The Woman He Mocked Is An Alpha Heiress

chapter 4

HAILEY

The dark road opens up ahead of me, long and empty, and I keep my eyes on it as I press the accelerator because it is easier than thinking.

The gates fade behind us, the house disappears from view, and still, the pain stays.

It sits in my chest, heavy and constant, and every breath feels like something I have to fight for.

Beside me, Lila is quiet.

I can feel her watching me like she is afraid I might stop breathing if she looks away but I don’t say anything because I don’t trust my voice.

My hands tighten around the steering wheel, then loosen, then tighten again.

I focus on that.

On the movement.

On the road.

On anything that keeps me from breaking completely.

Because if I start—

I don’t think I will stop.

A shaky breath leaves me before I can catch it, and I bite down on my lip, trying to steady myself.

My hand moves again, almost without thinking, resting lightly against my stomach.

Empty but the bump is still there, a sign of what I lost.

I blink hard, but the tears still come, sliding down quietly and blurring the road ahead.

“Ma’am…” Lila says softly.

“I’m fine,” I whisper, sniffing and the words come out weak but I don’t take them back.

The car rolls past the outer roads of the pack, and the familiar surroundings begin to thin out, giving way to open space and distant lights.

We are getting closer.

Closer to the boundary.

Closer to the line that separates everything I was from everything I have to become.

My chest tightens again and I swallow and tighten my grip on the wheel, resisting the urge to tug the pendant off.

Not yet.

Not here.

Just a little further.

The boundary comes into view.

A simple sign board.

Nothing special but it feels like everything.

My breath slows as my heart beats harder.

And the moment the car crosses it, I slam on the brake.

The tires screech loudly against the road, and the car jerks to a stop.

Lila gasps beside me, grabbing onto the seat.

“Ma’am—”

I don’t answer.

I can’t.

Because something is happening.

The pain in my chest shifts suddenly, sharp and deep, and my breath catches as something inside me pulls tight—

Then snaps.

My hand flies to my neck.

And without thinking, I yank the chain off.

The pendant tears free.

And the moment it leaves my skin, everything changes.

My breath comes out in a rush as power surges through me, fast and overwhelming. Something that has been locked away for too long is finally breaking free.

Three years.

My eyes squeeze shut.

Then open.

Lila’s voice shakes beside me and I can hear her heart beating fast.

“Ma’am… your eyes…”

I don’t ask what she sees because I can feel it.

The difference.

The shift.

The part of me I buried slowly rising back to the surface.

My fingers tighten around the pendant in my hand before I wind down the window and throw it out of it.

And then, finally, I lean my head against the seat and inhale deeply.

The night air rushes in through the open window, cool and sharp, and it hits my face.

I keep my eyes closed for a moment, my head still resting against the seat, and I let myself breathe.

In.

Out.

Slowly.

The pain is still there.

The loss is still there.

But I no longer really feel like I'm drowning on land.

However, it's like my feelings just got more intense as my eyes drift back to the direction I'd thrown the pendant.

And just like that, everything becomes even more heavier again.

The truth is, it and I are also part of the reason for all this. The cause of my misery.

My throat tightens as I sit there, staring into the dark like I might still see it lying somewhere.

The doctor talked about stress and rest and how my body couldn’t take it.

And maybe he was right.

But I believe maybe that was never really the full truth.

Because deep down, a little part of me has always known the real reason was the pendant.

The thing I kept close to me every day.

The thing that suppressed everything I am.

My wolf.

My power.

My blood.

I swallow hard, my hand moving back to my stomach without thinking.

Still empty.

But not really.

Because there was something there.

Something that never got the chance to stay.

And I know why.

Because I was not whole.

Because I forced my body to live like something it was not meant to be.

A breath leaves me, shaky and uneven as the tears fall again, steady and quiet.

Because this is not just loss.

This is knowing.

Knowing that I didn’t just lose them.

Knowing that I might have been the reason they couldn’t stay.

My fingers curl slightly against my stomach.

“I was going to tell him,” I whisper softly.

“I was going to tell him everything.”

About the pendant.

About who I really am.

About why things kept going wrong.

About why I waited. How sorry I am.

And now there is nothing left to say.

Nothing left to fix.

He'd already chosen another woman over me.

And I'm left with just this.

This silence.

This weight.

The ache.

This guilt that sits deeper than the pain itself.

Beside me, Lila shifts, her voice careful when she speaks.

“Ma’am…”

I don’t respond. Because I don’t know how to explain this.

How to say that I was trying to be loved, and in doing that, I became someone I was never meant to be.

And it cost me everything.

I inhale slowly again, forcing the air into my lungs.

And this time, I open my eyes and look ahead.

Because I can’t stay here.

So I turn to my side and rummage through my bag until my fingers find my phone.

I take it out and unlock it, and for a moment, I just stare at the screen.

Then I scroll.

Once.

Twice.

And then I stop.

The number is still there.

I haven’t called it in three years.

My thumb hovers over it for a second, and then I press call.

It rings once.

Then twice.

Then—

“Hi Uncle Maddie.” I whisper.

“Princess?”

His voice comes through, confused at first, like he is not sure if it is really me, but then it sharpens immediately.

“You bastards—” he snaps, and I can hear movement on his end. “It’s Hailey!”

My throat tightens as a smile tugs at the corner of my lips, but I keep my voice steady.

“Yes.”

There is a pause, and it is not a calm one.

“Where are you?” he asks.

“I’m close to Wolfnest Capital. Please come pick me.”

Another pause, shorter this time.

“Stay there,” he says quickly. “Don’t move. We are coming.”

The line goes dead.

I lower the phone slowly and stare ahead at the empty road, and for the first time tonight, my chest doesn’t feel as tight.

Because now—

I am not alone.

My daddies are coming for me.

And for a moment, just a small moment—

I feel like their safe little girl again.