---- He stared at me for a long time until I turned to leave. Right then, he suddenly shouted, "Victoria! If you don't agree to form a mate bond today, I'll bond with someone new tomorrow!" Julianna slapped him across the face. Her eyes were red with fury as she snapped, "As long as I'm alive, I will never let you bring another she-wolf into the Silver household. Those women will threaten my grandson and turn this house into chaos!" ignored their quarrel and walked away. After leaving the Silvercrest pack, I spent a year at one of the world's top business schools and graduated as an outstanding student. Then, I founded my own company. I reemerged in the public eye bit by bit, no longer as someone's mate, but as a rising entrepreneur. At a business summit in Norke, I ran into a scantily dressed Sophia, who was seductively tapping ona driver's window. ---- "Hey, handsome, mind sharing your number?" The driver looked at me in the backseat awkwardly. Only then did Sophia realize there was someone inside. When she saw my face, her complexion turned deathly pale. Then, she spat on the car and kicked the door with her stiletto heel, making an awful sound. The driver panicked - it was a limited-edition Rolls- Royce, and clearly, Sophia couldn't afford the damage. "It's fine," I said. "The light's green. Drive." Sophia shouted curses, chased after the car, and then stood in the middle of the road, sobbing dramatically. I watched the complete mess of a woman in the rearview mirror. I could barely remember what she looked like when we first met. She had worn a bright smile, as if being loved by a man meant she'd won the whole world. ---- I didn't pity her, but I didn't resent her anymore either. After all, she could no longer hurt me. The pup I left in the Silvercrest pack was raised as the heir. Joy often visited her grandparents, and she'd tell me about how adorable her little brother was. As the boy grew, he looked more and more like me. Those green eyes, especially, were a perfect mirror of mine. He adored me and knew exactly who I was. Even when he had just started talking, he would grab at me and call out, "Mom!" Perhaps because we didn't see each other often, he clung to me even more than Joy once did. On holidays, I'd sometimes reunite with them. The pack still welcomed me. Ethan would always cancel everything just to be there. But each time, he'd get drunk and beg like a guilty ---- pup, pleading for my forgiveness and for us to forma mate bond again. Ialways refused. Because now, I was truly independent. I no longer needed a man's empty promises to shield me. Life had more beautiful things than love that were waiting for me to discover them. Just like the day the confident sparkle shone in my emerald eyes as I stood at the podium thanking myself, I said, "May I be as free as the wind."