Chapter 13: Shattered Memories–2
(Ethan’s POV)
I couldn’t stand by and watch this interrogation any longer. Stepping forward, I positioned myself protectively in front of Cassandra, shielding her from Olivia’s wrath.
“Enough!” I barked, shocked by Olivia’s transformation. Where was the gentle woman I’d
known for three years? This fury–filled stranger was unrecognizable.
“Stop making trouble over a broken ceramic trinket. Buy another one if it matters so much,
why bully Cassandra?”
(Olivia’s POV)
A loud p rang out through the room.
My palm stung from the impact as it connected with Ethan’s face. The sound echoed in the
sudden silence that followed.
Both he and Cassandra stared at me, stunned by this unprecedented defiance. Ethan’s hand
slowly rose to touch his reddening cheek, disbelief written across his features.
“Get lost!” I screamed hoarsely, my voice breaking with emotion. “Who are you to forgive on
my behalf?”
(Cassandra’s POV)
I couldn’t believe what I’d just witnessed. How dare this nobody p Ethan? My Ethan!
Rage boiled inside me as I pushed him aside, lunging at Olivia with my hands outstretched
like ws.
“How dare <i>you </i>hit him!” I shrieked.
But before I could reach her, a second pnded squarely on my cheek. The force of it
snapped my head <i>to </i>the side, leaving a vivid red mark that burned like fire.
Humiliated and enraged, I raised my hand to retaliate. But Olivia was faster. She seized my
wrist in a grip so tight it hurt, then flung me aside like I weighed nothing.
I crashed to the ground, my palmnding directly on the razor–sharp ceramic shards scattered
across the floor. Pain shot through my hand as the fragments sliced into my skin.
Blood immediately welled up, dripping from my palm onto the hardwood floor.
< Chapter 13: Shattered Memor
“Ahhh–my hand! My hand!” I screamed, clutching my bleeding palm <i>to </i>my chest.
(Ethan’s POV)
I rushed to Cassandra’s side, panic gripping my heart at the sight of her blood.
<b>+25 </b><b>Puntos </b><b>> </b>
“Wanwan, are you alright?” The pet name I used only in our most intimate moments escaped without thought.
I gently took her injured hand, examining the cuts. Relief washed over me when I saw they weren’t deep enough to cause permanent damage. Still, the sight of her blood made my protective instincts re.
(Olivia’s POV)
I looked down at the bleeding Cassandra, feeling no sympathy whatsoever. My gaze was icy and merciless as I watched her performance.
“Serves you right. If you hadn’t smashed it, you wouldn’t be hurt.”
(Ethan’s POV)
I couldn’t believe Olivia’s cruelty. This wasn’t the woman I thought I knew. ring at her furiously, I demanded, “Olivia, you’ve gone too far! Apologize to Wanwan!”
But her <i>eyes </i>remained frozen with cold contempt. “She should apologize to me for breaking my mother’s keepsake.”
Cassandra sobbed miserably in my arms, her tears soaking into my shirt. “It hurts, Zechuan, it really hurts…” she whimpered, using my Chinese name that only she was allowed to use.
Her vulnerability awakened every protective instinct I possessed. “Hold on, I’m taking you to
the doctor.”
I lifted her into my arms, cradling her against my chest. Her blood stained my shirt, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was getting her the medical attention she needed.
As I passed Olivia, I threw her a venomous re. “Get out of my sight. I never want to see you again!”
(Olivia’s POV)
“Fine.” My voice was emotionless and resolute.
(Ethan’s POV)
I paused briefly, shocked by her uncharacteristic indifference. The Olivia I knew would have
Chapter 13 Shattered Memor…..
apologized immediately, would have been devastated by my anger.
+25 Puntos <b>> </b>
But Cassandra’s bleeding hand left me no time to ponder this transformation. I red at Olivia
onest time and stormed downstairs carrying Cassandra, leaving silence in our wake.
(Olivia’s POV)
Once alone, I slowly knelt beside the scattered ceramic remnants. My trembling fingers
reached out to touch the jagged shards, tears dripping silently onto the cold fragments.
“Mom, I’m sorry… I failed to protect the gift you left me… I’m so sorry, Mom…” My voice broke into choking sobs as I grieved over the irretrievable loss.
Memories of my mother flooded my mind, washing over me in waves of bittersweet pain.
Back when I was twelve, my mother fell severely ill. The gentle, graceful woman with her ever–present soft smile was reduced to a frail figure, pale and wasted away by disease.
Sarah Winters, once the vibrant Luna of the Winters pack, now confined to a hospital bed, her strength diminishing day by day from the rare wolfsbane poisoning that even her enhanced
healing abilities couldn’t ovee.
Young Olivia, just entering middle school, would rush daily not home, but straight to the medical facility after sses. I would sit by her bedside, sharing stories from school, singing
the new songs my teachers taught.
“Mama Wolf, when will you get better?” my bright young eyes shimmered with barely hidden sorrow, using the nickname I’d given her when I was little.
Sarah gently stroked my honey–brown hair, lips lifting into a tender smile despite her pallor. “The doctor says I’ll be leaving the medical facility soon,” she whispered.
“Really?” My eyes gleamed with hope, childish innocence preventing me from seeing the truth.
“Mhm,” her <i>voice </i>soft but resolute, “In a few days, I’ll leave the medical facility and celebrate your birthday with you.”
“Yay!” My face lit up, believing every word. I thought my mother would soon recover
Onlyter did I learn that “leaving” didn’t mean recovery. It meant the doctors were powerless; my mother was brought home simply to spend her final days alongside family, to fulfill thosest precious wishes.
The ceramic wolf figurine we crafted together on that final birthday was thest gift my mother had given me–and now Cassandra had destroyed it out of spite.