Chapter4（POV·Olivia）

When Lucian returned and saw me living in the pack house,

he didn’t argue with me.

Instead, he brought Sofia straight into our main residence.

According to the servants there, Sofia despised my scent.

So Lucian ordered every piece of incense I had chosen to be thrown away.

Everything that belonged to me was cleared out without hesitation.

The entire house was soon filled with a sharp, overwhelming wild-orange fragrance.

One of the servants complained quietly to me:

“Luna, that’s such a cheap scent… but the Alpha would rather choke on it than let her stop using it.”

My belly grew heavier by the day, yet I remained active in the council.

As Leon and Vera placed more importance on me, the other board members treated me with increasing respect.

Relying on my ability, I helped the company avoid several diplomatic crises.

I was finally touching the core of power.

Lucian, on the other hand, was abandoning his duties completely.

His indulgence of Sofia grew more reckless by the day—so much so that he began damaging company interests.

Every time Sofia’s parents caused trouble, he transferred money from public accounts.

Over and over, he fed that family’s greed.

His absurdity and irresponsibility, his misuse of public funds, all in the name of “love.”

He even stuffed Sofia’s relatives into company positions.

Just because Sofia said,

“He’s my little brother, after all.”

When her brother committed a serious mistake and I seized the evidence to have him expelled, Lucian only snapped at me impatiently:

“Can you stop targeting Sofia all the time?”

I had always been obedient.

So naturally, I “listened” to my husband and stopped “targeting” her.

In return, he placed the utterly incompetent Sofia as my deputy.

She couldn’t keep up, couldn’t understand council matters.

Whenever I corrected her, her eyes would redden and she’d run to Lucian in tears.

Lucian would storm into the council chamber and roar at me—

a heavily pregnant Luna—without restraint.

Under Sofia’s “assistance,” the company lost several critical trade routes in succession.

Yet Lucian accused me of incompetence and ordered me to go home and focus on my pregnancy.

I endured it all in silence.

As my due date approached, Sofia grew increasingly agitated.

Time and again, she tried to cause me an “accidental” miscarriage.

When I avoided her traps, she finally pushed me herself.

I clutched my stomach as pain exploded through me.

Blood spread beneath me, vivid and red.

I looked at my mate in name only.

“Lucian… blood… our child…”

Lucian pulled Sofia behind him and said coldly:

“A child can be conceived again. Who told you to bully Sofia first? This is the punishment you deserve.”

“No one is to help her!”

Sofia hid behind him, baring her teeth at me in triumph.

She wanted to watch my child die in front of her eyes.

Impossible.

During my pregnancy, Leon and Vera had been extremely cautious.

Their eyes and ears were everywhere.

The moment I fell, they rushed forward, lifted me up, and sent me to the hospital at once.

Sofia even tried to block them from saving me.

They shoved her aside mercilessly, their gazes sharp with warning.

Then they hurried me away.

They served Leon and Vera—

the grandparents of the child in my womb.

Not Sofia.

They knew that very well.

Leon and Vera arrived at the hospital immediately and ordered Lucian to cut ties with Sofia.

But Lucian dropped to his knees in front of them.

“Father. Mother. I’m serious about Sofia.”

“She’s the only one in my heart.”

“You wanted a grandchild—I’ve given you one.”

“When Olivia gives birth, I’ll break the mate bond, marry Sofia, and let her raise the child.”

Inside the delivery room, I struggled in agony.

The pain nearly tore me apart.

To bring this child into the world, I was risking my life.

I had planned for this moment for so long.

I had waited for this child to be born.

And when the loud cry finally rang out,

I collapsed onto the bed, my lips curving into a smile.

Because in that moment, I knew—

Lucian was finished.