chapter 181
Hannah's POV:
My mind drifted back, past the years of resentment and rage, to a time when I'd been young and foolish enough to believe in fairy tales.
"Do you remember when you and William were the media's darling couple?" I began, my voice taking on a dreamy quality that made Susan flinch.
"The 'Divine Match,' they called you. Alpha William Sullivan and his beautiful Luna Susan—so perfect, so blessed."
I'd been nothing then. Just another servant in the Sullivan household, invisible and insignificant.
"We were both pregnant at the same time." The memory of our swollen bellies, the way we'd waddle through the Sullivan mansion's halls together, came flooding back.
"And every day, I had to watch you two. The way William looked at you, like you hung the moon. The way you glowed, carrying his child."
My hands clenched into fists.
"Do you know what jealousy tastes like, Susan? It's metallic, like blood. It coats your tongue until you can't swallow, can't breathe, can't think of anything except how unfair it all is."
Susan's eyes were wide, her face pale as moonlight.
"That's when the idea came to me." I smiled, remembering the moment of clarity that had changed everything. "What if I could give my daughter the life she deserved? "
"You're insane," Susan whispered.
"Am I?" I laughed, the sound harsh in the small apartment. "Or am I just a mother who wanted better for her child?"
I pushed myself up from the sofa, circling her wheelchair like a predator.
"I knew which servants could be bought, which ones were desperate enough to betray their Luna for the right price."
The plan had been so simple, so elegant.
"I threatened one of your maids—the one who handled your prenatal appointments. Got her to tell me everything about your pregnancy." I paused, watching Susan's horror grow. "When I learned you were carrying a girl too, I knew. The Moon Goddess herself was helping me."
"No..." Susan's voice broke.
"Yes." I crouched down beside her wheelchair, my face level with hers. "My due date was only a few days before yours. I slipped labor-inducing hormones into your water—just enough to bring on early contractions so we'd deliver on the same day. "
"And then, despite my own weakness after giving birth, I dragged myself to the delivery room and switched the babies while you were still unconscious."
The memory of that night was crystal clear—the sterile hospital room, the crying babies, the moment of hesitation when maternal instinct had nearly stopped me.
But I'd gritted my teeth and gone through with it anyway, telling myself it was for my daughter's sake, so she could have the better life she deserved.
"You know what's funny?" Hannah let out a low, chilling laugh, as if savoring a private joke. "Your daughter... she's surprisingly resilient. There were countless times I tried to let her fade away, to let nature take its course and end her miserable existence, but she just refused to die."
I watched the color drain from Susan’s face. It was as if an invisible hand had reached into her chest and crushed her heart.
She began to tremble violently, every breath looking like a tidal wave of agony that threatened to drown her.
"Do you remember the day I brought her to you? When I told you she was William's bastard?" I sank slowly back onto the sofa, relaxing into the cushion as I delivered the final blow. "She wouldn't stop crying. Do you know why?"
"Because I was secretly pinching her beneath her swaddling clothes," I said, savoring the look of horror dawning on her face. "You have no idea how satisfying it was—hurting your child right in front of your face while you looked on with such indifference."
With a feral growl, Susan lunged, tackling me onto the sofa and clamping her hands around my throat. "Hannah! You deserve to die!"
She was hysterical, her eyes scarlet with bloodlust.
I didn't even struggle that much. With creditors hounding me at every turn and a mountain of debt I could never hope to repay, I was already tired of this life.
"Go ahead," I choked out, my lips curling into a bitter smile despite the pressure on my windpipe. "You think I care? I'm sick of running anyway."
My eyes locked with hers, defiant even as black spots danced at the edges of my vision. "But remember... this isn't my fault. If you want to blame someone... blame William. He's the one who created this whole mess. "
The memories washed over me as I struggled for breath.
Years ago, I'd been young and desperate for work when I was tricked into going to what I later realized was a brothel.
William had appeared like a knight in shining armor, rescuing me from that place. He'd arranged a hotel room for me, told me if I had nowhere to go, I could come to the Sullivan estate and find him.
That night changed everything.
Someone—the same person who'd tricked me initially—slipped something into my drink. As I lay in my hotel room, my body burning with unwanted desire from the drug, I heard the door click open.
A drunk man stumbled in, embraced me, and took what he wanted while I was barely conscious.
I was certain it had been William. Who else could enter the room he had arranged?
When I gathered my courage to go to the Sullivan estate days later, my world shattered. There he was—already married to Susan, acting as though our night meant nothing.
The betrayal cut deep, but I had nowhere else to go. Pride and vengeance made me stay, even as a servant.
I'd work under the same roof, watching him with her every day, nursing my hatred until it consumed me.
Just as the darkness was closing in and I prepared to embrace death, the door burst open. William rushed in and pulled Susan away from me.
"Susan, stop! You can't do this," he said firmly, standing between us.
The look in Susan's eyes made William flinch—there was a murderous rage there that seemed directed not just at me, but at him too. It was as if years of buried resentment had surfaced all at once.
"Think about Tori," William pleaded. "When she wakes up, do you want her to learn her mother became a killer? Is that the reunion you want?"
At the mention of Tori, something shifted in Susan's expression. The tension in her shoulders eased slightly, though the hatred still burned in her eyes.
I collapsed back against the sofa cushions, clutching my bruised throat and coughing violently. Tears streamed down my face—from the pain, from the memories, from everything.
Through watery eyes, I looked up at William standing there, ever the noble protector.
"Look at you," I rasped between coughs. "Saving me again... just like before."