," I said. "Just sign it. Once you do, you're free."
Kael's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the table.
When he saw the title, he let out a short laugh. "The Rejection?"
He walked over, picked it up, skimmed through it, then tossed it back down.
"Selena, you've become ridiculous," he said, looking at me. "Last time, you pretended to be sick, and now, you're threatening to end things? Do you think I'd believe that? You worked so hard to become Luna, and now you're just going to walk away? What's wrong, nothing to say now?"
Kael stepped closer, his expression turning cold. "Three years ago, I was injured and unconscious. You used that chance to secure your position and got my grandfather to tie us together with that blood bond. Do you even know why I accepted it, even though I couldn't stand you?"
His fingers tightened under my chin as he forced my face up. "Because I wanted you to understand what greed costs. You wanted the Luna title? Fine. I gave it to you. Stay there and watch who I actually choose."
I kept looking at him. My hands pressed into the couch until they hurt.
So that was all it meant to him. Three years together, nothing more than punishment.
"Did you forget what happened back then? If Aria hadn't stepped in to clear the poison, I'd be dead. She paid for it with her own health and had to leave to recover. Even then, she told me to accept you for the sake of the future. She endured all of that. She's the one who gave everything. And you? You took advantage of the situation and refused to let go of the Luna position she gave up so much for."
My body shook. My nails cut into my palms.
The one who gave everything wasn't her. It was me. I was the one who took the poison. I was the one who endured it. I was the one who lost my wolf.
"It wasn't her!" I shouted. "I was the one who saved you back then. It was me. I was the one—"
"Enough!" Kael's voice crashed down. The Alpha command hit me without warning.
My throat tightened, and my voice disappeared. My mouth closed on its own, and no sound came out no matter how hard I tried.
Fear filled me as I looked at him. He took away my voice just to protect that fraud.
"Selena, what do you take me for? Do you think you can walk in and out whenever you want?"
