The Crippled Wife They Tried to Erase - Chapter 4: Chapter 4

My blood turned to ice. Those two words struck me like a physical blow. Official mate. He wasn't just dating her - he intended to make her his wife. His Luna. My replacement.
Hot tears threatened to spill, but I clenched my jaw. No way would I give them the satisfaction of seeing me break. Yet with every passing second, the brutal truth sank deeper.
I ached to scream, to demand answers, but what would be the point? His mind was made up. He'd already left me behind.
Rolling my wheelchair to the window, I stared at the pack house that once felt like home. Now it was just a monument to everything slipping through my fingers.
Game over.
The door creaked open. For a split second I hoped - but no. Celeste stood there wearing that trademark smirk.
"Caught all that, didn't you?"
I stayed silent. What could I possibly say?
Her grin widened. "Don't fret, Lyra. History will remember you as... necessary. But this?" She gestured around us. "This is my era now. Best adjust."
And just like that, she vanished, leaving me drowning in my thoughts.
That night, Xavier and Celeste emerged dressed like royalty for some exclusive family dinner. My invitation? Obviously lost in the mail. Why include the has-been Luna? Might as well be furniture in this wheelchair.
Xavier walked out without a backward glance. Celeste, though? She hit me with a saccharine smile that never touched her cold eyes. "Don't wait up," she purred, each syllable dripping with venom.
The silence after their departure was deafening. I sat alone watching firelight dance across the walls, teacup going cold in my hands.
I must've dozed off. When my eyes snapped open, my pulse skyrocketed - I was parked at the top of the grand staircase. Still in my chair. How?
Then I saw her. A unfamiliar maid hovering behind me, face eerily blank.
"Did you move me?" My voice shook.
No answer. Just a slight head tilt and... was that amusement? Suddenly her lips curled into a frosty smile. "It's time, Miss Lyra."
Before I could react, her hands slammed into my chair.
"NO!" I screamed, clawing at the wheels. Too late.
The world became a whirl of pain as I tumbled down, each impact like a sledgehammer. When I finally crashed at the bottom, I lay gasping, certain these were my last moments.
Then - warmth. Starting in my core and flooding outward. The agony vanished, replaced by pins-and-needles energy. Blinking in shock, I lifted my hand - no tremors. I sat up. My legs... they felt...
I stood. Actually stood. My knees didn't buckle. My feet held firm. I was walking.
Footsteps shattered the moment. I dropped back down just as the maid reappeared, her face sheet-white.
"You're... alive?" she whispered.
"Help me," I rasped, putting on my best wounded act.
She didn't move. Just backed away like she'd seen a ghost before fleeing down the hall.
Next morning, I caught Celeste's shrill voice from the study. I edged closer.
"You had one job!" she seethed. "How does someone survive that fall? You promised this would be handled!"
The maid's trembling reply: "I don't understand, Miss Celeste! She should've—"
"Out!" Celeste snarled. "You're finished here."
As the maid fled sobbing, the pieces clicked. This wasn't an accident. Celeste had ordered a hit. And she wasn't even being subtle about it.
My fists clenched until my nails drew blood. Every fiber wanted to storm in there screaming. But I didn't.
Let her think I was still broken. Still helpless. Because now? Now I had the ultimate advantage - she had no idea what was coming.