Chapter 1

"You locked me in a windowless psych ward for a year just to please another woman, and now you want me back?" I stared at my former mate, Adrian.

Three years ago, he dismissed my desperate cries as "childish jealousy." Now, he cornered me in the boardroom, his golden Alpha eyes fixated on my pregnant belly.

"Get rid of the babies," he growled, his voice trembling with obsessive jealousy. "I'll give you everything. Just come back to me."

I wrenched my hand away. "My husband is waiting for me, Mr. Rockwood."

His world shattered.

"Husband?"

——

Serena's POV

"Mr. Rockwood, there's really no need to explain."

I raised my glass and offered a faint smile to Adrian Rockwood and Ivy Lyall, who were seated across from me.

"As long as our partnership goes smoothly, who cares whether you two share a wineglass? Even if you announced your mating ceremony right now, I'd be the first to congratulate you."

Ivy's playful smile immediately disappeared.

The glass in Adrian's hand froze halfway to his lips, and his expression gradually darkened.

"Serena, don't say things like that." He frowned at me. "Ivy and I are just friends. We were only joking around."

"Of course."

I set my glass down, my voice perfectly calm.

"As long as you're happy."

The others around the table had clearly sensed the tension.

After all, everyone there knew that I had once been Adrian's mate.

Though that had been a long time ago.

"Ms. Mercer, have you and Mr. Rockwood met before?"

Someone finally couldn't resist asking.

Adrian seemed about to answer, but I spoke first.

"We attended the same wolf academy. These days, however, we're simply business partners."

Bang!

Adrian suddenly slammed his glass onto the table.

Dark red wine splashed across the surface, staining Ivy's sleeve.

He shot to his feet and grabbed my wrist.

"So that's all I am to you now? Just a client?"

His voice dropped to a furious whisper, his golden wolf eyes burning with anger.

"Are you really enjoying pretending you don't know me, Serena?"

The familiar scent of cedar drifted toward me.

It had once made me feel safe. Now, it only turned my stomach.

I wrenched my hand free.

"Don't touch me!"

Adrian froze.

I straightened the sleeve he'd wrinkled and gave him a cold look.

"My husband is waiting for me at home. Mr. Rockwood, I suggest you remember your place."

His expression went blank.

"Husband?"

He stared at me as though I'd just said something utterly absurd.

"Did you just say you have a husband?"

"That's none of your business."

I picked up my handbag.

"I'll have my assistant deliver the partnership documents tomorrow. I'm leaving for tonight."

"Serena Mercer!"

Adrian's voice suddenly rose.

"Get back here! When did you get married?"

I didn't look back.

It wasn't until I reached the parking lot and locked myself inside my car that I finally let my tense shoulders relax.

My fingers were trembling uncontrollably.

Every time I got close to Adrian, the memories I'd tried so hard to bury came rushing back.

I hadn't always been like this.

And Adrian hadn't always been the man he was now.

Back then, he'd bury his face against my neck and plead with me like a child terrified of being abandoned.

"Serena, my father brought his mistress and illegitimate daughter back to the estate. He's never really cared about me. Not once in my entire life."

"I don't trust that anyone will stay by my side forever. Could you be a little stricter with me? Keep an eye on me. Don't give me a chance to overthink everything."

He would hold my hand, vulnerability filling his wolf eyes.

"I want to know that you care. Even if you get angry when I come home late, that's better than you not caring at all."

My heart softened.

To reassure him, I began paying attention to his every move.

I'd ask where he'd been and who he'd met. I'd even get upset when he became too close to other women.

I thought that was the kind of love he wanted.

Until the day I tried to stop him from picking Ivy up.

He shoved me away.

"You're disgusting, Serena!"

"If you can't even stand me having normal friendships with other people, you belong in a psychiatric facility!"

Then he personally had me committed.

They locked me in a windowless room.

The staff didn't care whether I was a perfectly sane werewolf. They forced medication down my throat, pinned me to the floor, and even injected me with suppressants that prevented me from summoning my wolf.

I begged Adrian for help again and again.

But every time I called, he was with Ivy.

Once, I heard him tending to Ivy's injuries while impatiently telling me over the phone:

"Stop bothering me with this nonsense."

Eventually, they placed me in solitary confinement for treatment.

One day, I heard fireworks exploding over the estate in the distance.

It was Ivy's birthday.

Adrian had thrown her a grand celebration.

Meanwhile, I was locked in a freezing room, unable to get so much as a sip of water.

It took me three whole years to escape that living hell.

And another three years to learn how to live a normal life again.

So why wouldn't Adrian leave me alone?

A sudden, forceful knock against my car window jolted me.

I flinched and looked up.

Adrian was standing outside, his face twisted with anger.

He pounded on the glass, his golden wolf eyes fixed on me.

"Serena! Open the door!"