ADESSA.

The whole day went by in a blur. People came and went. Everyone was fussing over Kael. I had attempted to reach out to him, but Miranda blocked me all the time.

There was a time when I screamed at her out of frustration, and it was the scene Kael accidentally witnessed. Of course, he didn’t like it.

So, instead of letting me speak with him, he took his stepmother, who kept pretending I was the mean one, and they left the house. I had no idea where they went, and no matter who I asked around, no one could tell me.

So I didn’t get any sleep at all. I watched the clock tick, and the moment it hit six in the morning, I was already up and began managing the housemaids in the kitchen, hoping Kael would be back for breakfast.

Breakfast came and went, and there was still no sign of him.

After eating, I went to my office and called the central hall to check if he went there, as he would usually do during work days. But he didn’t. They were actually surprised to find out he had woken up.

So, up to this moment, I had no idea where he was, and I couldn’t reach Dexter, who went home after Kael and Miranda left the house yesterday.

I was pacing back and forth, contemplating my next move, when I heard the sound of an approaching car.

I walked toward the window and peered outside. My office window was facing the parking lot, so I saw Miranda’s car driving in her assigned parking space.

My heart began thudding loudly as if it would jump out of my chest. I didn’t like it. It felt like an omen that something terrible was about to happen.

Miranda exited the car and was followed by another man, but not Kael. It was Mr. Toledo, Kael’s attorney and legal advisor.

What is he doing here? And where is Kael?

Goosebumps rose from the skin at the thoughts that flooded my head. I tried to shake it off when I heard another sound of an approaching car.

It took a while before Dexter’s car came into view, and the moment the backseat door opened, I already knew why I was feeling agitated. Kael got out of the first before he laid out his hand to someone.

And I was right, she was here.

Desiree placed her hand on his, and soon they were holding hands. I didn’t see any more because a knock came through the door. I turned away from the window and walked back to my table.

My heart was breaking, but I couldn’t let them see that. I cleared my throat before allowing the person outside.

Miranda entered my office, followed by Mr. Toledo.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked as I eased back in my chair.

“You need to sign this document so we can all move forward,” Miranda said as she strutted toward me and dropped a clear folder on my table.

My gaze slowly shifted from her to the document in front of me. I didn’t need to open it. I could clearly see what’s inside the folder.

Divorce papers.

“Sign it,” she said arrogantly.

“No,” I answered firmly.

“Kael wants a divorce.”

“He’s the one who wants to divorce, then he should be the one asking for it. He’s not a baby anymore that needs his nanny to do things for him.”

Miranda hissed as her eyes narrowed. “Look at you. You have grown horns in just over a year. Kael no longer wants you…”

“Kael doesn’t remember me, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want me,” I told her in the same arrogant voice she was using, even if I didn’t believe my own words.

“Really? Well, if you don’t know who he spent the night with, let me tell you. He was with Desiree, and they were excited to be with each other. You could only imagine what they did together.”

“Really? I didn’t know Kael and Desiree would stoop that low and cheat on me when everyone in this pack knows he is still married to me.” I told her sarcastically, masking my pain at the thought of them being intimate.

Her palms slammed against the desk as she glared at me. “Sign the damn paper, Adessa. Do not piss me off!”

I grabbed the folder and rose from my seat before heading toward the door, ignoring her words.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“To my dear husband. I want to know what he’s been up to.”

I could still hear Miranda talking, but I had already walked out of my office and shut the door. I prepared myself for the worst because I knew Desiree was with Kael.

But even if I did my best, I still came unprepared when I walked into his office and found Desiree sitting on his lap, talking to him in her angelic voice — the exact opposite of her attitude.

This was not my first encounter with her. A few weeks after my wedding, I bumped into her a number of times, and in every instance, she attempted to harass me in public by calling me names.

“I want to speak with my husband,” I said in a cold tone, and their heads snapped to look at me.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” Desiree asked in a mocking voice.

“Don’t you know how to be decent? You are worried about me invading my husband’s office when you should be checking yourself because you’re sitting on his lap.”

“Adessa…” It was Kael. He didn’t say anything to her, but he must have motioned for her to stand up because she lazily got up from him.

“Tell her to leave. I want to discuss things with you.”

Kael took a deep breath and looked at Desiree. They stared at each other for a while before he nodded his head.

Desiree pouted, her shoulders slumping, but I knew it was all for the act. I didn’t move until she was out of the office. After her, I closed the door and walked toward Kael’s table, sliding the folder onto him.

“So, you want a divorce,” I stated. I was trying my best to keep my voice from breaking.

ADESSA.

“So, you want a divorce,” I stated. I was trying my best to keep my voice from breaking.

“Adessa, I have a fiancée.” He said in a calm tone.

“You had a fiancée a year ago, but you have a wife now.”

“I can’t remember anything about you, and I am sure it is Desiree that I want, not anyone else.”

“Did you forget what she did to you?” I asked.

Instead of answering my question, he threw one back to me. “Tell me, did I love you? Are we together because we are in love?”

I swallowed. I could lie and tell him we were, but lying was not part of our relationship. We had always been honest with each other.

“No,” I answered, keeping my head high.

“Thank you for your honesty. So are we together for convenience? Or what? But it doesn’t matter anymore. Whatever reason brought us into this marriage, let’s forget about it. I want a divorce, Adessa. I never wanted to marry anyone I didn’t love. It was not how I grew up. I had always envisioned Desiree as my Luna.”

His words were too painful to bear. He was still obviously in love with her.

I nodded my head as I did my best to stop my tears from falling. There was no use telling him I loved him. I would only make a fool of myself.

“So this is what I get after you pull me from my simple life and drag me to yours. Now that you have no need for me, I will just be discarded as if I were just a piece of trash.”

“You will be compensated for your time.”

He was surely insulting me. “I don’t need your money.”

He didn’t say anything, but his jaw kept twitching.

“What did she promise you this time? Maybe I can counter it.”

“Adessa, let Desiree out of this. This is between you and me.”

“Of course, this is certainly about her.” I took a deep breath before I continued. “You disappoint me, Kael. I had always thought highly of you, but this game you’re playing is not amusing anymore.”

He didn’t say anything, but his forehead creased.

“Did you think I didn’t feel that you suddenly became cold when Desiree came back to the territory? You became unavailable for me. You were always out of the house and not in the central office either. I didn’t even know where you were most of the time. And then the next thing I knew, you were in a coma. Now you woke up with no memory of me. Just me.” My tears finally fell, but I wiped them with the back of my hand as I met his stare. “Just tell me if you don’t want me anymore. Stop playing me for a fool.”

“Adessa…”

I dropped my gaze from him and grabbed the folder. I opened it and took the pen that was lying on his desk. My hand was shaking while I signed the divorce paper.

After signing, I closed my eyes for a brief second to stop more tears from coming before I faced him again.

“I, Adessa Quejeros Daeyra, reject you, Alpha Kael Daeyra, as my mate.” My body jolted slightly, and pain hit my chest.

A low growl escaped from his throat as his hand went to his torso. It is always the person being rejected who gets most of the pain.

This was the only pain I could give him, but I was sure it was nothing compared to the pain of my broken heart.

My hands balled into tight fists as I tried to steady myself. I closed my eyes before I continued with the process. “And effective today, I am stepping down as your Luna and the Luna of the Ironcrest Pack.”

I waited for him to accept the rejection, but he didn’t say anything. I slowly opened my eyes and saw him looking at me.

“End my pain, Kael…” I said in a low voice.

His jaw tightened, and there were many things flitting in his eyes, but my senses were already clouded with pain that I didn’t bother to read his emotions anymore. “Accept my rejection, Alpha Kael.”

“I, Alpha Kael Daeyra, accept your rejection, Adessa Quejeros. You are no longer my Luna and no longer the Luna of the Ironcrest Pack…” He spoke his words softly, but it was echoing in my head.

I dropped my gaze from him before he could see my tears. The bond was breaking, and it was taking too much of me not to fall on my knees.

I turned away from him and walked toward the door, trying my best not to falter from my steps. I held the handle but didn’t turn it. Instead, I spoke without looking at him. “You met me in the river while I was trying to catch fish for dinner. On that same night, you asked me to be your Luna because you found Desiree in bed with another man. I saved you from her, and you saved me from hunger.”

I opened the door before I continued speaking. “Thank you for the one year, Alpha Kael.”

I didn’t wait for him to acknowledge my words. I left his office and let my tears roll down my cheeks.

A part of me regretted signing the divorce papers and rejecting him, but there was only so much a person could take. Even before he lost his memory of me, I already felt him slipping away. Maybe he realized he still wanted her, and I was on the way — that I needed to go.

I didn’t want to stay where I was not wanted, especially by the person I thought was on my side. Maybe Miranda was right — it was time to move on.

This was the end of Kael and me.

ADESSA.

I went to my office after I signed our divorce paper. I knew I should go, but I had many things in my hand that I didn’t want to leave without giving instructions about them.

I took my time to write the next step and the necessary confirmations for each matter I personally handled while he was in a coma. I knew I could tell him directly, but I didn’t want to see him anymore.

I spent my whole day in my office, just waiting for someone to kick me out of the house, but it never came. So I also took the chance to make some calls to find a small apartment where I could go after I left this house.

Kael didn’t say anything about when I should go, but I was planning to stay at least until tonight and leave before dawn.

I didn’t want anyone to see me leaving.

Fortunately, no one disturbed me in my office. It was already nine o’clock in the evening when I finished all of the things I had prepared for him and his pack. I didn’t have lunch and dinner, and by the time I was already in bed, my stomach was growling from hunger.

It was almost midnight, and I was sure the whole house was already sleeping.

I had no idea if Desiree was here, as I didn’t meet anyone after my encounter with Kael. But my woman instinct was telling me she was because Kael was already free of me. So, there was nothing stopping them from being together anymore.

I shoved my blanket and rose from the bed. As much as I didn’t want to leave my room, my hunger wouldn’t let me sleep.

I carefully walked the corridor, hoping I wouldn’t meet anyone, when I heard footsteps by the stairs and something bumping against the wall.

I remained frozen in my spot, expecting the worst. What if it was them? Wrapped up in each other’s arms, kissing each other? I was sure that was possible because, in many instances, Kael carried me in his arms from the ground floor to our room while we devoured each other’s mouths.

I was still contemplating if I should turn around when Kael finally came into view.

He was alone.

And on the way his body was bumping and pressing on the wall, I could tell he was drunk. He drinks occasionally, but not so heavily as this.

“Adessa!” He exclaimed when he saw me.

“Kael.”

“I thought you left.”

“I am leaving tomorrow.”

“Sssh… Nonsense. This house is too big. Stay.”

My eyebrows raised as I watched him approach me. I had never seen him this drunk, so I had no idea how he usually acted in this condition.

“I have a big problem,” he said as he stopped in front of me. “I have two women in my house, and I’m only one. Imagine that, two!”

He raised his hand and showed me three fingers before he chuckled. “Oh fuck, I don’t know how to count anymore.”

“Kael, you’re drunk. Go to bed.”

“Tell me, my beautiful wife. Did I drink while we were together?”

Ì nodded. “But not as drunk as you are now.”

“Hmmm, does it mean I never had problems while I was with you?”

“Maybe…”

“I only drink hard when I don’t know what to do with my life.”

“You should go to bed. It’s late.” My eyes pooled with tears. If what he was saying was true, then at least I knew I never gave him a problem until now.

“Are you not going to scold me? A wife does that when their husband drinks too much.”

“Kael, I’m not your wife anymore.”

“Says who?”

“I’ll take you to your room,” I told him. This act he was playing was just breaking my heart.

“Sssh… Desiree is in my room.” He put his finger on his lips, telling me to be quiet.

My forehead creased. There was no way I would voluntarily return Kael to her, so instead, I made a detour and took him to one of the guestrooms at the farthest end of the second floor. The same floor of the room I was occupying.

“♫🎜What day is it? And in what month? This clock never seemed so alive…🎝♬”

Kael was singing while we walked through the corridor and into the room. I couldn’t help smiling, yet my eyes were getting misty.

I would miss this. I’d miss the way he’d sing at me whenever I was upset with him. It was his way of making me laugh because, for the life of me, he couldn’t carry a tune.

“♫🎜And it’s you and me and all of the people. And I don’t know why I can’t keep my eyes off of you. 🎜🎝”

I lowered his body onto the bed, but his arm snaked around my waist so that he was able to take me with him, and I landed on top of him.

“Kael…” My voice came out throaty as my heart thudded loudly. It had been over a month since we became intimate, and with the situation we were in, I had no idea why the thought of sleeping with him crossed my mind.

I should learn to forget him. I should move on.

But maybe for tonight, I will let my eyes devour him. He was still singing with his eyes closed, and both his arms were now holding my body closer to him.

My hands on his chest were my leverage, so I could keep staring at him, trying to memorize his features.

All of a sudden, his eyes snapped open, and then he stopped singing. His hand on my waist moved up to cup the nape of my neck, and before I could think straight, he had already pushed my head closer.

Our mouths crashed against each other.