Chapter 93: A Bitter Severance
Chapter 93: A Bitter Severance
(Scarlett’s POV)
Sarah’s sharp eyes stayed fixed on the necklace lying against my neck. Her lips parted slightly, and then her mouth closed as if she struggled to find the right words. Her expression shifted–it was a mix of disbelief, envy, and something else–suspicion.
“The Luna’s Tear,” she said, her voice careful, quiet, and careful. Then it turned sharper. “I remember Grace talking about it at the Territory Council gathering. How she said it’s the most exquisite artifact she’d ever
seen.”
I pretended to adjust the necklace lazily, lifting my chin to meet her gaze. “How unfortunate that it didn’t end up on the neck of the one who admired it so much then,” I said with a cold smile.
Her face hardened, and her voice sharpened like a blade. “Who gave that to you, Scarlett?” she demanded, each word heavy with accusation. “Artifacts of that caliber don’t simply appear around someone’s neck. And certainly not someone like you.”
That last jab hit precisely the way she intended, but I wasn’t about to let her see a reaction. Instead, I smiled sweetly. “Someone like me? Oh, you’ll have to elaborate, Sarah, since you seem to know so much about me.”
Her eyes flickered with anger and disbelief. “Don’t play coy with me,” she snapped, stepping closer. “This–this necklace, its power, its history–it speaks volumes. Whoever gave it to you…” Her voice became accusing, dripping venom. “Was it Roman?”
I couldn’t stop the small, bitter laugh that escaped me. I tilted my head slightly, letting the chilled lilt of my voice pierce the tension. “Roman… Nathan… Maybe both. Maybe neither.” I waved my hand carelessly, as though the details were minor to me. “And tell me, does it matter? Since when has it been your concern who
gifts me anything?”
Her lips pressed into a thin line, and her mask cracked slightly, revealing something fragile. “It matters,” she insisted tightly. “It matters because it’s dangerous. You’ve already surrounded yourself with complications- dangerous men, dangerous alliances.”
I could feel my wolf Cora stir beneath my skin, prowling against the edges of my control at her words. I stepped closer to Sarah, squaring my shoulders as my words turned sharper. “Now, isn’t that rich? After years of your silence, after years of watching you choose Grace–again and again–and now you think you can come into my healing center and interrogate me?” I scoffed coldly, my emerald eyes narrowing. “Tell me, Sarah, when did I last owe you an explanation about anything?”
The c***k in her defenses turned into a deeper fissure. For the first time, I saw genuine hesitation flicker across her expression. Her tone lost its edge, replaced instead by something quieter, something a st like
desperation. “Scarlett, I didn’t come here to fight you.”
“Oh? You didn’t?” I snapped back before crossing my arms. “Because it certainly seems like you’re intent on criticizing every step I’ve taken. And what for? To defend your little Grace? Or is this about something else
entirely?”
Her mask finally fell away completely, revealing exhaustion, desperation, and anxiety beneath her polished
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demeanor. She sighed deeply before speaking. “This is about Grace.” Her hands tightened into fists at her sides. “Scarlett, Grace is… dying. The silver is advancing too quickly. The healers say if we don’t act now-”
My cold laugh cut her off, and I couldn’t stop it even if I tried. “So you’re here because you think I’ll fix it. Of course, you are. You’re not here because of guilt.”
Her face tightened as guilt flashed across her features. “I do feel guilty,” she said quickly, her voice trembling, though she tried to steady it. “I do regret the years I failed to be there. I should have been a better mother to you, Scarlett. But Grace-”
“There it is again,” I said, taking a step forward and leaning toward her, my voice quieter but far sharper now. “Every time. Grace, Grace, Grace. What you really mean is that saving her is your priority. Do you think saving her absolves you? Do you think it will undo all of this?” I gestured between us, the air heavy with unspoken
wounds.
Her voice broke slightly, but she pieced herself back together stubbornly. “She doesn’t deserve this,” she whispered, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “She’s… she’s just… Scarlett, please. You can influence Aiden Walsh and Hazel Chase. If you bring them back to treat her, she might have a chance.”
Her pleading tone caught me off–guard for less than a second before my resolve hardened again. “Oh, Sarah,” I said, shaking my head with mock pity. “Do you think she gave me a chance all those years ago when she plotted my destruction? Do you think she deserves my sympathy after all the times she’s spat venom behind my back?”
“She’s dying!” Sarah yelled suddenly, the volume and tremor in her voice making the air in the room feel
heavier.
And for a moment, we both stopped. Her words echoed faintly, but the silence between us grew louder.
Her breathing was unsteady by now, her carefully curated composure splintering apart piece by piece. “Is signing the severance agreement the only way?” she finally asked, her voice quieter, shakier, as though she was trying not to collapse under the weight of the moment.
I let the question hang in the air intentionally, drawing out the tension. Silence always had a way of cutting deeper than words. I made her wait for my answer, locking eyes with her, unblinking, letting her squirm under the weight of my steady gaze.
Finally, I leaned back, crossing my arms again. “If you believe that’s the price for salvation, who am I to
argue?”
(Sarah’s POV)
I had to draw in a breath–a deep one–steadying myself even as my hands trembled. My mind screamed a thousand thoughts, each colliding into the next.
Grace’s face burned in my mind, pale, sickly, breaking down from the poison spreading through her veins. My failure to protect Scarlett, to be a mother to her, felt heavier than ever.
But now? Now I had no choice.
Pulling out the carefully folded papers Scarlett had sent weeks ago, I gazed down at the severance agreement that would officially dissolve any remaining connection between her and the Winter Pack.
The pen in my hand felt heavier than anything I’d ever held. My signature, written in bold ink, signed away not just the connection, but the hope of reconciliation.
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There was no going back.
Handing Scarlett the documents, I barely recognized my own voice when I whispered, “It’s done. It’s done now. So tell me–when will Aiden and Hazel return?”
The room felt unnaturally quiet, as though waiting for Scarlett’s reply. Her expression didn’t shift, though my relief crumbled under her steady, unreadable stare.
“What healers?” Scarlett asked flatly.
It was like someone had struck me. My lungs ached, and my breath hitched sharply as I tried to process her
words.
“No,” I murmured, shaking my head. “No… We had an agreement. Signing the papers-”
She cut me off swiftly, her tone calm, almost amused. “I don’t remember promising anything, Sarah. Did 1?”
My hands curled into trembling fists, and heat blazed through my chest. Anger, fury, desperation–all of it exploded at once. “You implied it! You led me to believe this would save her life!”
Scarlett stepped closer, her voice colder than I’d ever heard it. “Implied? Don’t confuse your desperation with reality, Sarah. I have no obligation to anyone in that pack anymore. My ties to you are severed.”
“Heartless,” I whispered, the word spilling from me before I could stop it. “You’re heartless. You weren’t raised
like this. You weren’t-”
Scarlett interrupted sharply, leaning closer, the fire in her gaze quiet but deadly. “Raised like what, Sarah? Oh, tell me the Winter Pack I barely lived with, who raised me barely at all? Or the Thorn Pack, who taught me how to survive?”
Her voice sharpened further, dropping lower, cutting through me. “You talk about raising me when all you ever did was abandon me. So don’t question how I turned out now.”
My fury was silenced by a jarring truth. This wasn’t the daughter I thought I’d ever see again. This Scarlett was ruthless, powerful, and unrelenting.
Her next words left me trembling.
“Your games, your lies, your attempts to manipulate? They’re exactly how we landed here.” She handed the signed papers back to me. “Now take these. Your ties to me are over. And tell Grace the same.”
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