Escape from My Mate's Test-Tube Lie

The funeral is packed with mourners, their whispers buzzing like flies. In the center, Olivia stands, a white flower pinned to her hair, her pale dress clinging to her frame. She's clutching Mom's portrait, her eyes red and puffy, playing the part of the grieving she-wolf.

My teeth grind so hard they ache. I storm over and snatch the photo from her hands. "Who invited you? Get out."

Olivia shrinks back, her voice quivering, but her eyes glint with mockery. "Sophie, I came to apologize again, for Ruth, for everything..."

Her voice cracks, but that smug look betrays her. "Poor Ruth, scraping by her whole life, never catching a break before she was gone."

My blood runs cold. "If you're so sorry, then get on your knees and bow to her ninety-nine times."

Olivia's face stiffens, her lips trembling as she glances at Logan for rescue. "Logan..."

His voice cuts through, sharp and detached. "Didn't you hear my mate? Leave."

His words sound harsh, but he sidesteps my demand like it's nothing. Olivia's eyes light up, her gaze dripping with defiance as she looks at me.

I let out a bitter laugh. "Logan, I said ninety-nine bows. She's here to atone, right? I'm giving her a chance."

I lock eyes with him, my voice unwavering. He stares back, a mix of exasperation and irritation in his gaze.

"I told you, don't make a scene with some young she-wolf," he says. "You don't want to ruin your mother's send-off, do you?"

He's threatening me... for her.

My heart feels like it's being crushed in a vice, but I swallow the bile in my throat. "Fine."

Logan's brow furrows as he signals his assistant to hustle Olivia out. The crowd, clueless, murmurs about how devoted he is to me, each word slicing my heart to ribbons.

I don't speak to him for the rest of the ceremony. When it's time to head back, I make a point of avoiding his car.

But Logan follows me anyway.

He sends the driver away and slides behind the wheel himself. "Babe, remember how we used to close up the burger stand at three in the morning and cruise along the river?"

The setting sun lights up his chiseled face, and my heart stumbles. Memories flood in-back when we had nothing but each other, and it was enough. One rainy night, when our old van broke down and I was curled up in the passenger seat, knocked out from cramps, Logan didn't wake me. He tucked a heating pad on my stomach, wrapped me in his raincoat, and carried me four hours through the storm to get home.

When I woke up and saw him burning with fever, I was furious. "There was an umbrella in the van, you idiot! Why didn't you just go home?"

His cheeks were flushed, but his eyes sparkled like a pup's. "Logan would never leave Sophie behind."

A screeching brake snaps me out of my daze. Before I can blink, the car swerves hard to the right. My side slams into a truck barreling toward a pedestrian up ahead.

The crash echoes in my ears. I lift my head, blood dripping down my forehead. Through my blurry, crimson vision, I see Logan-my mate, who swore never to leave me-bolt from the driver's seat without a glance my way. His face is frantic as he scoops up a pale, unconscious Olivia and rushes off.

My dead heart throbs again. Ignoring the stabbing pain in my abdomen, I crawl out of the mangled passenger door, stumbling through the driver's side.

The truck driver, who'd been cursing moments ago, gapes at my blood-soaked face. "You okay, miss?"

A stranger cares, but my mate forgot I exist.

I stare at Logan's retreating figure, my voice hoarse and broken. "Please... call an ambulance."

The words barely leave my lips before my legs give out, and everything goes black.