Chapter 22: The Truth Behind the Five-Year Game

Julian stood in the middle of the council hall, staring at me as if he were seeing me for the first time.

For once, there was no arrogance in his expression.

Only regret.

“Clara, I know I hurt you.”

I shook my head.

“You don't know.”

His brow furrowed.

“Then tell me.”

I looked straight into his eyes.

“You hurt me every time you made me believe I wasn't enough.”

“Every time you brought another woman to Tidewatch.”

“Every time you told me that if I behaved better, maybe I would finally deserve to stand beside you.”

My voice remained calm.

“But the worst part wasn't what you did.”

“It was that I kept believing you would eventually stop.”

Julian lowered his head.

Behind him, several Stonebridge elders exchanged uneasy looks.

Then one of them stepped forward.

“There is something you both need to know.”

I turned toward him.

The elder held an old leather-bound record in his hands.

“The Luna registry was altered five years ago.”

Julian's head snapped up.

“You already told me that.”

“I told you the result.”

The elder opened the book.

“I did not tell you who ordered it.”

The room became silent.

He turned the book toward us.

At the bottom of the original registry page was the Hawthorne family seal.

But beneath it was another mark.

The seal of Julian's grandmother.

I stared at it.

“She removed my name herself?”

The elder nodded.

“She believed a wolfless Luna would weaken Stonebridge.”

Julian's face went white.

“Then why didn't she simply end the marriage?”

The elder looked at him with pity.

“Because the Calloway alliance was too valuable.”

My fingers curled into my palms.

Suddenly, everything made sense.

They hadn't wanted me as Luna.

They had wanted my family's protection, our trade routes, and our political influence.

They wanted the alliance without giving me the position I had been promised.

Julian had been cruel.

But he hadn't created the entire game.

He had simply played it.

I looked at him.

“Did you know?”

He didn't answer.

That silence was enough.

My chest tightened.

“Julian.”

His eyes met mine.

“I knew she didn't approve of you.”

I waited.

“But I didn't know she had removed you from the registry.”

“I thought if you proved yourself, she would eventually accept you.”

A bitter smile touched my lips.

“So you spent five years punishing me for a decision you didn't have the courage to challenge.”

Julian flinched.

“I was wrong.”

“Yes.”

I turned away.

For the first time, I felt no need to hear another apology.

Then the doors opened again.

A woman walked into the council hall.

She was dressed in an elegant black coat, her silver hair pinned neatly behind her head.

Every Stonebridge wolf immediately bowed.

Julian went rigid.

“Grandmother.”

The Hawthorne matriarch looked at me.

Her expression was unreadable.

“Clara Calloway.”

I didn't bow.

“Matriarch.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“You have caused quite a disturbance.”

I almost laughed.

“I finally stopped accepting one.”

A murmur moved through the room.

The matriarch's gaze hardened.

“You were never suitable to be Luna.”

Julian stepped forward.

“Enough.”

She looked at him sharply.

“You will not speak to me that way.”

Julian's voice was quiet.

“You destroyed my marriage.”

“I protected your future.”

“No.”

He looked at me.

“You protected the position.”

For the first time, Julian openly defied her.

The matriarch's expression changed.

“If you walk away from Stonebridge for her, you will lose your place as Alpha heir.”

Julian didn't hesitate.

“Then I lose it.”

I stared at him.

Those were the words I had once wanted more than anything.

But hearing them now did nothing.

Because they came five years too late.

I stepped toward the door.

Julian called my name.

I stopped, but I didn't turn around.

“Clara, is there really nothing I can do?”

I closed my eyes.

Then I answered quietly.

“No.”

“You already did it.”

I walked out of the hall.

This time, I didn't leave as Julian Hawthorne's rejected wife.

I left as Clara Calloway.

And that was enough.