The past few days had been sunny, and I decided to take out my mother’s paintings to air them. I laid them carefully on the grass, the vibrant colors of her artwork shimmering under the sunlight. But I should’ve known better than to leave them unattended.

Louise Bennett, with her usual malice, deliberately threw the paintings into the lake.

By the time I noticed, the delicate paper was already soaked and ruined. The once-stunning *Autumn Maple Forest* bled out its red pigments, staining the water like a pool of blood. It reminded me of my mother’s final moments—her tears of pain, her cries of regret, her silent plea for forgiveness. She had left these paintings for me, saying they were her way of loving me even after she was gone.

“Look at them when you miss me,” she had whispered.

Now, my mother was gone, and even this last connection to her was destroyed. My chest tightened, and my hands trembled with rage. I lunged at Louise, grabbing her by the collar, my voice shaking with fury.

“Why would you do this?!”

I had tolerated her, ignored her provocations, and let her have her way time and time again. But this—this was too much. She had crossed a line I didn’t know I had.

Louise smirked, her almond-shaped eyes gleaming with mockery. “Eden Mendez, you and your mother were nothing but a mistake. My father promised my mother that they would be mates for life. You and your mother ruined that. You deserve this.”

Her words cut deeper than I expected. My mother wasn’t the one at fault. Neither was Louise’s mother. It was Garrett Bennett, their father, who had betrayed them both. But why should my mother and I pay the price for his sins?

I stared at the ruined paintings, the once-beautiful images now distorted and unrecognizable. It felt like a dull knife was slowly carving into my heart, each stroke more agonizing than the last. I could barely breathe, the pain overwhelming me.

I didn’t notice the figure approaching from behind until it was too late.

In an instant, Louise leaped into the lake, her graceful dive almost mocking. The water rippled around her, and I stood frozen, my hands still clutching the empty air where her collar had been.

The sound of splashing water snapped me out of my daze. I turned to see Taylor Medina striding toward me, his dark eyes blazing with fury. His Alpha aura was overwhelming, and I instinctively took a step back, my wolf whimpering softly in the back of my mind.

“What happened here?” he demanded, his voice sharp and commanding.

Before I could answer, Louise surfaced, gasping for air. She looked up at Taylor, her eyes wide and pleading. “Alpha, she pushed me! She was so angry about the paintings—I didn’t mean to ruin them, but she—she attacked me!”

My jaw clenched. Of course, she would twist the story.

Taylor’s gaze shifted to me, his expression unreadable. “Is this true, Eden?”

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but the words caught in my throat. What was the point? Taylor had always been quick to believe the worst of me.

“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered, my voice barely audible.

Taylor’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped closer, his towering frame casting a shadow over me. “It matters to me. Did you push her?”

I glared up at him, my hands still trembling with residual anger. “What if I did? She destroyed the only thing I had left of my mother. What would you have done, Alpha?”

His jaw tightened, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of guilt in his eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

“You don’t get to decide justice, Eden,” he said coldly.

I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and empty. “Justice? Since when has there ever been justice for me?”

Taylor’s eyes hardened, and he turned away, striding toward the lake’s edge to help Louise out of the water. She clung to him, her eyes glistening with fake tears.

I stood there, watching them, the weight of their betrayal pressing down on my chest. My mother’s paintings were ruined, my memories of her tainted by Louise’s cruelty.

And once again, I was left with nothing.

When I regained my composure, Taylor Medina’s grip was already around my wrist, his claws digging into my skin like a vice. His eyes burned with fury, the kind that could only come from an Alpha who believed he had been wronged.

“Eden Mendez,” he growled, his Alpha tone low and commanding, “you pushed Louise into the water just because I’ve chosen her as my mate? I never thought you could be so cruel.”

Tears welled up in my eyes before I could stop them. For a moment, Taylor’s grip loosened, as if he was momentarily stunned by my reaction. But then Louise coughed weakly, her scent—vanilla with a hint of rosemary—wrapping around him like a plea.

“Taylor,” she whispered, her voice dripping with false sincerity, “don’t blame Eden… she must not have meant it.”

Taylor immediately released my wrist and turned to Louise, his hands gentle as he helped her sit up. “Louise, you’re too kind. Someone like Eden deserves to be punished for what she’s done.”

My legs threatened to give out beneath me, but I forced myself to stand tall. I pointed to the painting lying on the ground, my voice steady despite the ache in my chest. “Taylor, what if I told you she was the one who threw my mother’s painting into the lake?”

Louise’s face flickered with panic for a split second before she quickly recovered. She tugged at Taylor’s sleeve, her scent thickening with desperation. “Taylor, it was one of the omegas in my household. They didn’t mean to, and I’ve already punished them…”

I stared at the two of them, my heart breaking all over again. In my past life, Taylor had been so good to me, so kind. It was that memory that made the pain unbearable now. Even though I knew he had marked Louise, even though I wanted nothing to do with him anymore, I couldn’t help but feel betrayed.

“Taylor,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper, “even if you don’t love me, even if you’ve chosen her, can’t you just… help me this once?”

The words hung in the air, heavy with the weight of everything unsaid. Taylor’s expression softened for a moment, but then Louise let out another delicate cough, and his attention was immediately drawn back to her, her scent pulling him in like a magnet.

“Eden,” he said, his Alpha tone cold and final, “don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

I clenched my fists, the mate bond between us screaming in protest, but I said nothing. There was no point. Taylor had made his choice, and it wasn’t me.

When I mentioned my mother’s painting, Taylor's expression softened slightly.

I knew he was remembering the time when the Medina Pack had fallen into ruin.

Back then, Taylor had been stripped of his Alpha authority, reduced to a mere shadow of his former self. He was consumed by despair, drowning himself in whiskey night after night. The pack’s funds were drained, and even the loyal Omegas abandoned us.

One night, Taylor drank himself into a stupor and didn’t wake for three days. Terrified, I sold my mother’s painting—her most cherished possession—to afford a healer for him.

Later, when the pack recovered and I managed to buy the painting back, Taylor was both shocked and remorseful. He almost knelt before me, swearing his gratitude.

He was moved that I had loved him enough to sacrifice something so precious.

And he was angry at himself for letting his grief consume him.

For a while, after that, Taylor treated me with unparalleled tenderness.

I believed we were bound by more than just the mate bond—that we truly loved each other.

But that was before Louise Bennett.

Now, I clung to the last shred of hope, desperate for Taylor to show some semblance of the man I once thought he was.

Taylor’s guilt flickered across his face.

“Louise didn’t mean to,” he said, his voice low. “I’ll find someone to restore the painting for you.”

Before he could finish, Louise suddenly collapsed, her body going limp.

Taylor’s eyes widened, and he turned to rush to her side.

I stepped in front of him, my chest heaving like a broken bellows, my voice trembling with rage.

“She destroyed my mother’s painting. She doesn’t get to walk away!”

Taylor’s expression darkened, and he shoved me aside, his Alpha tone cutting through the air like a blade.

“Eden, it’s just a painting! I can get you a hundred more! But if you’re willing to risk Louise’s life over something so trivial, you’re even more selfish than I thought.”

I stood frozen, his words like claws to my heart.

Mom, I whispered silently, tears blurring my vision. I was wrong.

No matter what I do, I’ll never be enough in his eyes.

Not when Louise is there.

And just like that, my heart shattered into pieces.