Fake marriage to the Lycan prince

Madison’s POV 11:30 PM. The candles had melted. I stood in the kitchen doorway and looked at them. The two white pillars I had lit exactly three hours ago, now melted into wax puddles on either side of the anniversary cake I had spent the majority of my Saturday afternoon making. It was a Vanilla sponge cake with strawberry cream, a recipe I had mastered after Daniel mentioned that it was his favorite four years ago. I even wrote our names on the cake with red icing. Madison & Daniel @ 8… Accompanied by a little heart emoji. I had to lie to my boss about a doctor’s appointment so he would give me the day off. It worked, though I spent the first few hours of my day feeling a bit guilty about lying to him. Anyways… I just wanted everything to be perfect, and I knew I wouldn’t have been able to do that because my shift was to run from 8 PM today till 8 AM tomorrow. I lied to Daniel as well. I was eager to see the smile on his face when he would return from work, not expecting to see me, and then he would step into the room, which was now covered in red flowers and lit with scented candles. Unfortunately… Here I am, alone at 11:30 PM in the middle of our shared apartment with no messages or even a call. No explanation as to why my fiancé wasn’t home yet. What if he was planning a surprise too? I once thought to myself, but I shook off the thought immediately. Our anniversary was almost over. What kind of surprise takes the whole day? The next trail of thoughts was… Is he okay? Is everything alright with him? I kept calling, but he didn’t take any of my calls, nor did he return them. At some point, I was forced to call the office just to make sure he was fine. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but Mr. Richmond left the office at around 5PM.” Stella, the receptionist, informed me. Despite everything, I found myself making excuses for him. Not because I wanted to, but out of habit. At 2:14 the next morning. I heard the front door fall open. I was on the couch by then, still in the blue dress he had once picked for me, the one he said looked perfect on me. I heard his voice first, the sound of it making me stand to my feet instinctively. Then suddenly, I heard a second voice. A woman's. I paused. "I'm keeping this child." Her voice was steady, but it carried a kind of softness that could make one say yes to all her wishes. "Whether you want me to or not, I don’t care. I already made my decision.” There was a pause. My hand wrapped tighter around my phone. "Why wouldn't I want you to?" Came Daniel's voice, his voice reassuring and a little too calm. Nothing like the voice he used with me. "Of course I want you to keep it." The lady sighed. "I was scared, you know. Because the other time you asked Madison to get rid of her baby twice or thrice… I can’t really remember.” "Sienna." His voice cut through, gentle but firm. "That's because she's Madison. You're not her." I stood very still, chills running down my spine. I must have misheard. I tried to convince myself. I finally moved, though slowly, to where I could see them. Sienna stood tall in front of Daniel, with her thick red lipstick, which stood out in the dimly lit area. She is Daniel's personal assistant, always looking so put-together and well-dressed. I had always privately found her to be slightly intimidating. Even their closure seemed a bit too off to me. But Daniel would always wave it off and scold me about how jealous I had been becoming of late. Daniel pulled her closer to himself, his hands on her face as he pressed a soft and gentle kiss onto her lips, in the middle of the apartment I had specially cleaned to host our eight-year anniversary. When he pulled back, he was smiling. They were both smiling. "We're going to spoil this kid with everything in the world." He said, his grin becoming wider as he squeezed her hands in a reassuring way. The unwanted memory from years ago arrived without warning. That night, three years ago. All I could hear was Daniel being reasonable and thinking for us. “I just want to be sure I can give our child the best life before we bring anyone into this world. Is that so wrong, Maddie?” “I want to be ready.” “I want to be the kind of father who can actually provide. The father who is physically present for his child, not just financially.” “You understand that, don't you?” He said as he held both of my hands in his. I understood. I always did. I looked back at the cake on the counter once again, sitting pretty and untouched. Our names, still legible in red icing. Something unexplainable happened in my chest, almost like it had been frozen for a moment. I stepped into the light. They both turned. Daniel's smile dropped instantly. And Sienna… she became still. “You’re home?” Daniel muttered, eyes wide. "Eight years, Daniel," I said, ignoring his stupid question. "Eight years,” I repeated, letting the weight of it settle. "I cut off my friends because you said they were a bad influence. I changed the way I dressed, just because you were insecure and didn’t want me attracting other men’s attention. I rearranged my entire life around yours, and I thought…" The words refused to form. Not because I was going to cry. But because there were too many of them, pressing against each other, words could barely explain how I felt right now. “Three abortions, Daniel…” I said, showing off three fingers. “And now, who knows if my womb would ever carry a child again.” “All because I was trying to wait for you to be ready…” A sigh of frustration escaped my lips as I ran my hand through my hair, realizing just how stupid I had been all these years. I looked at him. He looked back at me. “Did I make a mistake by falling in love with you?” "Maddie, please… Don't try to make me feel guilty for moving on." He cut me off, his voice was tired like he’d had enough of me already. His words felt like a physical attack. I could already feel the tears forming in my eyes. But instead of letting them out, a small pained chuckle escaped my lips. “We both knew that things were going to end soon.” He continued, his tone rising. “The love between us died years ago, and I’m done pretending it still exists.” I sniffed back my tears before they could even surface. A lot of words hung in my throat, ready to be unleashed, but the only word that successfully made it out was… “Wow.” It was like everything had finally snapped, and my misery was laid bare in front of me. He didn't say another word, just held Sienna's hand tight like he was trying to protect her from me. I looked down at my left hand. At the ring he had merely tossed at me years ago, rather than giving me a heartwarming proposal. It was like he had done it because he was tired of hearing me whine. I pulled it off and set it on the side table. I did it carefully, rather than slamming or throwing it. Enough to let him know that I was done letting my emotions get the best of me. I took a step back, and another. Then I turned, walking towards the bedroom. I could hear his voice behind me as I made my way towards the bedroom. "Ignore her. She just likes creating a scene." I couldn't be more humiliated. Despite the heaviness in my chest, I pulled my suitcase from under the bed and started packing. I zipped the suitcase and picked up my handbag. On my way out through the kitchen, I took the bottle of whiskey I had gotten for our anniversary night. I had everything packed up and ready to leave this place for good. But as the door clicked shut behind me, a terrifying realization hit me. I had absolutely nowhere to go.