Chapter 5
Just as I was about to leave, Kendra came rushing out and grabbed my hand, tearful again.
“Julissa, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched your things without asking.”
Her head dipped low, her expression soaked in apology. Then she looked up, eyes wide with
innocent hope.
“I’m having a birthday party tomorrow… would you play the piano for me?”
Before I could answer, another voice snapped through the air.
“You? Asking Julissa to play for you? Dream on.”
I turned and saw Eden standing behind me, arms crossed, expression like thunder.
When had she arrived?
I gently grabbed her hand to calm her down, then turned to Landon instead.
He looked like he hadn’t quite caught what I said earlier. He scratched his nose, avoiding eye
contact.
“Kendra’s surgery is tomorrow night,” he said. “She just… wanted to celebrate a little in the
afternoon.”
I smiled faintly. “Sure. I’ll be there.”
Eden yanked me out the door. “You’ve lost your damn mind. You’re really going?”
I shrugged. “Why not? Should be a hell of a show.‘
We left with her arm hooked in mine, my other hand clutching the wedding gown and what was left
of my rose petals.
That night, lying in Eden’s guest room, I found myself staring at the ceiling, piecing through
memories of Landon and me.
Earlier that day, when I looked him in the eyes and said, “Who are you?“–it hadn’t been a jab. It
was instinct. A moment of blankness. I genuinely couldn’t remember.
The warmth between us, the sweetness… it had faded into fog.
Maybe the Oblivion Drop was doing its job after all.
Maybe forgetting wasn’t so bad.
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The next day, Kendra’s birthday party was held by the lake near our packhouse.
Petals were scattered everywhere. Fresh blooms lined the stage. The whole thing looked less like a birthday celebration and more like a wedding rehearsal.
She wore a flowing white gown. Landon stood beside her in a tailored suit. They looked… perfectly
matched.
So yesterday really had been their dress rehearsal.
Kendra took the stage first, smiling delicately.
Then Landon stepped up beside her and, with that same practiced gentleness, addressed the crowd.
“And now, I’d like to invite Julissa–my little sister–to play something for us.”
My expression didn’t shift as I walked toward the piano.
The moment I pressed the keys, soft music filled the air… and they began to dance.
Kendra faced me directly, her hands on Landon’s shoulders. Our eyes locked.
There was no shyness in her gaze–only triumph.
When the song ended, I stood and stepped off the stage.
The crowd broke into cheers.
“So romantic!”
“They look so perfect together!”
And then, Landon dropped to one knee.
Gasps rippled through the pack.
I turned around and froze.
He was holding a ring.
For a heartbeat, our eyes met. He looked away almost instantly, guilt flashing across his face–but
his hand still reached into his pocket and pulled out the box.
That was when it hit me.
I was the one who had proposed to him.
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Back then, people had called me brave, bold, a warrior of love.
But behind my back? They whispered I was desperate. That Landon would walk all over me.
I defended him fiercely. Cut ties with anyone who dared speak against us.
Now, I saw it clearly.
They were right.
I’d been nothing but a joke.
As I watched him slide the ring onto Kendra’s finger, I turned and walked away.
No tears. No drama. Just quiet, clean detachment.
Back in Eden’s car, my phone buzzed–a message from the elite culinary team I’d applied to last
month. Their head chef once worked for the Alpha King himself.
The message read: [Ms. Crosswell, we are honored to invite you to join our team.]
I smiled.
Maybe love was a loss–but my career was just getting started.
The Oblivion Drop was working just fine. I couldn’t even feel the pain anymore.
Thirty minutes later, a new text popped up: [That ‘show‘ you mentioned? Worth every second.]
It was from Eden. Along with a video clip.
I tapped play.
The moment I had stepped out, the doors burst open.
A crowd of people stormed in, led by a man with a megaphone, yelling:
“CHEATER LANDON! HOMEWRECKER KENDRA!”
Kendra’s face drained of color. She stumbled back, clutching Landon’s arm.
Landon’s jaw clenched, his entire body stiffening.
One voice rose above the others:
“Alpha Landon, really? Ditching your Luna for a side chick and calling her your ‘sister‘? You thought we would go along with this circus?”
The speaker spat toward the couple–and that’s when I recognized him.
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Nathaniel, the neighbor kid who used to raid our kitchen every chance he got, trailing behind me like a shadow until one day, he traded me in for my brother and became his number–one fan.
Landon tried to hold his ground. “This is nonsense. Beta, get them out of here.”
But his Beta barely moved before Nathaniel shoved him back a few steps with a growl.
“Don’t pretend you don’t remember. You knelt at her parents‘ graves, Landon–held her hand and
promised you’d never leave her. That you’d protect her with your life.”
He stepped forward, jabbing a finger at Landon’s chest.
“Look at you now. Tell me–do you really think this is protecting her?”
Landon’s throat bobbed. “I was just… giving Kendra a ring as her brother.”
Nathaniel laughed.
“Brother? You two don’t even share blood. You think she’ll buy that?”
He pushed Landon hard, his voice rising. “You fed her Oblivion Drop just to wipe yourself from her
heart, and why? So you could be with Kendra again?”
“You even know what that potion does to her?”
Landon blinked, caught off guard.
Nathaniel stepped closer. “It takes ten years off her life.”
Landon froze, then grabbed Nathaniel by the collar. “What did you say?!”
Nathaniel didn’t flinch. “The potion was created by Julissa’s brother. Know why he stopped making
it? Because the side effects were too dangerous.”
Landon’s hand dropped.
Nathaniel shoved him back and sneered.
“You had it tested? Really? Who do you think gave you that sample in the first place? And who
arranged that so–called ‘lab report‘?”
He turned slowly, eyes narrowing.
Right at Kendra.
Landon followed his
gaze.
“Kendra…?”
She shook her head, stumbling backward like a broken doll.
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“I–I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
She sank to the floor, looking up at Landon with wide, teary eyes.
“I didn’t mean to…”
Nathaniel took a step forward, smirking.
“All right then. You want another secret?”
