My Alpha Family Faked Their Deaths to Punish Me? Well… See What Your ‘Punishment’ Has Destroyed Chapter 01

My Alpha Family Faked Their Deaths to Punish Me? Well… See What Your ‘Punishment’ Has Destroyed Chapter 01

After my Alpha parents passed away, a Beta seized control of our pack and saddled my older sister and me with millions in crippling debt.

To pay it off, we crossed into human territory. My sister became a haunted house tester, and I played corpses on movie sets.

For five years, I worked tirelessly, never daring to take a single day off, yet the debt remained.

By the end of the year, we were down to the final hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Desperate, I signed up for a clinical trial at the Pack Medical Center.

When it wrapped, I happily took the cash to find my sister, Tessa Ashborne.

As I approached the door, I heard her on the phone.

“Mom, Dad, Raina is doing great. Have fun in the Maldives.”

“She isn’t spending money recklessly anymore. The punishment can end next year.”

What? Our parents weren’t dead? Our pack wasn’t lost?

These five years of grueling hardship were just a punishment for my spending habits?

This was absurd.

The smile froze on my face.

My stomach churned violently, and a mouthful of blood spilled from my lips.

Yes, My body was finally giving out.

Mom, Dad, happy with your punishment now?

…

“Have you thought this through? Once the contract is signed, we are not responsible for any side effects.”

The staff at the Pack Medical Center had warned me repeatedly before the trial.

They made it clear the contract was legally binding.

The drug required a five-hour observation period after ingestion.

If nothing went wrong in that window, even if I dropped dead the next day, I’d have no right to hold them accountable.

I had signed it without hesitation, desperate to free my sister and me from the debt.

But now…

Looking at the bag of cash in my hand, a wave of bitter irony washed over me.

I wiped the blood from my mouth with my sleeve and pushed the door open.

Tessa scrambled to hang up the phone.

She turned and instantly saw the blood on my clothes.

“What happened?”

She rushed over and grabbed my shoulders.

I brushed her hands away, keeping my voice casual. “Fake blood from the set.”

“Good. I thought you were hurt.”

She sighed in relief, but her eyes hardened with suspicion the moment she noticed the bag of cash.

“Where did that come from? Raina Ashborne, you didn’t steal that, did you?”

My heart sank. I realized I didn’t know her at all.

Stealing.

Is that really what she thought of me?

I clenched my fists, forcing myself to stay calm. “It’s a bonus from the director.”

She frowned, still skeptical. “A cash bonus? Since when?”

“Since today.” I met her gaze, fatigue sharpening my tone. “Didn’t you say we only had a hundred and thirty thousand left on the debt? This covers it. Don’t want it? I can give it back.”

She went quiet for a moment, then took the money.

“I’ll give it to the debt collector tomorrow.” She quickly changed the subject. “You haven’t had dinner, have you? I’ll make something.”

I looked around the tiny apartment. One bed, a wardrobe, and a bathroom. There was no kitchen—just a ten-dollar used pot from a flea market, wrapped in black electrical tape, which we had used for five years.

I blurted out, “Tessa, aren’t you tired?”

“Not really, my job is actually pretty easy. I just lie down.” She smiled back at me. “But you… you must be exhausted after all these years.”

I actually wanted to ask her if she was tired of putting on a show.

She was the heir to the Ashborne Pack, with billions in assets. She could have been living large.

Instead, she’d chosen to live like this just to punish me. Wasn’t she exhausted? Was it even worth it?

But she didn’t catch my meaning.

Fine. I’d make it clearer.

I took a step forward, looking straight into her eyes.

“Tessa… do you think I’m wasteful?”