Chapter 2. Unimaginable Hope

Taya's POV

After Griffon left, his assistant walked in. Andre handed me a morning-after pill and respectfully said, "Ms. Palmer, please take it as usual."

Griffon would never allow me to get pregnant.

Not only was I just his contracted lover, I wasn’t even a wolf shifter. I’d always grown up around wolves and had spent time in the shifter orphanage, but I never phased into a wolf at puberty. No one knew where I came from, though the assumption had always been that at least one of my parents had to have been a shifter in order for me to be dropped off at the shifter orphanage.

Staring at the small pill in the palm of my hand, my heart started to hurt even more. I wasn’t sure if the pain was caused by my heart failure or Griffon’s cruelty, but regardless, it was so intense that I struggled to take a breath.

“Ms. Palmer…” When I didn’t immediately take the pill, Andre urged me along with a nervous expression. He was probably afraid that I would cause trouble since it had been my last night with Griffon.

I swallowed through the pain in my chest and tossed the pill in my mouth. I didn’t even bother with water, forcing it down dry. Andre let out a sigh of relief, then took out the apartment keys and checked his briefcase, placing the documents in front of me.

“Ms. Palmer, this is Mr. Knight’s compensation for you. In addition to the real estate and cars, he has also placed five million dollars in your account.”

How generous. Too bad he never knew what I truly wanted.

“I don’t want it.” I set my mouth in a grim line and shook my head.

Andre was stunned and confused. “Do you think it’s not enough?”

My heart shattered beyond what I’d thought possible.

Even Andre thought I was doing it for the money.

It was too much. So much money, plus an apartment and a luxury car. Was he afraid I would ask him for more money in the future?

I picked up the bag beside me with a bitter smile, took out a debit card, and handed it to Andre. “This is all the money Griffon paid me over the years. I never spent a single penny, and I don’t want it. The pin is his birthday.” Andre was dumbfounded, a confused look making his brows furrow.

I didn’t care whether he believed me or not. I placed the card on the pile of documents.

Then I left the penthouse without another word. Winter was cold in Arcadia.

I walked down the empty street, alone and shivering.

The shadow of my thin figure was cast on the ground by the streetlight, gaunt and fragile. I tightened my beige coat, gritted my teeth, and walked back to my apartment in my high heels. I pushed the door open. It was huge inside, taking up an entire floor.

Despite the warmth inside and the luxurious decor, the apartment couldn’t dispel the chill that flooded me. I sat on the sofa, staring blankly at my surroundings for a moment. Then I began to pack.

Griffon had purchased this apartment for me to live in so that I would be close to his penthouse, able to rush over at a moment’s notice. I had loved that he wanted me close by, wishing and praying to the goddess above that somehow it meant more than what it really did.

Since he didn’t want me anymore, I didn’t want anything that came from him.

Taking out my suitcase, I opened the closet and pulled out all of my clothes.

I hadn’t brought many things with me, and it didn’t take me long to pack up everything and leave. I packed quickly and efficiently, with no outward emotion, nothing like the girl from five years ago. The desperate, crying girl who’d begged Griffon to purchase my virginity.

After getting into the car, I sent a text message to Andre.

[The key code for the Hudson Apartment is 0826.]

***

Third-Person POV

Andre returned to the Knight Pack headquarters, handed the documents to Griffon, and told him what Taya said. With an indifferent gaze, Griffon glanced at the items on his desk. His stoical gaze fixed on the debit card. “You checked the balance?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Is there additional money in there?”

“Yes, Alpha.” Andre nodded. The exact amount Griffon had paid Taya for her virginity.

Griffon frowned, and Andre heard his wolf rumbling. After a moment of staring at the card, he stretched out his hand, picked up the piece of plastic, and snapped it in half, his claws starting to extend. He pushed the pile of documents toward Andre, his fingers curled and starting to crumple the papers. He was clearly resisting his wolf’s urge to shred them.

“Get rid of it then.” Andre opened his mouth and wanted to say something nice, maybe forget Taya, but the Alpha had already turned away and was looking at his phone, a snarl on his face.

He knew better than to speak when his Alpha was like this, so he picked up the pile of documents and left the office.

***

Taya's POV

I took my suitcase to my best friend Harper Duke’s.

I gently knocked on the door and waited.

Harper had grown up with me in the same orphanage, and we were like sisters. Except Harper had her wolf.

“If anything happens, come home,” Harper had said when Griffon took me away five years ago.

It was because of Harper that I could leave everything from Griffon behind.

As soon as Harper opened the door, a broad smile appeared on her face when she saw me. “What are you doing here?”

I tightened my grip on the suitcase. “I need a place to crash,” I said quietly.

Only then did Harper see the suitcase, and the smile on her face disappeared, a look of worry replacing it.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just broke up with him.”

I forced a smile to hide my pain. Harper looked closely at me and saw past my pretense in a matter of seconds. Her eyes narrowed, then she frowned.

I knew how I looked. I was thin and pale, my eyes sunken.

Harper hugged me tightly. “Don’t worry. I’m here for you.”

I couldn’t help but tear up at her words. I hugged Harper and patted her gently on the back. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Harper knew how much I liked Griffon, how much more I wanted the powerful, distant Alpha. We shared everything. Over the past five years, I had worked hard to earn the amount Griffon had paid me, so I could give it back to him. I was so naive and innocent, I believed that if I returned the money, his feelings for me would change. Maybe then we could be something more than just “employer and employee.”

But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Harper remembered that rainy night five years ago just as I did.

If it weren’t for Silas Johnson, I wouldn’t have met Griffon.

If the accident never happened, I could have had a happy life.

I didn’t want to burden Harper with my sorrow. After gently pulling back from the hug, I smiled and said, “Girlie, aren’t you going to let me in? It’s freezing out here!”

I stood there, forcing myself to believe that I would soon recover from this. For orphans like us, who had no one to rely on, being abandoned was just another day, right?

Harper took my suitcase and led me into the house.

“You don’t need a place to crash. This is your home, too.”

After that, she turned around, fetched clean pajamas, and handed them to me. “Go take a shower. I’ll make you something to eat, and you can get some sleep. Don’t think about anything else, okay?”

“Okay.” I took the pajamas and nodded.

Harper had always been like this. She was unconditionally good to me, like a beam of light that sliced through the darkness. Most other people didn’t know what to do with me. I lived in a gray area…raised by wolves yet not a she-wolf.

It was a pity that I suffered from terminal heart failure, and my life was soon coming to an end. Had I been blessed by the goddess with my wolf, there would be other options, other treatments. But with no wolf to help me heal…

If Harper found out that I was going to die soon, she would be devastated. And the last thing I wanted to do was burden her with that knowledge.

I gazed at the busy figure in the kitchen and slowly walked over. “I want to quit my job.”

Harper nodded in agreement and said, “You should. You’ve been working so hard for so long. God, you must be exhausted. Quit your job and take some time to yourself. Don’t worry about anything; I’ve got your back.”

I wrapped my arms around my best friend and squeezed her tightly, filled with too many emotions to verbalize them. Then, I turned around and went to the bathroom with tears in my eyes. Fate had never favored me.

If Harper and I were meant to be apart, I should use the last three months of my life to be with her. To be with someone who truly loved me.

The next morning, I applied makeup to conceal my pale face and lips and went into the office to quit my job. Just as I sat down and was about to turn on the computer to write my resignation letter, my colleague Brielle came over.

“Have you seen the email?” I shook my head. I’d spent the whole weekend in Griffon’s penthouse; I hadn’t had time for anything else other than him and…recovering from him.

“Lila sent a letter saying that Elder Thorns' daughter is taking over today,” Brielle said.

I had no impression of the elder’s daughter, so I wasn’t interested. Plus, I was about to quit anyway.

Brielle, on the other hand, was very intrigued. “I heard she had just returned from studying abroad in one of the European pack cities, so she doesn’t have much work experience with pack politics and business. Is she even qualified?”

Another colleague, Margaret, sneered and said, “Who would dare question her? She’s the long-lost love of Alpha Knight.”