Chapter 1

(Olivia's POV)

The beeping of the hospital monitors had become the soundtrack to our lives. My daughter Lily lay in the sterile bed, her small frame dwarfed by the medical equipment surrounding her. Kidney failure. Those two words had shattered our world.

"Mommy," Lily whispered, her voice barely audible over the machines. "Do you think Daddy will come tomorrow?"

I brushed her thin hair back from her forehead. "Of course, sweetheart. It's your birthday."

"And we'll go to the Moonlight Fair? All three of us?" Hope flickered in her emerald eyes-eyes just like mine.

"Yes, Lily. I already asked him, and he promised." I forced a smile, ignoring the doubt gnawing at my heart.

Lily's face lit up with a joy I hadn't seen in months. "Really? Daddy promised?"

I nodded, squeezing her fragile hand. The doctors had given her days, maybe hours. This birthday might be her last, and her only wish was to spend it with her father.

The next morning, I dressed Lily in her warmest clothes. The weather had turned unexpectedly cold, but nothing would stop us. We waited at the Moonlight Fair entrance, the colorful lights and cheerful music a stark contrast to the heaviness in my chest.

One hour passed. Then two.

"He's just running late from work, right Mommy?" Lily asked, her lips turning slightly blue despite the heavy coat.

"I'm sure he is, sweetheart." I dialed Ethan's number for the twentieth time. Straight to voicemail.

Three hours. Lily refused to sit in the wheelchair I'd brought, insisting on standing so her father would see her right away.

"Maybe he forgot," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Maybe he's with Emma again."

My heart cracked at her words. "Let me try once more."

This time, someone answered. Not Ethan, but his assistant.

Alpha King is unavailable. He's at Disney with

my feet. "But today is his daughter's birthday. Lily is waiting for him at

left strict

turned back, Lily had collapsed. Her small body convulsed on the cold ground, her

in my arms.

doctors worked frantically, but I could see in their

time. "Why does Daddy love Emma more than me? Is it because

from her pocket, the screen lighting up with a video someone had sent her. Ethan, Victoria,

just wanted him to love

she was gone, her final breath a question I

My daughter was dead. And her father wasn't even there to say goodbye. The

staff member asked gently. "Surely the Alpha King..." "He

Moonstone Hair Clip I'd designed for her birthday-tiny healing crystals embedded in a delicate silver setting. I'd spent months crafting

better," I whispered, carefully placing it in

member shifted uncomfortably. "The Alpha King should

bitterness seeping into my voice. "Celebrating Emma Frost's birthday with the same party he promised Lily. With

man's eyes widened in shock, but he nodded respectfully. "I understand,

the cremation began, I stood alone, watching flames

was at a standstill. I clutched the Moonwood Ceremonial Urn to my chest, Lily's ashes still warm inside.

the park's exterior wall flashed with images-breaking news about the

Ethan Stone spared no expense for young Emma Frost's birthday celebration today," the announcer's

shoulders, both laughing. Victoria stood beside them, her hand possessively on Ethan's arm. Victoria is Ethan's childhood sweetheart. But she left the pack five years ago. After she left the pack, she mated to another wolf and gave birth

months ago, she returned to the pack with

that it was hard and pitiful for Victoria to raise a child alone, so he always went to take care of them. He treated Emma even better than our

begged for, the one Ethan had refused to buy because "it's too expensive for

as if Lily could still see. "Lily, don't look!" I

when I returned. Our wing of the massive estate felt empty without Lily's presence. I carried the urn to her room, still filled with her toys, her books,

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