Chapter 7
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone after my words.
Just as I was about to hang up, Julian suddenly laughed, his tone filled with arrogance.
“Luciana, are you sure? After all the preparation for our mating ceremony, how could you really want to break our bond?”
“You know how long we’ve been preparing for this ceremony.”
Julian, however, seemed to think I was just throwing a tantrum. He spoke with some exasperation.
messing around. I won’t accept your rejection, and the ceremony will make up for it. Your little games won’t work on me.”
I didn’t have the energy to explain anything to him anymore. Hearing Aldric arguing with him, I simply hung up the phone.
After some thought, I blocked both my family and Julian.
That night, I slept soundly and even had a dream.
In the dream, a little girl dressed differently from her brother and sister was writing in a journal.
She held a pen and wrote the number on a fresh page, murmuring to herself.
“Dear diary, when I fill up 99 pages, I won’t want my dad, my mom, or my brother and sister anymore.”
After a mo
a moment, she Crossed out the number and wrote “0.5” instead.
“Today, Mom and Dad forgot to buy me new clothes again. I’m wearing old ones, and the pack members laughed at me. I’m a little sad, but these are the best clothes have.”
“Today, Vivienne said 1 stole her stuff. Mom and Dad locked me in my room. But I didn’t steal anything, I just wanted to clean up after her.”
“Vivienne wanted Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi. She asked me to make it, but Mom and Dad forgot I’m allergle to seafood. My hands swelled up. It hurt so
much”
“It’s Vivienne’s birthday today. The cake looks so pretty. I also want a birthday, but I think Mom and Dad forgot My birthday is two days before Viviennes.”
I watched in silence as she filled page after page of her journal. Sometimes with decimals, sometimes without
She had written endless excuses for her family, her face becoming more and more numb with each entry.
Eventually, the journal neared its end, and so did the much–anticipated mating ceremony.
The number stopped at 99.
I stared at the girl in the wedding dress.
“I should have left sooner,” I murmured. “But it’s not too late now.”
When I boarded the train,
all they
weight–the grievances I’d written, page after page–stayed behind in that place.
I threw myself into training. without i
thesitation.
Being alone in an unfamiliar place, encountering powerful and mysterious Lycans, lelt isolating. But unlike Vivienne, I didn’t seek out anyone to talk to, 1 simply filled my time, using it to rebuild myself.
like a machine, I tralud day and night.
In the end, the entire training team begged me to stop training. Only then did I take a break and returned to my dorm to rest,
One day, while chatting with a friend from the pack, she casually mentioned my family and Julian, her tone filled with schadenfreude.
went crazy!
you left, Julian and the former Alpha and Luna nearly
“Crazy?”
I replied absentmindedly.
“That’s impossible, they can’t possibly care that much about me
My friend quickly responded.
D
Dreame–Read Re
“Who knows? But I heard they’ve been trying everything to find your contact info.”
I nodded, finally understanding why I kept receiving strange calls.
But 1 didn’t answer calls from unknown numbers. I’d always just ignored them…
So those calls were from my family
and Julian?
As I was thinking about it, another unknown number rang.
Hesitating for a moment, I answered,
1 was surprised to hear my mother on the other end of the line.
She seemed very excited as soon as the call connected.
“Lu, you finally answered!”
“Where have you been? Why did you block us? We thought something happened to you!”
After a pause, her voice sounded a little awkward.
were wrong to ignore your feelings. Come home. We’ll celebrate your birthday.”
Her behavior felt completely out of character.
I immediately thought of the journal I had thrown into the trash before I left. It seemed they must have picked it up and read it.
The 99
numbers weren’t just about 99 grievances.
That’s probably why they were so guilty and desperate to find me.
But what good was that?
Seeking forgiveness after having hurt me didn’t show how much they cared, it only showed they wanted peace of mind for themselves.
I spoke coldly.
“No need 1 don’t like celebrating birthdays.”
My mother was choked by my words, unable to say anything for a long time.
When she finally spoke again, she asked me to come home soon.
I looked around at my dorm
It wasn’t big, but everything in it was something I loved, something I had gathered and arranged myself.
This place was where I truly felt I belonged.
“I’m already home,” I said, hanging up the phone.
