Chapter 4

A bitter smile escaped the corner of my mouth.

Half a year ago, Beatrix's fated mate died, so Beatrix, who had been staying abroad, suddenly returned home.

Orion said she was alone and helpless. Without even giving me a heads-up, he brought her back to live with us.

At first, I didn't think much of it. I thought Beatrix had long since stopped liking Orion. I even felt sorry for Beatrix, an orphan, and took care of her in every way.

Until one time, she poured a glass of red wine over her own head, then knelt down and begged me to leave her alone.

After that, Orion started looking at me strangely.

That day he wouldn't listen to my explanation at all. He threw me in the confinement room and starved me for three days, warning me viciously, "Seraphina, you've disappointed me so much! Beatrix's significance to me is beyond your imagination. If you target Beatrix again, even if you're my wife, I'll make you pay."

Things like this happened repeatedly after that. Orion's gaze toward me grew colder and colder.

Originally, I planned to ask Orion for a rejection after the child was born.

But I never expected Beatrix would suddenly attempt suicide by fire.

And the culprit behind her self-immolation was supposedly the abusive messages and vicious voice recordings I had sent her.

Those words were indeed hard to accept, but they weren't said by me.

But Orion didn't believe me.

He felt so sorry for Beatrix that his eyes turned red.

He didn't even care about our soon-to-be-born child—he just wanted to vent his beloved's anger.

"Alpha Orion... Luna Seraphina, she seems to... seems to... You'd better go see for yourself."

Orion was startled.

Then his face filled with impatience. "After all this time, she still dares to throw a tantrum?!"

Beta Leo hesitated, but finally said with difficulty, "No, Alpha Orion. It's Luna Seraphina. We found her, but... but she... doesn't seem to be breathing..."

Orion's hand, which had been holding Beatrix, froze.

After a few seconds of silence, he laughed dismissively.

"Her methods of escaping punishment are getting more sophisticated. To avoid kneeling and apologizing to Beatrix, she's even thought of playing dead?!"

"Tell her that even if she dies, she has to apologize to Beatrix first! Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude!"

Cold sweat began to bead on Leo's forehead.

He wanted to say something more, but seeing Orion's furious face, he ultimately withdrew.

Beatrix lifted her head with an innocent expression. "Orion, why don't we just forget it? Even though Seraphina doesn't like me and makes things difficult for me everywhere, she is your wife after all. As long as I can stay by your side, I can endure it."

Orion held her even tighter. "Beatrix, you don't need to be afraid of that petty woman Seraphina. She's not worth a single strand of your hair. This time I have to teach her a lesson so she'll behave in the future."

"But..."

"Alright, listen to Orion. You can't go wrong."

A teardrop fell on the back of my hand. Only then did I realize that at some point, tears were streaming down my face.

So, souls can feel heartache too?

Orion said nothing more, but during his next hour of work, he was constantly distracted.

In the span of an hour, he inadvertently glanced toward the door no fewer than ten times.

Finally, he slammed his laptop shut and irritably ran his fingers through his hair.

Having completely lost his patience, he gently coaxed Beatrix, "Beatrix, I don't know what kind of trick Seraphina is playing. I'm going to drag her here to apologize to you right now."