The door to my room suddenly burst open.

Aiden rushed in, looking like hell. His suit was wrinkled, his hair a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot. But the most shocking thing was the blood seeping from the back of his collar—from his permanent mark scar.

"Chloe." His voice was broken. "Thank the Goddess, you're awake."

He tried to come closer, but my body instinctively released a wave of repellent pheromones—a cold, moon-tinged power that slammed into him like an invisible wall.

Aiden staggered back, his face a mask of shock.

"You can't touch me," I said calmly. "I'm not yours anymore, Aiden. The mark is gone, the engagement is off. There's nothing left between us."

"No, listen to me—"

"I don't want to listen," I interrupted. "For nine years, I've heard every excuse. 'Leah needs me.' 'She's dying.' 'I have a responsibility.' 'Next time will be different.'"

"But this time really is different!" Aiden's voice grew desperate, and his Alpha aura flooded the room, trying to dominate me.

But my Moon-Descendant blood fought back instinctively. A silver-white light pulsed from me again, effortlessly dissolving his oppressive aura.

The temperature in the room dropped.

"Don't use your Alpha tricks on me," I said, my eyes glowing pure silver. "They don't work anymore. I'm no longer the little girl who would cower at your command."

Aiden was stunned. He had never seen me like this—powerful, unmovable, completely out of his control.

"Chloe, Leah was lying to me," he said quickly. "She never had the Fading. For nine years, she's been using Phantom Wolf pheromones to manipulate my emotions—"

"I don't care."

Four words, calm and final.

Aiden looked like I had punched him. "What?"

"I said, I don't care," I repeated, sitting up to face him. "Whether Leah lied or you were manipulated, it doesn't change one fact—you chose her over me nine times."

"Nine times, Aiden. Nine times you left me in a wedding dress at the church. Nine times you humiliated me in front of everyone. Nine times you placated me with 'next time will be different.'"

"And every time, I forgave you. Every time, I believed you. Every time, I waited for you to come back like a fool."

My voice began to shake, not from weakness, but from rage.

"Do you know what that feels like? It feels like erasing my own worth, over and over. It feels like trading my dignity for a scrap of your attention. It feels like turning myself into a dog—a goddamn dog, always waiting for its master to come home."

"But today," I took a deep breath, "the dog chewed through her leash."

The room fell silent.

Emma was crying silently in the corner. Aiden stood frozen, as if his soul had been ripped out.

"I've booked a flight to Paris," I continued. "It leaves in three days. I'm going to find my mother, learn to control my new abilities, and start a new life."

"A life without you."

"Chloe, please—"

"Get out," I said, closing my eyes. "Please, Aiden. Just... go."

I heard his footsteps pause at the door for a long time.

Then, he was gone.

The moment the door clicked shut, my tears finally fell.

But this time, it wasn't from heartbreak.

It was from relief.