Betrayed Before Our Bonding

Ryan said, "Then let her go. She’s just throwing a tantrum. I can have her back with a single word."

Sarah hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided not to stop him.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but with the divine messages in front of me, I knew everything.

Without another thought, I packed my things and left.

Walking out of the villa, I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the very bottom of my contacts. I took a deep breath, gathered all the courage I had, and pressed call.

"Dad… about the alliance bonding you mentioned last time… I agree to it."

My father clearly never expected me to come to him first. He became excited. "Good, good! I didn’t think you’d come around. I’ll contact Mason Shaw right away."

I froze.

Mason Shaw?

He was my alliance match?

Mason and I were high school classmates. He sat behind me, but we hardly interacted. Later, he had confessed to me, but at that time, my heart held only Ryan, so I had rejected him coldly.

I still remember the disappointment on his face, like a little puppy abandoned by its owner.

I thought back to the day Ryan confessed to me, when he told me to meet him in Moonlight Forest.

By coincidence, I saw Mason hiding behind a tree. I didn’t think much of it then. My eyes were full of Ryan’s affectionate gaze.

When I looked back toward the tree again, Mason was already gone.

It must have sensed something important, because the divine messages suddenly erupted wildly before my eyes.

[Oh my god, he’s finally going to appear, my beloved loyal Mason! I adore him.]

[Jenna doesn’t know this, but on the day of her engagement, he secretly went to the ceremony holding a silver knife, intending to kill Ryan and steal her away.]

[But when he saw her happy smile, he couldn’t bear to do it. In the end, he chose to bless her silently.]

[Well, people like Mason are the ones worth loving. Girl, don’t waste this chance.]

I stared blankly at the divine messages, realizing that Mason had been waiting for me all these years. A wave of warmth spread through my chest.

Without looking back, I boarded the plane headed for my home pack.

Then my phone chimed. There was a new post on Rowena’s social media.

"Fifteen days until my lover has to leave. I cherish every moment we have left together."

The comment section was full of grief. "Why does he have to leave? Can’t he stay by your side?"

Rowena replied, "He has to return to his pack for an alliance bonding arranged by his family. He can’t back out."

"How hateful! That alliance mutt is tearing two lovers apart. Poor you!"

The divine messages fumed.

[What lovers?? They’re nothing but a cheating scumbag and a trashy mistress. To put it bluntly, they’re disgusting.]

[Exactly. You think Jenna wants to be in an alliance with a scumbag? The weak, pitiful version of her is dead. This is the heroine Jenna, who commands her own destiny now.]

The plane’s takeoff announcement sounded.

In the final second before shutting off my phone, I forwarded Rowena’s account to a journalist friend.

"I have breaking news for you. Do you want it?"