Chapter 18
831words
Then, with a powerful flick, he threw her away like a bag of trash.
THUD!
Cassia slammed hard against the wall. Before she could slide to the ground, the crazed Alpha seized her by the neck, lifting her entire body off the floor.
"Cassia!"
Aiden's eyes were bloodshot. "If you dare harm a single hair on her head, I will tear you to shreds. You will not see tomorrow's sun!"
With that, he released her. Cassia collapsed to the ground like a rag doll.
He didn't spare her another glance, turning instead to gently support the trembling "Elara," his touch as tender as if she were made of glass.
"Don't be afraid, Elara. We'll go back inside. No one will ever bully you again."
The two of them disappeared into the shadows of the villa.
Cassia lay on the ground for a long time, a strangled, choking sound coming from her throat as she struggled to breathe.
Fear crept into her eyes, wrapping around her limbs.
He was so close.
He was so close to killing her. Aiden had almost killed her!
Just as she tried to get up, a tearing pain shot through her lower abdomen.
"Nngh..."
A warm liquid streamed down her thighs, and the smell of blood instantly filled the air.
Cassia's face turned white as a sheet as she clutched her stomach in terror.
"The baby! My baby!"
"Someone! Help! Save my Alpha heir!"
Weakened by time and the host's extreme emotional distress, the black magic illusion was finally beginning to backfire.
Not far away, on the banquet hall's terrace...
Kael swirled the champagne in his glass, watching the farce unfold with a cold, amused smile.
"I thought Aiden's fiancée Elara committed suicide? What's all this about?" he asked a nearby guest, feigning ignorance.
The guest lowered his voice, speaking conspiratorially. "Shh, everyone knows not to talk about it. Especially not in front of Aiden."
"Why not?" Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Because he's lost his mind."
The guest pointed toward the auxiliary building. "Ever since his mate died and he was stripped of his Alpha title, he hasn't been right in the head. He keeps saying Elara isn't dead, that she just left because she was angry with him, and that he's going to win her back..."
"At first, everyone thought he was just spouting nonsense, unable to handle her death. But then one day, he actually brought back a look-alike and claimed she was Elara."
"The pack thought he was joking, but they soon realized he was serious. They had him forcibly examined and found out his memory was damaged from the trauma."
"In his mind, Elara didn't fake her death. She just left the country in a rage after learning of his affair. He believes he spent a long time convincing her to return, on the condition that he would leave Cassia after the baby was born and hold a proper mating ceremony with her."
By the end of the story, the guest was laughing. Kael joined him with a faint smile.
He had been planning to take matters into his own hands, but now it seemed unnecessary.
He took out his phone and sent a message to me, far away in the North.
[Looks like I won't have to do anything. Aiden has completely lost his mind. He found a look-alike for you and is acting out some grand 'reconciliation' drama.]
A moment later, his phone vibrated.
I had replied with a simple question mark.
"Is he insane?"
[Don't tell me about this disgusting stuff anymore. I'm not interested.]
Kael put his phone away, satisfied.
The farce didn't end there.
Three days later, Kael heard the rest of the story from other guests.
Cassia had been rushed to the emergency room and had a "premature birth."
But what came out was not a "pure-blood Alpha heir." It was a stillborn, malformed mass, barely humanoid, a twisted consequence of the black magic's backlash.
The so-called pregnancy had been a black magic illusion from the start.
The moment the truth was revealed, the families of Aiden and Cassia completely severed ties.
In the medical wing, a desperate Cassia went mad. While the guards were distracted, she snatched a silver dagger and tried to rush out to stab the "substitute" who had stolen Aiden.
Delusional, Aiden attacked Cassia again to protect the impostor.
In the chaos, the two of them scuffled, knocking over a vial of high-purity wolfsbane used for medical experiments.
Both of them inhaled the lethal gas and had been unconscious ever since.
As for the substitute, she had taken advantage of the chaos, cleaned out Aiden's safe of all his remaining cash and jewelry, and fled in the middle of the night.
The once-invincible former Alpha of Black Moon had lost his mate, his family, and his fortune.
Even the pittance he had left was stolen by a common grifter.
A spectacular downfall.
