My Husband Took Our Son's Life

At last, I spoke the words I had been rehearsing for days. "Alpha, as you wish, I'm leaving."

I almost slipped—almost blurted out that I wanted to sever our bond entirely. But I caught myself just in time. After all, what did our so-called mateship even mean? It had been nothing more than a rushed ceremony, a mere formality. We weren’t truly married, nor had we ever built a real life together. There had been no love, no deep connection—only the bare minimum of what a bond should be. A hollow tie that had never truly been forged in the first place.

Ronan didn’t even bother to glance up, his full attention still on Adeline as if I were nothing more than an unwelcome disruption in his carefully crafted world. "What now? Changing your tactics?" His voice was as cold as ever, laced with mockery. "You think, now that you can’t use your son to manipulate me anymore, you’ll try using yourself instead?"

His words struck me like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs. A year ago, Kieran had been diagnosed with an untreatable illness. His frail heart, his inability to heal—everything had pointed to a grim fate. He was just a child, too weak to shift, too fragile to connect with his wolf. Every day, his life had hung by a thread while I watched in helpless agony, knowing he was slipping further away. And throughout it all, he had only asked for one thing—to see his father.

Ronan had never visited him, never shown the slightest concern. In his mind, I had only ever used Kieran to gain sympathy, to guilt-trip him into caring. And now, after ten years together, that was all I was to him—a manipulative woman desperate for attention.

I blinked away the sting of tears, refusing to let him see me break. "Believe whatever you want, Alpha. I'm leaving."

With that, I turned on my heel, dragging my suitcase toward the door. But before I could make it out, Adeline’s voice cut through the silence, feigning innocence. "Alpha, didn’t you plan to take Kieran to the ocean? You didn’t cancel that just for the mountain trip with me, did you? Anastasia’s upset..."

Ronan’s voice was gentle, almost soothing—a stark contrast to the cold indifference he always reserved for me. "Don’t worry, I know my priorities. We can visit the ocean anytime, but once the snow melts in the mountains, it'll be a long time before we can see it again."

A bitter scoff escaped my lips, sharp and cutting. How blind could he be? How utterly oblivious to the damage he had done? He didn’t know. He couldn’t possibly know that there would be no next time, no next trip, no next month for Kieran.

I clenched my jaw and strode toward the door, determined to leave. But before I could, Ronan moved, seizing my wrist in frustration. "It’s the middle of the night, Anastasia. Do you really think this is necessary? You’re crying over missing one trip to the ocean? Kieran can wait."

His words cut deeper than any blade. Even now, even after everything, he didn’t understand. He didn’t care enough to understand. His eyes flickered toward my face, finally registering the redness and swelling of my tear-streaked cheeks. For the first time, a hint of pity entered his gaze. "I’ll clear my schedule next month. I’ll take Kieran then, alright?"

Next month? What next month? What future did Kieran have left? If only Ronan had cared just a little more, maybe he wouldn’t be standing here, saying something so absurd.

I wrenched my hand free, my voice trembling with barely contained fury. "No need!"

Ronan stared at his empty palm, visibly stunned. He had never expected this—never imagined that the woman who had once clung to him so desperately would now recoil from him like he was a curse. He hesitated, then made a move to follow me, but Adeline, ever the center of his universe, clutched his arm, pulling him back.

"Alpha, it’s my fault," she murmured, her voice laced with false remorse. "I shouldn’t have competed for your attention. Even though I knew Kieran was faking his illness, I still—"

Faking…?

The world seemed to tilt, my breath catching in my throat. My entire body went cold.

Before I could even process the words, my hand had already moved on its own.

The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the room.

Adeline stumbled back, her hand flying to her cheek, eyes wide in disbelief. But I didn’t care. My palm tingled from the impact, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough to drown out the storm of rage surging inside me.