Chapter 11 The Final Testament

Lila POV

The small apartment I'd rented under my maiden name was sparse, furnished only with the essentials I'd need for my final week in Southern Bay. A single chair sat positioned in front of my laptop, the built-in camera angled to capture my face and the stack of documents on the table beside me.

I'd spent an hour adjusting the lighting, ensuring the afternoon sun streaming through the window illuminated my features clearly but softly. This wasn't about vanity—it was about credibility. Every detail had to be perfect for what would likely be the most important recording of my life.

The documents were arranged in precise order: medical records from the Blackwood ceremony, photos from that night showing my injuries, the fabricated miscarriage report, and printed screenshots of text messages between Marcus and Vera that I'd discovered on his phone last month. Each piece of evidence told part of a story that would reshape how everyone in their world understood Marcus Gray.

I checked my appearance one final time in the laptop's camera preview. I wore a simple white blouse—nothing dramatic, nothing that would distract from my words. My hair was pulled back neatly, my makeup minimal. I looked like exactly what I was: a woman preparing to tell the truth.

I pressed record and took a deep breath.

"My name is Lila Sophia Gray," I began, my voice steady despite the weight of what I was about to do. "For those who know me, I'm Marcus Gray's wife. For those who don't, I'm the woman who's about to disappear from his life forever."

I paused, letting that statement settle before continuing.

"I'm recording this video because there are truths that need to be told before I leave Southern Bay permanently. Truths about sacrifice, betrayal, and the cost of loving someone who sees you as disposable."

I reached for the first document, holding it up to the camera.

"Three years ago, at the Blackwood pack ceremony, I took a wolfsbane-coated blade meant for my husband's heart. The attack was intended to kill him—instead, it nearly killed me."

I flipped through pages of medical records, showing the toxicology reports and treatment summaries.

"The wolfsbane poisoning caused severe reproductive damage. The doctors said I'd likely never carry a child to term. This wasn't information I chose to keep secret—it was a consequence I accepted as the price of saving the man I loved."

The next section would be the most devastating, and I felt my composure waver slightly as I prepared to deliver it.

"Six months ago, Marcus began planning his future with another woman. I know this because I speak fluent ancient language—a skill he apparently forgot about when he assumed I couldn't understand his conversations at pack gatherings."

I leaned forward slightly, my eyes fixed on the camera.

"At the Harvest Moon celebration, I heard my husband tell his business associates in ancient language that his wife was 'damaged goods' who couldn't give him the heirs he needed. He said he was making arrangements for a more suitable partner who could fulfill her biological obligations."

The words felt like poison leaving my mouth, but they were Marcus's words, not mine. I was simply ensuring they reached their intended audience.

"He didn't know I understood every word. He didn't know that while he was planning his replacement family, I was dealing with an impossible situation of my own."

I picked up the falsified medical document, my hands steady despite the magnitude of the lie I was about to tell.

"Eight weeks ago, I discovered I was pregnant. Against all medical odds, the wolfsbane damage hadn't prevented conception. For the first time since the poisoning, I had hope that we might have the family Marcus claimed to want so desperately."

I held the document closer to the camera, ensuring the medical letterhead and dates were clearly visible.

"I scheduled the procedure for last Tuesday—the same day Marcus spent fourteen hours at what he told me was a board meeting but was actually apartment hunting with his pregnant girlfriend."

The cruelest irony was that this part was almost true. I had been in that medical facility, had been on that table. The only lie was in the ending.

"The child we lost would have been Marcus's first heir—the genetically enhanced offspring he's been pressuring me to provide. Instead, it became another casualty of his choices."

I set the document aside and looked directly into the camera, my expression calm but resolute.

"I'm not recording this video for sympathy or revenge. I'm recording it because Marcus Gray is about to become a father with another woman while believing he lost his first child because of his own betrayal. I want everyone who knows him to understand exactly what kind of man chooses convenience over commitment."

I gestured to the remaining documents.

"The medical bills for the miscarriage are substantial. The psychological counseling I'll need will cost even more. But the real expense—the cost of learning that my husband sees me as broken equipment to be replaced—is something no amount of money can address."

My voice remained steady, but something deeper flickered in my eyes—not anger, but profound sadness.

"To the pack members who will eventually discover Marcus's affair: remember that he threw away a marriage and a child for a woman who offered him nothing he couldn't have had with me, except the convenience of avoiding damaged goods."

I reached for the final document—the divorce papers.

"These are already filed. By the time anyone sees this recording, I'll be starting over in a place where no one knows about wolfsbane poisoning or pack politics or men who mistake their wives for breeding stock."

I paused, my hand moving unconsciously to my abdomen in a gesture so brief it might have been imagination.

"I saved Marcus's life once, and it cost me everything I thought I wanted. Now I'm saving my own life, and it's costing him everything he thought he could take for granted."

I looked directly into the camera one final time.

"This isn't goodbye—it's simply the truth finally spoken aloud. Marcus wanted a wife who could give him heirs without complications. Now he has one. I hope they're very happy together."

I reached forward and stopped the recording, the red light disappearing as the file saved automatically to my cloud storage. Tomorrow morning, before my flight to Paris, I would send copies to key pack members, local news outlets, and Marcus's business associates.

Let them all know exactly what Marcus Gray was willing to sacrifice for his perfect family.

The truth, I had learned, was the most devastating weapon of all.

Especially when it was almost completely accurate.