Chapter 1

When I opened my eyes again, the familiar room, the air still filled with the smell of last night's wild passion. I sat up abruptly, heart pounding wildly, the taste of that agony in my memory still lingering in my heart. I had been reborn. Back to the night Lucas returned from the battlefield, three days before my death. I touched the contraceptive pills already placed by the bed—in my past life, Selena deliberately put them there to disgust me. Had it been my past life, I would have crushed and thrown them away, cursing and raging like a venomous woman. Now, I swallowed the pills immediately. Bitterness flooded my throat — sharp as swallowing knives, scraping my body and soul raw. After swallowing the contraceptive pill, Lucas woke up. He intended to embrace me, but upon seeing me, his eyes turned icy cold. "Sophia, why are you here?" My heart sank; I was supposed to be his mate. "I'm sorry. It was my fault. I shouldn't have been here." In my past life, I naively believed that a child of our own could hold his heart. And how tragically mistaken I was. Lucas's eyes were filled with mockery. "If you know you're wrong, then leave." He had never spoken to me so coldly before. I suppressed the pain tearing at my heart and told him firmly: "Okay. Remember, I will never touch you again." Soon, I would die. The cheap love, I wouldn't beg for it anymore. Lucas's eyes pierced like poisoned needles, stabbing coldly into me. "Sophia, you're despicable, climbing into my bed." I remained silent, the bitterness gnawing at my heart. Lucas noticed the pill box beside the bed and grabbed it instantly. Upon recognizing the contraceptive pills, disbelief flickered in his eyes, followed by overwhelming rage. "Contraceptive pills?!" His voice rose sharply, cutting through my eardrums like an icy blade. He crushed the box violently. "Sophia! Who gave you the audacity?!" He threw the box at me, scattering the pills across the floor, mirroring our shattered relationship. Leaning over me, his scent of blood from the battlefield and oppressive aura pressed down. He pinched my chin and forced me to look up at him. "Hmph, how dare you?" His fingers tightened around my chin, almost crushing my bones. "You thought carrying my child could control me? Dream on! Now, even the chance is gone because you dared to cut it off yourself! Do you find me dirty?" Each word dripped with venom, piercing my already broken heart. "Or was your purpose last night not for me but something else hidden? Hmm? Speak!" I laughed mockingly. "Did you expect me to bear your child?" Lucas crushed the pill box instantly. "If you had a child, I would end its life with my own hands." My heart clenched, the chill spreading through my body. In the previous life, indeed, he had ended our child’s life. So this time, I would sever our ties myself. A gentle female voice came from outside the door—Selena, the woman Lucas brought back from the battlefield. "Lucas, are you inside? You should come out now." Lucas's previously angry and cold eyes softened instantly. Without another glance at me, as if the furious demon from moments ago wasn’t him, he replied gently, "I’m here." His voice became soft and patient, qualities I had never experienced from him. I watched him stride toward the door. Opening the door, Selena appeared, her delicate figure framed by the doorway. Dressed in simple yet elegant attire, her pale face, reminiscent of recent illness, made her look even more pitiful. "Lucas, did I interrupt you?" "I saw you were tired last night, so I wanted to remind you not to forget today’s appointment with the elder for a check-up..." She spoke, swaying slightly, appearing frail. "You didn’t interrupt anything." Lucas stepped forward, naturally supporting her arm with utmost gentleness, as if she were a fragile treasure. Blocking her view into the room, he spoke softly, unprecedentedly tender: "Don’t stand in the draft. You have just recovered. Let’s go." Before leaving, he warned me with a glance. I pretended to be calm, though my heart ached deeply. Back in the room, I frantically gathered everything Lucas had given me and threw them into the fire. The flames reflected off my face, burning my eyes, yet no tears fell. "Sophia! What are you doing?" Lucas's voice carried anger from the doorway. My voice was calm. Really calm. Just like still water. "These things are annoying." "Who allowed you to burn them?" A vein bulged at his temple. "These were mine! I gave you these!" "So what?" I knelt, stirring the ashes with a stick. "Yours, but I don’t want them anymore." "You’re courting death!" He grabbed my wrist fiercely. A bone-crushing force. But I didn’t dodge, even laughing, the sound grating in the silent room. "Lucas?" Selena leaned against the doorframe, paler than before, "What’s going on? I heard noise..." Her gaze shifted to the fire, then to me, filled with just the right amount of concern. "Sophia, are you okay? Did Lucas hurt you?" Lucas immediately turned, his tone softening again. "It’s nothing. Why did you come out? It’s windy outside." Now, even his anger was directed elsewhere; one word from Selena, and he was hers. With unflinching resolve, he chose Selena—dismissing me without a glance.