His Rejected Mate for Twelve Years- My Final Escape - Chapter 10

---- Chapter 10 Viola's POV Autumn in Europe is beautiful. At the gates of the Royal Wolf Academy, Leo stands in his perfectly tailored, dark blue uniform. Pinned to his chest is the silver insignia for " Outstanding New Cadet" -not the silver whistle of shame. "T'm off to school, Mom." He kisses my cheek. Ismile, watching him walk through the ancient gates. Just as I turn to leave, a familiar yet foreign scent hits me. I stop and look toward the street corner. Aman is standing there. Seth. He's lost so much weight.

The bespoke suit that was once always immaculate is now wrinkled and hangs off his frame. His jaw is ---- covered in a rough stubble, and his eyes are webbed with red veins. The untouchable Alpha King I once knew was gone. In his place was a ghost, a stray dog caught in a storm he created himself. His eyes light up the moment he sees me. "Viola..." he calls out, his voice hoarse. He stumbles toward me, reaching out a hand to touch me. I take a step back, coldly avoiding him. "Let's talk at the café." I point to the outdoor seating nearby.

Five minutes later, we're sitting across from each other. Asteaming latte sits between us, but it feels like an uncrossable chasm. "Come back with me." Seth gets straight to the point, his tone urgent and commanding. "I don't care if the bond is broken. The Moon Goddess chose you for me. You can't change that. You belong to me." Istir my coffee, finding this almost funny. "Seth, did ---- you fly halfway across the world just to inform me that I'm not allowed to be free?" "I'm doing this for Leo!" he argues desperately. "He's the heir to the Snow Fang pack. He needs to grow up with his father!

And... and about what happened back then..." His eyes dart away, a flicker of that old, stubborn resentment still there. "Tf you come back," he says, his voice low and intense, "I can... I can forgive you for what you did twelve years ago. For drugging me. I won't hold it against you anymore. We can put it all behind us." My spoon stops moving. So that was it. The root of his twelve years of cold abuse toward me and Leo. He truly believed that Viola, the humble healer, had drugged him while he was drunk to trap him. In his eyes, I was a thief who had used my body to steal his position.

"Forgive me?" ---- "Seth," I say, and the sound that comes out is a dry, hollow laugh. "Your entire kingdom of hate... built on asingle, pathetic lie." I take a file out of my purse. It's amemory retrieval I had the royal mystics perform after I arrived in Europe, a way to sever all ties to the past. It's sealed with a soul-imprint that is impossible to forge. "See for yourself." I slide the file across the table to him. "This is your 'truth.'" Seth frowns, picking up the file with suspicion. At first, his expression is dismissive. But as he reads, his hands begin to tremble.