Chapter 178

"When I asked you guys to leave the house, I didn't ask you to go out forever," Wilma said, his tone heavy and stern.

Cassy raised one eyebrow, standing her ground without any fear. "I said give me a few minutes."

"You are our Alpha."

Cassy shrugged her shoulders lightly. "Anything you say is what we're going to adhere to."

Wilma let out a weary sigh, stepping toward her. "What's up?" He immediately searched her face. "Did you see Rose?"

Cassy smiled slightly. "Yes."

In an instant, Wilma's dark expression changed, his features softening. "How is she?"

"She is fine."

His dark eyes brightened with immediate relief.

Then Cassy added, "But forget that first."

Wilma frowned again, his tense posture returning. "What?"

"I told Rose about your illness."

Wilma froze on the spot, his jaw tightening as his eyes widened in shock. "What? Why would you do that?"

Cassy folded her arms tightly across her chest, staring right back at him. "Because I can't keep walking on eggshells around the two of you."

Wilma stared at her in growing anger, but Cassy did not back down.

"I need to save my Alpha first," she said, pointing her finger directly at his chest. "And I need my Alpha to save Rose and end all this nonsense so we can finally live in peace."

Wilma opened his mouth to snap at her, but Cassy spoke again before he could start.

"And besides, Rose wants to see you."

The moment the words left her mouth, everything shifted inside Wilma. The sharp anger completely vanished from his face, replaced by complete disbelief.

"What?"

Cassy smiled warmly at him. "She wants to meet you."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"She wants to see me?"

"Yes."

Wilma stood up straight immediately, his chest expanding as he took a quick breath. For the first time in days, genuine happiness showed in his eyes. After everything that had been broken between them, after all the silence and cold space, he finally had a real chance to see Rose.

Yet right beneath that rush of relief, a sudden fear gripped his heart. What if she was still holding onto her anger? What if she rejected him the moment he arrived? What if she pushed him away again?

Cassy watched his expression change as those thoughts crowded his mind. "You don't have to keep thinking about it."

Wilma looked over at her.

"Just go and meet her," Cassy said softly, her smile encouraging. "When I met Rose today, she didn't look like someone who was still stuck in her past."

Wilma nodded his head slowly, taking in her words. "Okay." He took a deep, steadying breath. "I'm going."

Meanwhile, Jasmine pulled her car into the lot outside a neighborhood pharmacy down the street. She walked inside, bought two small boxes containing pregnancy test strips, and paid the cashier without making eye contact.

As she drove back toward her apartment, she kept telling herself the exact same thing over and over. This was only to prove Rose and Cassy completely wrong. There was no way she was pregnant. At least, that was the story she wanted to believe.

But underneath that thin layer of confidence, she was terrified. She had been active about a month ago. Very active. And she was not ready for a baby. Not now, when her life was already complicated and chaotic enough.

When she arrived home, she rushed straight into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She opened the first box with shaking fingers and took the test following the small instruction paper.

She placed the plastic strip on the counter and stepped back to wait.

"One line," she whispered aloud to the quiet bathroom. "That is all I need."

She stared down at the small display window. A single line appeared clearly on the strip.

Jasmine smiled, letting out her breath. "See?"

Then, right beside the first mark, a second line began to form on the surface.

Her smile vanished instantly.

She moved closer to the counter, her eyes widening in terror. "What?"

She shook her head back and forth. "No."

She picked up the strip with a trembling hand. "No, no, no."

The second line was completely clear, thick, dark, and impossible to ignore.

Jasmine's mouth fell open, her breathing growing fast and shallow. "How?"

Her hands began shaking violently. Remembering that she had bought two boxes, she immediately tore open the second package. "This can't be possible."

She took the second test with desperate speed and placed it on the counter beside the first. She stood over it, waiting in total silence.

The result appeared within seconds. Two dark lines.

Jasmine stared down at both tests resting side by side on the counter. Her face went completely pale, all the color draining from her cheeks.

"No."

She covered her mouth with both hands, tears rushing to her eyes. "No, no, no."

She stepped backward until her heels hit the bathroom wall. "This can't be possible."

Panicking, she rushed out of the bathroom into her living room and began pacing back and forth across the floor. Her phone was clutched tightly in her hand. She stared down at Cassy's name on the screen, then scrolled over to Rose's.

She thought about calling them immediately, but her thumb froze over the glass. She stopped pacing and stared back toward the open bathroom door where the two test strips sat on the counter.

"I can't be pregnant," she said aloud to the empty room. She paced faster across the rug. "I can't."

Her mind immediately flew to Justin, picturing his face in her mind.

Then she shook her head forcefully, pushing the thought away. "No."

She wasn't ready to tell him. She wasn't ready for a baby. She wasn't ready for any of this.

Jasmine sat down on the edge of the couch, then stood right back up, unable to stay still for even a second. Her hands trembled continuously as she stared blankly at the dark screen of her phone.