She noticed me looking and for a split second her smile slipped. Then she excused herself and slipped out. Samuel followed not long after, checking his phone once, then standing.
“Excuse me,” he muttered. “Work call.”
And just like that, he was gone.
Of course he was.
When I tried to follow, one of his business partners stopped me, smiling too much, talking too long. A married man, but everyone knew his reputation.
I kept my face polite.
“I’m not feeling well,” I said softly. “I think I’ll head home early. No need to worry about me. I’ll take a cab.”
I slipped past him.
The hall was quieter now.
Then I heard it.
A door slightly open. Voices. Breathing. The kind of sound that makes your stomach drop before your mind even understands it.
I stopped.
Slowly, I moved closer and peeked inside.
Ivy was on top of him.
Moving. Claiming him like she owned him.
Samuel’s hands were on her waist, gripping hard, his head tilted back, breath uneven.
My whole body went still.
She turned her head and saw me. And smiled.
“Samuel…” she said softly, but loud enough for me to hear. “Tell me, do you really love me? Or should I go find someone else tonight?”
His voice broke instantly.
“I love you,” he said. “I love you, Ivy. Don’t even say that.”
My fingers tightened around my phone.
I hit record. Every sound. Every word.
She smiled wider.
“Then prove it,” she whispered. “Give me a pup. Right now. Make me yours completely.”
“Yes,” he groaned.
That was enough.
I didn’t wait. I turned and walked away, silent, steady, like I hadn’t just shattered.
---
Back home, I opened my suitcase. My hands shook as I packed, but my chest felt strangely calm.
Because this time… I wasn’t thinking about leaving anymore.
I was already doing it.
I was sitting in the airport lounge, passport and boarding pass in hand, suitcase beside me when my phone buzzed and his name lit up the screen, of course it was him.
I stared at it for a second before answering.
“Where are you, baby?” Samuel’s voice came through low and easy like nothing was wrong, “Jonas said you weren’t home, you didn’t tell me.”
I took a slow breath. “I wasn’t feeling well. Just a bad headache, I went home to rest.”
“I’ll send Jonas over with medicine,” he said.
“No need,” I cut in, keeping my voice steady even though my chest hurt, “I’m done taking those, I just want to sleep.”
Another pause, then I added quieter, “But before you come home… there’s something waiting for you in our room, please open it.”
I could already see it in my head, the necklace, divorce papers, wedding ring, the USB with him and Ivy.
He gave a low chuckle, then I heard it, a sound in the background, a soft moan.
My blood went cold.
“I’ll check it, sweetheart,” he said calmly, “but I can’t come home tonight, pack business, important meeting.”
Then I heard her.
Ivy’s laugh, close, right there with him.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he added like it was nothing, like I wasn’t falling apart on the other side of the phone.
I smiled faintly anyway. “Yeah, sure.”
“I love you, Clara,” he said.
“Mm,” I whispered, “sleep well.”
I ended the call before he could say anything else. Then my phone buzzed again.
A new message.
Ivy.
I opened it and dozens of photos loaded in.
Her and Samuel.
On a bed. Tangled. Skin against skin. His hand on her waist, her lips on his neck, the same cross-shaped birthmark on his collarbone clear in every frame. Intimate. Unhidden. Real.
My throat tightened.
Another message popped up.
“I know you’re Samuel’s Luna,” she wrote. “But Samuel is my mate.”
My fingers went numb.
“Next month, I’ll be carrying his pup... Not like you.”
My vision blurred slightly.
“You who let her pups die because you’re an incompetent mother.”
My grip on the phone tightened so hard it hurt.
Then the last message appeared.
“And oh, Clara… Please do me a favor. Walk away now.”
My knees nearly gave out right there in the airport seat.
For a moment, I couldn’t hear anything. Not people. Not announcements. Just the blood rushing in my ears like a storm breaking inside my skull.
My fingers slowly lowered the phone.
My hand shook but my chest felt strangely lighter.
When the boarding gate opened, I stood, passport tight in hand, suitcase rolling behind me as my phone lit up again with his name.
I looked at it for a second, then turned it off.
No hesitation.
I stopped right before boarding, fingers lifting to my neck, the mate mark.
The bond.
My throat tightened.
How many times did I think I couldn’t survive without this… without him?
I pressed my fingers into it hard.
Pain ripped through me like my body was being torn apart.
My vision blurred but I didn’t stop.
“I’m Clara Ritridge and I reject Alpha Samuel Willoughby, I break this mate bond, I release it all.”
Something inside me snapped.
My knees almost gave out as the bond screamed, pulling, resisting, trying to drag me back to him.
I stayed down a moment, shaking, breathing through it until it faded.
Empty. Quiet. Gone.
I stood on weak legs, clutching my passport tighter, then stepped forward, one step at a time, not looking back.
“Goodbye, Samuel. I’m not yours anymore.”
