The Alpha Family’s Lie Chapter 08
“From now on, you’ll never have to live like that again. I will protect you.”
Was it really over?
Then why did my heart still ache so much?
I wiped away my tears, only for fresh ones to well up immediately.
It felt like they would never dry. Like they could never be wiped clean.
In the days that followed, my brother went to see the Alpha King, pleading for the best doctors.
He brought in one skilled physician after another.
My parents tried everything to cheer me up. Gifts arrived one after another, each more expensive than the last. If I so much as glanced at something, they would buy it and press it into my hands.
But I wanted none of it.
It was all so absurd. After tormenting me for five years, they were now showering me with extreme kindness.
My body slowly improved, but my mind sank into a fog of numbness and exhaustion.
The longer I stayed in that house, the more restless I became.
Everything I had once craved—gifts, attention, parental care—now felt like heavy chains around my neck.
On Christmas Day, Mom carefully prepared a lavish holiday feast,
—
cooked entirely to my tastes.
Yet I managed only two bites before I started vomiting.
Her eyes reddened, filled with guilt.
“Was it overcooked?”
What should have been a family reunion holiday saw them calling in two doctors to examine me.
In the end, they concluded my depression was too severe, manifesting physical symptoms.
The sudden bouts of crying, the nausea and vomiting, all were signs of depression.
My family went into crisis mode. From that day on, Jakub stopped going to the office. Even my father came home whenever possible.
They wanted to make up for the five years that had slipped away from me with constant, meticulous care.
They didn’t understand that they were the ones who triggered my spiral into depression.
No one truly wants to die.
Even in the depths of severe depression, I still forced myself to cling to a sliver of hope.
So, at the Christmas dinner table, I brought up the idea of leaving the Shadowfen Pack.
“I want to rest somewhere else. I need to breathe new air. Please,
—
could I disappear for a while?”
After a brief silence, Mom was the first to break down.
“Anya… you still blame us, right?”
“You’re sick, yet you want to leave us. How could your father and I ever feel at ease?”
Jakub immediately said, “I’ll go with you. We can live far away. As long as you’re safe and sound, that’s all I want.”
“No,” I shook my head.
“I want to go alone. Don’t follow me. None of you.”
They tried to persuade me, but my condition was clear to everyone.
Perhaps staying away from them truly was the best medicine.
Finally, my father nodded.
“If you want to go, then go. We won’t follow you. But no matter how long you stay out there, keep your phone on.”
His voice sounded weary.
“At least… let us know you’re still alive.”
I hesitated, then nodded.
After Christmas, I booked a flight to another country.
They saw me off at the airport.
Jakub held my suitcase for a long time, unwilling to hand it over.
—
“Call me when you arrive. If you run short on money, tell me too.”
“Okay.”
I took the suitcase from him and walked through security.
I didn’t look back, not even when boarding the plane.
Right now, I truly couldn’t forgive them. But I was trying, trying to make peace with myself, trying to heal the wounds inflicted by those five years.
At least, the future still held promise.