Chapter 4

Even after they got home, William was still shouting expletives at Hannah, with Emma eating it all up in satisfaction as she watched and listened from the sidelines.

Hannah simply listened to everything in silence, no longer seeing the point in defending herself.

But then, suddenly, the front door opened, revealing Lucas himself, shamelessly waving at them in greeting.

“Hey there. I guess little miss Hannah’s still causing trouble for everyone, huh?” he said mockingly.

Hannah froze, her blood turning to ice at the sight of him.

For the past three years, not only had William kept tormenting her, but Lucas had joined in as well. He probably blamed her for his ruined relationship with his brother, as well as the fall of his own reputation, even though he was the one who had started this entire mess in the first place.

Lucas was a persistent bastard. For three years, he had shown up at the house a dozen times already, either to blackmail Hannah into giving him money or doing whatever he wanted, otherwise he’d threaten to tell William the truth about that night.

Honestly, that wouldn’t really do much anymore, since William already believed that both of them had betrayed him. Besides, Lucas wouldn’t get anything out of revealing the truth now. He was probably just cooking up another scheme and planning to lie about it to William, as he always did.

Hannah didn’t trust Lucas. She never would, not even on her deathbed.

Usually, William would either ignore Lucas or throw him out of the house, but today, something inside him seemed to have snapped.

In an instant, William transformed into his Alpha wolf form and lunged at Lucas, throwing the latter completely off guard. He slammed Lucas to the ground and slashed him across the face, attacking him until Lucas’ face got all bloody and he lost consciousness.

William stood over Lucas’s prone body, his chest heaving as he shifted back into human form.

He turned towards Hannah, his features filled with rage, and then purposefully walked over to her.

Hannah was too weak to move and unable to defend herself as he grabbed her by the throat and hauled her into the air, leaving her struggling to breathe. His grip was so tight that she knew that, if he wanted to, he could easily break her neck with a simple flick of his wrist.

“You’ve really stooped so low, haven’t you, Hannah?” William gritted out, his eyes displaying pure hatred. “You even called your lover over here right after you got discharged? Are you that thirsty for a man?!”

His grip around her neck tightened, and Hannah could barely breathe. She clutched his wrists and feebly tried to loosen his fingers, but it was no use. He was too strong.

Black spots began to appear in her vision, and she could feel herself on the verge of blacking out.

‘Am I going to die like this…?’ she thought.

“William!” Emma suddenly exclaimed.

At the sound of her voice, his hands finally loosened their grip around Hannah’s neck.

As Hannah coughed and desperately tried to gulp down a lungful of air, Emma wrapped herself around William’s arm. “C’mon, we’re gonna be late to the event!”

At her touch, William seemed to soften. However, his gaze was ice-cold and his grip hurt when he dragged Hannah towards the bathroom. He then threw a dress at her and ordered her to wear it before leaving her alone.

Hannah silently obliged and slipped it on, looking at herself in the mirror.

She was a mess.

Her hair was messy and tangled, her eyes were bloodshot, and her skin was pale. There were also signs of bruising around her neck from William strangling her earlier.

However, the dress she was wearing was beautiful. It was an elegant mermaid gown in an emerald-green shade, the same color as the jade necklace her mother had left her.

The necklace was a valuable heirloom that had been passed down through her family from generation to generation, and Hannah treasured it so much that she always kept it safely inside her jewelry box.

While Hannah was still admiring the dress, William suddenly walked in.

The moment he saw her, something blazed in his eyes.

Without warning, he grabbed the hem of the dress and, in one swift motion, ripped it to shreds. He tore it apart in an instant, leaving Hannah stunned.

“As expected, no dress can even save you,” William said in disgust, throwing a pair of old sweatpants and a plain T-shirt onto the floor at her feet. “Wear this instead. I want everyone at the event to see the ugly bitch that you actually are.” His expression twisted with disdain. “Did you really think I wanted you to wear that dress? Absolutely not. Especially when Emma’s the one who gets to stand out tonight, not you.”

William stormed off after that, leaving Hannah alone in the bathroom, teary-eyed and humiliated.

The beautiful dress was now ruined, reduced to tattered remains on the floor.

Without a word of complaint, she slipped on the raggedy clothes, and then William drove them to the venue.

When they walked in, all eyes immediately turned towards them, and, as expected, whispers instantly spread through the crowd.

A woman standing nearby sneered. “Can’t believe she has the audacity to come here.”

“Alpha William is way too nice to allow her to come!” another woman chimed in.

“Do you remember how she used to be the envy of so many women because of how much William used to dote on her?”

“Look at her now! She’s dressed like a beggar!”

“Haha! She’s fallen so far from grace that she’s not even worth a speck of dirt on my shoe!”

Hannah listened to all of it in silence, watching as William and Emma completely ignored her and began dancing together, looking like the perfect couple.

The crowd cheered them on, fawning over what a cute couple they were.

Hannah closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself as she endured the pain over and over again.

‘I’m used to it,’ she thought, as though trying to convince herself.

‘I’m used to everything.’