Chapter 4
Mom crossed over to the eternal realm when I was twelve.[]
Since she couldn’t predict what size I’d be when I grew up, the last ceremonial gown she made by hand was altered countless times throughout the process.[]
In the end, she had no choice but to add adjustable zippers at the chest and waist.[]
This was the final gift my mother, Luna Isabella Darkwood, left for me.]]
But even this gown, I almost couldn’t protect.[]
The same year Mom joined the Moon Goddess, Dad brought home a little girl.]
He said this was his old Beta’s kid, named Zaria.
His Beta had asked him on his deathbed to take care of her.]
Former Alpha Magnus Darkwood looked at us with tired eyes: “Kaelan, Alina, from now on this is your little sister. You need to get along well with her, understand?“[]
I thought I understood, but Zaria clearly didn’t…
I had never, ever met a child like that–and it made my skin crawl.]
One second she’d be snarling and fighting me for the doll in my hands, the next she’d be crying crocodile tears to my brother and Lucian. The manipulation was so obvious it made me sick.]
Do people instinctively sympathize with and trust the weak?[]
I don’t know.
All I knew was that the two people who used to take my side slowly started favoring Zaria instead, and it felt like my heart was being carved out piece by piece.
“Alina, you can’t act like this! Zaria lost her parents–she’s so pitiful!”
“Yeah, Alina, you need to be the bigger person. You still have your brother, you still have me. Zaria has nothing.”
“…“0
I can’t even remember how many fights we had. Each one left me feeling more hollow, more desperate.
Every argument ended the same way–with them angrily telling me I didn’t have “half of Zaria’s gentle sweetness.
Those words cut deeper each time, until I started believing maybe they were right.[]
Gradually, I stopped wanting to fight at all. What was the point when I always lost?
“0
Chapter 4
But this compromise only made Zaria… more brazen. More cruel.[]
She even tried to steal the ceremonial gown Mom had left me![]
When I saw her dragging that white gown up the stairs–my mother’s final gift–something inside me snapped completely.
For the first time, I laid hands on her. And God help me, it felt good.
When she came into my room with a bright red handprint on her cheek, bringing Kaelan with her, I was still carefully cleaning the hem with water where it had gotten dirty, my hands shaking with rage and grief.[]
“Sob şob, Kaelan, don’t scold Alina. It’s all my fault for making her angry. I deserved to be hit!“]
The look Kaelan gave me–I still remember it clearly, and it haunts me.
Disappointment, confusion, and even… disgust. Like I was something diseased.]
He said: “Alina Darkwood, I never thought you could become this vicious!“]
“Zaría had never seen such a beautiful dress before. She just wanted to look at it, and you attacked her like that!”
My hands shook with rage as I shouted back at Kaelan, my voice breaking: “That’s my mother’s dress! She had no right–“[]
But he wasn’t listening. He never listened anymore.[]
Our fight was so loud it brought Dad over too.
He looked at the tearful Zaria, gently coaxing her: “Don’t cry, sweetheart. Daddy will have someone make you an even prettier dress, okay?”
After he’d comforted Zaria, he turned around and noticed I was still standing there, his face immediately filling with awkwardness.
“Ahem, everyone gets one, everyone gets one. We’ll make Alina a dress too, okay?“]
Watching him and Kaelan carefully wipe away Zaria’s tears while I stood there bleeding inside, I finally realized with crushing, devastating clarity… I was the outsider in my own family.]
I didn’t want a new dress. I even hid that ceremonial gown carefully in my locked closet, like a shameful secret.]
It was that day I suddenly understood–there was no one left in this world who loved me. I was completely, utterly alone.[]
