Chapter 5

Vanessa was brought to the healer’s hall before the smell of blood had even faded from the night air.

Sophia followed with the others, not because she still wanted answers and not because she expected anything to change, but because after everything that had happened, she found herself unable to leave immediately. Twenty-seven years of habit could not be severed in a single evening. Even after deciding to leave Ethan, some part of her still moved in the direction he was in.

Vanessa was quickly taken into the inner healing chambers while Ethan remained outside. His injuries were minor—scrapes along his arms and bruising from the collision—but he refused examination and brushed away every healer who approached him. He stood near the chamber doors with blood staining his robes, insisting that no one touch him until Vanessa’s surgery was over.

Sophia stood at the far end of the corridor beneath the moonstone lamps and watched.

For most of her life, she had believed she understood Ethan better than anyone. She knew the meaning behind the slightest shift in his expression and could distinguish between his anger, possessiveness, concern, and disappointment before he even spoke. She once believed that because she knew him so well, she also understood his heart.

Tonight, for the first time, she realized she had been wrong.

Ethan looked frightened.

Not irritated, not guilty, not anxious in the way she had seen countless times before, but genuinely frightened.

He paced the corridor restlessly and questioned every healer who emerged. Sometimes he sat for a moment, only to stand again before settling. His eyes never left the chamber doors.

Sophia watched him and suddenly remembered all the times she had been ill, all the times she returned crying after another failed fertility treatment, all the times she sat silently waiting for him to comfort her. Ethan had always remained calm.

Only now did she understand.

His calmness had never been strength.

He had simply never believed she could truly leave.

After what felt like hours, the chamber doors finally opened.

The chief healer walked out and lowered his head before speaking.

“The patient survived.”

Ethan immediately stepped forward.

The healer hesitated before continuing.

“The pup could not be saved.”

The corridor fell silent.

Then came the final sentence.

“The bleeding was severe. We had no choice but to remove her womb.”

Sophia watched Ethan go still.

He did not collapse dramatically. He did not lose control.

Instead, he stood there in silence as though something inside him had quietly broken.

Then he entered the room.

Sophia remained outside for a while before eventually walking closer.

Vanessa lay unconscious beneath white blankets. Her face had lost all color.

Ethan sat beside her bed and took her hand.

For a long time he said nothing.

Then he lowered his head and spoke softly.

“Vanessa, I’m sorry.”

His voice was rough.

“This is my fault. I shouldn’t have sent you away all those years. I shouldn’t have ignored you.”

His hand tightened slightly around hers.

“And I especially shouldn’t have mistaken the things you did for me as things Sophie did.”

Sophia’s expression froze.

Ethan continued speaking quietly.

“I always thought it was her.”

He let out a bitter laugh.

“I loved the wrong person.”

Sophia stared at him.

For a moment she genuinely thought she had misunderstood.

Vanessa did things for him?

And Ethan thought she was the one?

She wanted to laugh.

Instead, tears suddenly filled her eyes.

Because she remembered.

When they were children, Ethan’s health had been poor. His blood condition required regular support, and she still remembered overhearing frightened conversations among the adults. She had been five years old when she learned there was a possibility Ethan might die.

She remembered crying all night.

After that, she insisted on becoming his donor.

Her parents tried to stop her countless times.

They argued with her.

They begged her.

But she continued.

Again and again.

As Ethan gradually became healthier, she became weaker.

She was always sick.

Always catching colds.

Always exhausted.

Years later, when her parents finally decided they had to take her away and protect her from sacrificing herself further, Ethan believed his seven days kneeling outside the Carter estate changed their minds.

But that was never true.

It had been Sophia.

Sophia who cried.

Sophia who refused.

Sophia who threatened to hurt herself if they separated her from him.

Her parents relented because they could not bear her pain.

And now she stood in a healer’s hall listening to Ethan regret loving her.

Sophia looked at him quietly.

Then she thought that if she had known this was how everything would end, she would never have started at all.

She turned and walked toward the lift.

Behind her she heard sudden movement.

People rushed forward.

Ethan had collapsed.

Sophia paused.

Then she continued walking.

This time she did not go back.

By the time she returned to the villa, the territory was already celebrating.

Messages flowed endlessly across communication moonstones.

Everyone she and Ethan knew was sharing the same recording.

In the video, the bride’s face remained hidden beneath ceremonial veils while the groom placed a ring on her finger.

The title appeared again and again.

Celebrating Alpha and Luna Lawson’s Seventh Mating Anniversary.

Sophia looked at it for a long time.

Then she smiled.

Seven years.

Her false marriage had lasted seven years.

Vanessa’s hidden place in Ethan’s life had also lasted seven years.

People congratulated her.

People envied her.

People called it eternal love.

The whole territory believed they were celebrating Sophia.

At that moment, her communication moonstone lit.

She accepted.

Victor Lawson spoke immediately.

“Sophia. Ethan needs blood.”

She said nothing.

His tone became more urgent.

“You need to come.”

Sophia looked out the window before answering.

“I’m sorry.”

Her voice remained calm.

“I’m not Ethan’s mate.”

She closed her eyes.

“I’m not his family.”

Then she said quietly, “I have no obligation to save him.”

There was silence.

Then Victor asked, “You know?”

Sophia smiled faintly.

“Yes.”

She paused.

“And thank you.”

He did not respond.

She continued.

“Thank you for what happened seven years ago.”

Her voice stayed gentle.

“At least I don’t have to end a marriage now.”

Then she added, “If Ethan dies tonight, I won’t attend his funeral.”

Victor ended the connection.

Sophia stayed awake until morning.

She took down every portrait.

She broke every frame.

She packed every robe Ethan had given her, every jewel, every keepsake.

Then she opened old storage chests.

A rabbit doll.

Old study scrolls.

Childhood gifts.

Things she once thought she would keep forever.

She carried everything into the courtyard and burned them slowly.

Not out of hatred.

Only because she no longer wanted to carry them.

Near dawn, her moonstone lit again.

A message appeared.

I never knew he loved me this much. The kind of love that makes someone risk his life.

Sophia looked at the words for a long time.

Then she replied.

Vanessa, congratulations.

You finally learned how to treasure something I already decided to throw away.