My Rib Is Her Guitar Pick Chapter 09

My Rib Is Her Guitar Pick Chapter 09

Taking in Malak’s gaunt face and the trench coat hanging loosely from his frame, I realized that he truly had not been doing well.

Although I had not seen him in two years, I still occasionally heard news from Ironmoon Pack.

I had chosen not to pursue the matter of my stolen rib any further. But after such a devastating scandal came to light, the entire pack suffered because of him. The Pack Council banded together to impeach him, and young warriors challenged him one after another until he lost his position as Alpha.

He was expelled from the so-called elite pack society and reassigned as a patrol warrior near a rogue camp.

Everyone knew that his family had cast him aside and that he had fallen completely out of favor. The rogues

no longer took him seriously and constantly found new ways to make trouble for him.

The moment Malak saw me, the rims of his eyes reddened.

“Sunniva, am I dreaming? Are you really alive?”

“Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you? I haven’t been able to sleep properly for a single night. The only way I could get even two hours of sleep was by holding that urn…”

I looked at him without expression.

“That still sounds pretty good to me.”

“After my surgery, you abandoned me in the pack hospital for four days. I was in too much pain to sleep for even a single night.”

Malak’s eyes filled with guilt.

“Sunniva, I know I was wrong. I truly do. I’ve already made Seraphina face the consequences, and there’s nothing between us anymore. Come with me. We’ll complete the bonding ceremony. I’ve had several bonding gowns made for you. I’ll protect you from now on. I’ll never…”

I cut him off impatiently.

“Enough, Malak. You’ve made promises like that countless times, but you’ve never kept a single one. I don’t want to believe you anymore.”

“Besides, I’ve already been marked by another Alpha.”

Malak went rigid, disbelief spreading across his face.

“You became another Alpha’s Luna? No, that’s impossible. You must be lying to me…”

A warm arm wrapped around me. Kael calmly drew me behind him, making it unmistakably clear that I was

his mate.

“Mr. Ashwood, I suggest you leave immediately and stop harassing my Luna. Otherwise, I may not be able to stop myself from breaking every rib in your body.”

“It was you? I can’t believe it was you!”

Malak had met Kael before, and he knew all the stories about him.

Kael smiled. “If not me, did you really think it would be you?”

Malak turned back to me, unwilling to accept the truth.

“Sunniva, do you have to be this heartless? I truly want to make amends. I don’t love Seraphina. All I ever felt toward her was guilt. From beginning to end, you were the only woman I wanted to complete the bonding ceremony with.”

I looked at him with open contempt, my voice thick with disgust.

“You took my rib. You exploited my parents’ obsession with status to force me into submission, and then you made me apologize publicly to Seraphina. You showed me no mercy then.”

“I don’t care what you felt for Seraphina. Whatever guilt you carried toward her, you had no right to pay for it with my love, my career, and my health.”

“Malak, I’ve repaid everything I ever owed you. Never appear in front of me again. The sight of you genuinely makes me sick.”

His face turned bloodless, and his body swayed unsteadily.

I did not look at him again. I took Kael’s hand, and we walked away together.

During the drive home, I stared silently out the window.

Kael did not ask me anything. He merely patted the back of my hand.

“We’re not having dinner at home tonight. Let’s celebrate at a lounge.”

“What are we celebrating?”

“We’re celebrating the successful opening of your exhibition, the new life my Sunniva has begun after leaving that terrible past behind, and the fact that I was lucky enough to mark the woman I love.”

Warmth spread through my heart, washing away the last trace of unhappiness Malak had left behind.

“That sounds good. I want to celebrate too.”

“What are you celebrating?”

“I’m celebrating the courage i found to begin a new life and the fact that someone in this world truly loves

ine?”

We smiled at each other. From then on, every moment we shared was filled with happiness.

What we did not know was that two hours later, a drunken Malak fell from the terrace of a high-rise hotel.

Several broken ribs tore through his chest.

He died alone in a city where no one knew him, and his eyes never closed.