Chapter 2 The Birthmark Mystery

• I didn’t react.
• I got into an Uber.
• The rear-seat screen suddenly lit up.
• It wasn’t the news.
• It was surveillance footage.
• In the video, a woman was chained to the wall with silver chains.
• She was covered in wounds. Her eyes were hollow. She howled at the camera like a beast.
• Her hair was a mess, and the sound clawing out of her throat was low and almost inhuman.
• I recognized her in one glance—me.
• A cell in Moon Fang Keep.
• Me from three years ago.
• When the video ended, the screen cut to an interview set. She sat there in a white dress.
• “Ann, as the victim, what do you think?”
• Every word dripped with sympathy for Ann.
• Ann looked into the camera, gentle as a saint.
• “Julie was just sick. And besides, she’s already paid the price for what she did.”
• The reporter wouldn’t let it go.
• “Is it a mental illness? Do we really need a Luna with mental illness?”
• Ann only smiled, not answering.
• The driver glanced at the screen and recognized her.
• “That’s Ann, right? Oscar-winning actress. I heard she even visited you back then.”
• He chuckled, shaking his head. “Such a good person.”
• I lifted my eyes to the screen.
• That woman’s smile was so soft it looked holy.
• Behind her, I saw the version of me they’d chosen to define—
• A madwoman.
• A sinner.
• Someone she had “saved”.
• “Good person?”
• My throat tightened. I laughed.
• “That’s pretty ruthless.”
• The driver paused, looking at the washed-out prison clothes I was still wearing, and didn’t ask anything else.
• I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes.
• For three years, I’d been in Moon Fang Keep with silver chains cutting into my bones, silver poison burning through my bones.
• And they’d been out there, watching fireworks with her, cheering her onto the Moon Shadow Hall stage.
• What a joke.
• The car finally stopped in front of an old house under my name.
• I got out, paid the fare, then walked to a nearby supermarket for basic supplies.
• When I went to prison three years ago, every asset under my name was frozen.
• Now that I was out, the only cash I had left was emergency money I’d secretly hidden back then.
• It had been too long since I’d been in crowds. I realized I didn’t even know how to behave anymore.
• When the cashier reached out to scan my items, I flinched back on instinct.
• “Miss, are you okay?” the cashier asked kindly.
• I shook my head and gave a bitter smile.
• I was fine.
• It was just that in prison, the beatings had broken my spirit.
• The moment I stepped out of the supermarket, my phone vibrated.
• It’s Celine.
• “Julie! You’re finally out!”
• On the other end, my best friend’s voice was shaking from excitement.
• “I tried to get back to Los Angeles early, but storm season grounded the flights here. Where are you right now? Are you still at the Jones?”
• “I’m at Moon Building,” I said.
• Celine went quiet for two seconds. “William didn’t pick you up? You’re still married, after all. He…”
• “Celine, I’m divorcing him.”
• I said those words softly, like tearing a chunk of flesh off my chest.
• The line went silent for a few seconds.
• Celine’s breathing turned heavy.
• Three years ago, she’d been the only friend who still spoke up for me when the Pack pushed me out.
• She’d warned me countless times. If an Alpha doesn’t love you, why cling to him like this?
• Back then, I still had fantasies.
• She let out a sigh, her voice tight. “In Moon Fang Keep… what did you go through?”
• I fell silent. Flashbacks of the scenes I had just witnessed in the car flooded my mind, silver chains, venomous thorns, howling.
• These were my real experiences.
• But I didn’t answer.
• Celine didn’t press. She only said in a low voice, “After you were locked up, your aunt took over your house. And Ann used the chance to gain the Silver Council’s investment qualification… Julie, wait for me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
• “Okay,” I whispered.
• When the call ended, my hands were still shaking.
• After I went in the prison, my mother cried herself blind. Then she died of heart failure.
• I’d written William letters, begging him to save her.
• He never answered.
• All I got was an obituary.
• My fingertips trembled as my gaze turned colder and colder.
• Inside me, Linda let out a low howl. “We’ll make them pay.”
• I went back alone to my old place in Moon Building.
• No one had stepped inside for the past three years.
• The air reeked of mold.
• I cleaned every inch of it. Glass sliced my fingers open, blood seeping out.
• When I collapsed against the couch, my chest was burning.
• The drugs and poisons from Moon Fang Keep left my body permanently on fire.
• I went to the hospital.
• After looking over my physical exam report, the doctor spoke carefully. “You have too many old injuries. Your healing is unstable, and there’s still drug poison in your blood. You’d better stay for observation.”
• I closed the report and said flatly, “No need.”
• He sighed. “Aren’t you afraid of death?”
• I shook my head, causally said. “I was afraid before. Later I realized it didn’t mean anything.”
• At the pharmacy window, the crowd was loud.
• I was waiting for my number when the door of the examination room beside me opened.
• Ann’s laughter floated out.
• I looked up.
• She was holding Rocco’s hand. William stood behind them.
• The doctor smiled at the handsome Rocco, clearly charmed. “The birthmark on the boy’s back is pretty special and it’s shaped like a butterfly.”
• Ann suddenly glanced around nervously, and didn’t respond.
• In that instant, I froze.
• A butterfly-shaped birthmark? And one that appeared gradually as he grew up? Neither my family nor William’s had that gene.