Chapter 5
The next evening, hurried footsteps echoed outside my room late at night.
I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and clutched the blanket wrapped around me.
They had come, after all.
The door flap was flung open, and Nate burst in first. He froze at the sight of me lying calmly on the bed. The color drained from his face, and the panic in his eyes was impossible to hide.
“Diana!” he cried out as he rushed over. “How could you be so reckless? You’ve misunderstood. I had my reasons for doing that…”
I stared coldly at him, my lips curling into a mocking smile. “Reasons? What kind of reasons? Like how you planned to hand over my pup to someone else? Or how you held my hand in the day, and comforted her through the night?”
Nate was caught by surprise. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Then, Rose stormed in after him. She looked flustered, but it was not from guilt. She was just frustrated and annoyed.
She screeched, “How dare you, Diana? Do you know what I have to face now that you got rid of the baby? How could you…”
I didn’t even spare her a glance.
I smirked, my voice icy and laced with scorn. “What I do is none of your business. You should worry about whether you’ll even be able to give birth in a few months. Who knows what will happen?”
Rose’s face blanched drastically, and she looked as if she’d been slapped. She instinctively took a step back with her arms wrapped protectively around her belly, her body curling inward.
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Chapter 5
She stammered, “Y–You… I don’t know what you’re talking about! My baby…”
+25 Bonus
Before she could finish, I looked away from her impatiently. My gaze swept over everyone in the tent, finally landing on my so–called “family“, whose faces were full of indignance.
It was no surprise that they would be here too.
Mom stormed up to my bedside, her voice shaking with fury. “Diana! Do you know what you’re doing? How could you make such a huge decision without telling us?”
Dad had a stormy expression. He was obviously holding back his fury as he said through gritted teeth, “The pup is innocent! Even if you didn’t want it, you didn’t have to go this far. You took away its life so cruelly!”
I looked at them and gave a cold smile before countering cuttingly, “You picked the perfect moment to care about what I want. Did you ask me when you forced me to give up on my fated mate? Did you ask when you told me to carry this pup and hand it to Rose?
“And now you’re asking if I knew what I was doing?”
I gave a dry laugh, my eyes dead and emotionless. “Sorry. I was just doing what you taught me, and that is to make my own choices.”
“Why, you…” Mom choked on her words. Her face was pale with fury, and she was rendered
completely speechless.
Suddenly, Nate pulled out a scroll and spoke grimly. “Diana, do you really want to go this far?”
I glanced at it. It was the official request I had asked Lara to send for me–the one to break
the mate bond between Nate and me.
I raised an eyebrow and responded indifferently, “Did I not make myself clear?”
His eyes stayed locked on mine, emotions roiling just beneath the surface. He was clearly holding something back.
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It took him a long time before he finally muttered, “You’ll regret this.”
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I let out a hoarse but frosty laugh. “Regret? My only regret is not seeing your true colors sooner.”
Mom couldn’t hold it in anymore and shrieked, “I’m disappointed in you, Diana! Just for this… this petty thing, you’re going against the entire family?”
Dad looked grim as he uttered icily, “Since you’ve made up your mind, then from this day onward, you are no longer a part of the Roth family.”
With that, he pulled my mom along and stormed out without a backward glance. Nate and Rose followed them out.
The room fell silent.
Finally, the truth was laid bare, and the facade was no more.
I leaned back against the sheepskin blanket, my fingers slowly curling inward. Staring at the pale walls, for the first time… I felt light.
ondered why my parents only ever favored Rose, even though we were both their
aughters. No matter how hard I worked or how obedient I was, nothing I did amounted to anything whenever Rose shed a single tear.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
From now on, I was no longer the Diana who had to obey them and constantly sacrifice.
I was simply me.
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