I had rushed myself to get home early for our anniversary only to barge into robbers in the middle. They snatched the diamond ring I bought to give him as our Anniversary gift. I could only manage to save the bouquet of flowers that I had selected carefully. After they left, I hardly managed to call him to ask him to pick me up after work only to get a subtle response from him, saying, “There is an after-party in the office. I can't come to pick you up. Just hire a ride for yourself.”

Then, as if to avoid any inquiries, he added, “I’m not with any girl alone. I’m with my colleagues and friends.”

I felt as if a cold wind had swept through my entire being. I stared the flowers I was holding for a while, then threw them aside. I held my bleeding stomach and dragged myself to the Pack's infirmary. Even the healer was stunned to see me barge at his infirmary alone in such a condition. He asked if I had a family member with me who could help me out later. I didn't think much before saying, “I’m enough for myself.”

There was not much physical pain during the process but a deep emptiness in the hospital bed haunted me inside out. The perks of being a werewolf was that our wounds could heal quickly. That was why I was discharged the same night of my miscarriage surgery. After arriving home, I went to our bedroom with heavy steps. The empty bed was mocking me for being my husband's last priority.

I smiled ironically, telling myself, ‘Happy marriage anniversary, Jenna.’

Just then my phone beeped with a message. Ryan had texted me. [Working late. Don't wait for me. Sleep early.]

I was not hoping he would remember our wedding anniversary. But, no ‘Love you’ or ‘Sorry’ came from him. Just another evening sacrificed to his job, his colleagues and their endless socializing.

As I cleared the table, a photo caught my eye - our wedding day, beaming with happiness. Now, the smile felt forced, the love tainted.

Ryan's promotion at his work had brought longer hours, late-night meetings, and a growing distance between us. His childhood sweetheart Emily, was always by his side, efficient and charming.

As I laid on my bed my phone beeped with a notification. I picked up my phone only to stumble upon his friend's provocative social media update: [Freedom's sweet when the watchdog's away. Ryan's heart still belongs to Emily.] A telling photo accompanied the post – Ryan’s hands at Emily's shoulder.

Ryan caught a headache easily by working overtime. So, I would often remind him to take a break by calling many times a day, causing his colleagues to mock me for being overly possessive. In their eyes, I was only a green-eyed monster who was jealous of Emily.

Emily was the daughter of the Pack’s Alpha. Ryan, being the son of Pack’s beta, was close to Emily since childhood. Everyone thought they would get married once they grew up and often teased them as a couple. However, Emily fell for an Alpha of another pack. She persisted in marrying him despite her father's refusal to this relationship. She escaped with her lover. But soon her marriage failed and she came back to her pack with a young son. Being discarded by her family, she joined Ryan’s company as his assistant, spending time with him more than me. She worked lavishly along with Ryan, causing their colleagues to tease them as a couple despite knowing Ryan was married to me. His colleagues looked down on me for working in a company owned by a human. According to them, taking orders from a human was shameful. They would work at low wages in the office owned by a werewolf rather than doing a highly paid job in the company owned by a human. When they visited our home, they treated me as a housekeeper. They even dare to tease Emily with Ryan's name in front of me and if I show my dislikeness over it, they would accuse me of being over possessive of my husband.

That evening, as I drifted off to sleep, the city lights outside seemed to mock me, their twinkling lights reflecting the shards of my shattered heart.

Ryan came back home very late at night. He slowly slipped into bed, reeking of whiskey and apologies. He whispered "I'm sorry" near my earlobes. I hummed a response. He stroked my hair while saying in a low voice, “You should take more rest. You are pregnant.”

The next morning, I found a text from Emily on Ryan's phone: "Last night was magical. Can't wait for the next event. By the way, thanks for the jade necklace you gifted me. It's beautiful."

My world crumbled after reading the text. At that moment, I realized over vows had become meaningless and my care and sacrifices meant nothing to him. He could easily break everything for a moment of pleasure with his childhood sweetheart.

Ryan was still sleeping when I got ready for my office. Today, I walked into the office with a sense of determination. My personal life was crumbling, but I refused to let it affect my work.

As I settled at my desk, my werewolf colleague, Rachel, approached me with an unexpected surprise l. "Jenna, remember what you told me a few days ago?"

I was confused while she continued, “That you were brought to this pack from Los Angeles. I told you I have connections there and guess what? I have found your real family. You are not an orphan, Jenna. You have a family in the Blue Moon Pack.”

“I know you didn't want to find your family but I kept looking for it. But, don’t you want to visit them once?” She added in an excited voice, “I have heard our company is opening a branch there. If you want I can recommend you working in that branch.”

I nodded without hesitation. "I'd be grateful for the opportunity."

Rachel was surprised with my quick response. It's because I was never interested in looking for my real family before. I was happy with my life with Ryan. Since they abandoned me in childhood, I no longer cared about them in my adulthood. But, at this moment I wanted to escape from the situation I was currently in no matter how.

Rachel looked up at me suspiciously as she asked, “Jenna, is everything okay? How did your Anniversary celebration go? You worked over time for three days just to get leave early last night. I thought you would come late in the morning but you came earlier than usual. Did you fight with your husband?”

Fight?

For a fight, two people needed to be present at the same time. But, Ryan was never available for me to even have an argument with him.

I forced a smile, saying," We are just fine. Don't worry about me."

Just then my phone buzzed, breaking the moment. It was my husband, Ryan.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked in a casual tone.

"Just work," I replied in a flat voice.

"Did you forget our anniversary dinner plans?" he asked, his voice tinged with guilt.

I bit my lips to hold myself back. Ryan had forgotten our last three anniversaries. His mentioning of our anniversary was a surprise to me.

"No, I didn't forget," I said flatly. "But I did see the photo of you and Emily on social media."

Ryan didn't say anything for a while. He then replied, as if coming up with a good excuse, "That was just a client dinner, Jenna. Don't misinterpret it into something else."

I sighed before speaking in a sarcastic voice, "I believe you, Ryan. The client teased you two as a couple and in the heat of a moment you two became too close to get clicked intimately with each other. But, it was only to impress the client. I know"

The line went silent. Having nothing to say, he hung up. That was how he was. He never bothered explaining himself or seeking forgiveness. He would just walk off the conversation, leaving me stressed the whole day thinking about it.

The same day, Ryan''s mother invited me to dinner. I was surprised with her sudden invitation. She never liked me because I was just an orphan. She always wanted to see Emily as her daughter-in-law because of her Alpha blood. But, it was a calculated move to ease tensions.

As soon as I reached there my gaze fell on Emily who was standing in the kitchen, laughing with Ryan’s mother. Ryan was also there, laughing along with them, looking like a family of three.

I stared at them from afar until Ryan noticed my presence. He walked up to me and said, "Hey, sorry about last night. I got you a gift."

He handed me a small box. There was a beautiful ring shining brightly inside. The pattern and the color of the ring reminded me of the necklace Emily was wearing in the picture she shared on social media. It had the same design. The ring was probably a set with the necklace. Ryan gifted the necklace to his sweetheart and chose to coax me with the ring that came along with it for free. I smiled ironically before saying in a hollow voice, "Thanks. It's as beautiful as Emily’s necklace.”

My words left Ryan in a daze. He immediately moved his eyes off me, trying to hide his deception.

The dinner was ready and the guests were waiting in the dining hall. I excused myself to help Ryan's mother. But, she stopped me, saying,"Oh, Jenna, let Emily serve. She's practically a family."

So, I was not?

Emily began putting dishes on the dining table. Without saying anything, Ryan stood up and began helping Emily. His friends winked at them, teasing them for being too caring to each other. One of his friends even dared to say, “ I wish I had a husband like Ryan who helps his partner in household chores.”

I smiled sarcastically at this before adding, “ Then you shouldn't wish your husband to be like Ryan because he never helped me in household chores.”

My words shut everyone’s mouth, making them realize he was my husband, not Emily's.

Sensing the awkward tension among the guests and me, Ryan's mother turned to me

She added with feigned innocence, "Oh, Jenna, I never introduced Emily to you, Have I? She's the daughter of the Pack's Alpha. She and Ryan have been close to each other since childhood. She is like his sister. You really shouldn’t worry about their closeness—it’s perfectly natural! In fact, there's no need to worry about Ryan when he goes out. Emily always takes care of him?"

Just then Emily pulled a seat next to Ryan while saying with a faint smile. "Yes, Jenna, you always doubt my closeness with Ryan. It makes me feel uncomfortable, you know? I’m just one of his friends like others. None of us wants to see Ryan into trouble."

Alan Walker, one of Ryan’s closest friends and the creator of office romance story between Ryan and Emily out of his imagination, jumped into the conversation. Adding to Emily's words he said,"Besides, we’re just working on a new project. It's exhausting. We have to work more than others. Emily even ended up in the hospital after working overtime for a week. And if those two ever had feelings for each other, they would’ve been together ages ago. You had no chance with Ryan considering your background. No need to worry, Jenna."

My eyes narrowed. What background? What did he mean by saying I had no chance with Ryan?

Ryan's friend just mocked me for being an orphan in front of everyone while Ryan remained silent on this, not uttering a single word to defend me.

“Yeah, I was just Ryan's mate, not his childhood friend. I guess it's not enough to get married to someone.” I mumbled while stealing a glance with Ryan.

Realizing he’d said too much, Alan instantly fell silent, exchanging uneasy glances with the others as the room went quiet.

Dinner at Ryan's mother's house was a carefully crafted illusion. Emily's effortless charm and Ryan's family's warmth toward her made me feel like an outsider.

As we began to eat, Ryan's mother placed a hand on Emily's shoulder. "Dear, you're too thin. Eat more."

Emily smiled. She said while glancing at Ryan,"Thanks, Auntie. I've been busy with work."

I forced a smile, feeling like a prop in their warm family scene. After dinner, Ryan's friends began discussing their new project. Alan's earlier slip-up hung in the air, but no one acknowledged it.

After dinner, Emily voluntarily began doing dishes. I didn't offer her help as I was refused by Ryan's mother earlier. However, Ryan's mother didn't want her favorite girl doing manual work. She instantly remarked, “Emily is such a sweet girl. Even after being an Alpha blood, she has no shame in doing dishes. She is not like those girls who eat and do nothing.”

Clearly her taunt was hinted at by me. I gazed at Ryan, hoping to say something to defend me. He was present there when his mother had stopped me from serving dinner. But, he forced a smile and then moved his eyes away to avoid me. I then pursed my lips and took my own stand by saying, “After being discarded by your family, teach many things to you. You don't mind doing things you haven't done before.”

Ryan's mother was sharp enough to understand the meaning behind my words. If I was an orphan, Emily was also discarded by her family. How could she be any better than me?

Maybe Ryan's friends and his mother didn't like me because I never took their shit and always paid them back. I didn't need Ryan's support and he never offered it either. I was all by myself. To ease the tension between me and his mother, Ryan stood up and said to his mother, “Emily is doing dishes alone. I’ll go and help her.”

Ryan then walked up to the kitchen and began doing dishes along with Emily. I watched them from afar. I was surprised with my own realization. They indeed looked like a perfect match who were made for each other. Maybe I was a third wheel in their lives who should have never come between them.