(Evelyn''s POV)


    But fate had other ns. Just as spoke out the truth, Sarah Jenkins moved too quickly beside my bed. Her elbow caught the Fallen. Bedside Lamp of the Healing Den, sending it crashing to the floor.


    The shattering sound echoed through the room, drowning out my crucial revtion. ss scattered across the sterile floor, creating an immediate distraction.


    "I''m so sorry!" Sarah eximed, dropping to her knees to clean up the mess.


    I tried to repeat myself, but my strength was fading. The medication coursing through my system made my tongue feel heavy, my words slurring slightly at the edges.


    Victoria''s eyes shed with calcted relief. She had been granted a reprieve, and she wasn''t about to waste it.


    "Ethan!" Victoria cried out, her voice cutting through themotion. She wheeled herself forward in her Raven-Trimmed Wheelchair, positioning herself strategically between Ethan and my hospital bed


    Her scent shifted dramatically, deliberately projecting waves of maternal distress that filled the room. Even in my weakened


    state, I could detect the maniption behind it.


    "Emma''s kidney is rejecting the transnt," she pleaded, tears streaming down her face with practiced precision. "She needs you now, Ethan. She''s asking for you!"


    I watched Ethan''s face transform, his earlier curiosity about my revtion instantly reced by concern for Emma. His wolf''s protective instincts surged visibly beneath his skin.


    "What? When did this happen?" he demanded, already moving toward Victoria.


    "Just now," Victoria sobbed, clutching his hand. "Dr. Harper called me. They''re preparing for emergency surgery."


    I tried to speak again, to warn him of her deception, but my voice came out as little more than a whisper. "She''s lying..."


    Ethan nced back at me, conflict evident in his amber eyes. His wolf whined with indecision, torn between investigating my startling im and responding to Emma''s supposed emergency.


    "Mrs. Winters," he said, his voice strained with tension, "I promise we''ll continue this conversation. But if Emma is in danger..."


    Victoria pressed her advantage, her fingers tightening around Ethan''s wrist. "Every second counts, Ethan. Please!"


    I watched helplessly as Ethan made his choice. His Alpha instincts to protect a vulnerable pup—even one not biologically his- overrode his curiosity about my revtion.


    "I''ll returnter," he promised me, his gaze briefly meeting mine. "Once Emma is stable."


    My wolf snarled weakly beneath my skin as Victoria shot me a triumphant nce before wheeling herself out of the room with


    +30 Bonus


    Ethan close behind.


    The door closed behind them, leaving me fuming in my hospital bed, the opportunity lost. For now.


    (Olivia''s POV)


    I stood frozen beside my mother''s bed, my mind struggling to process what I''d just heard.


    "Victoria Frost is not Little Orange..." The fragmented revtion echoed in my thoughts, connecting to memories I''d long buried.


    James Knight shifted beside me, his hazel eyes narrowed with confusion. "What was that about?" he asked, his russet-brown


    wolf radiating curiosity beneath his skin.


    I barely heard him. My wolf was suddenly alert, piecing together connections that had been hidden in in sight for years.


    Little Orange. My childhood nickname, given to me by my mother because of my love for the fruit.


    Ethan''s childhood sweetheart, the one he''d searched for relentlessly, had also been called Little Orange.


    The coincidence was too perfect to be coincidence at all.


    "Olivia?" James prompted, concern coloring his voice.


    I turned to my mother, my emerald eyes wide with shock. "Mom, are you saying that I''m Ethan''s Little Orange? That I''m his


    childhood sweetheart?"


    My mother nodded weakly, her eyes bright despite her exhaustion "Yes, Olivia. You are the little girl he''s been searching for all these years."


    seemed to tilt around me as memories flooded back-memories I''d suppressed after years of Ethan''s coldness and


    The room


    neglect.


    A little boy with striking amber eyes, saving me from danger.


    y jade bracelet.


    The exchange of tokens-his Ancestral Moonstone Amulet for my


    His childish promise: "I''ll find you again someday, Little Orange."


    My wolf whined with confusion, the revtion both illuminating and devastating.


    If I was truly Ethan''s childhood sweetheart,


    then Victoria...


    "Victoria has been lying to him all this time," I whispered, the implications staggering. "She''s been pretending to be me."


    James let out a low whistle, running a hand through his dark hair. "That''s... that''s one hell of a deception."


    I barely registered his words. My mind was racing ahead, calcting what this meant for my quest to avenge Lily.


    If Victoria was an impostor, her hold over Ethan might be broken. The power dynamics that had protected her-and by extension,


    her role in Lily''s death-could crumble


    +30 Banus


    But the revtion also carried a bitter irony. The mate who had rejected me, who


    had chosen Victoria over me and our daughter,


    had actually been searching for me all along.


    The cruel twist of fate might have been darkly amusing if it hadn''t cost my daughter her life.


    I approached my mother''s bedside, my voice barely above a whisper. "Mom, are you sure?"


    My mother''s eyes met mine, steady despite her physical weakness. "I''m certain, Olivia."


    "How can you be so sure?" I pressed, needing absolute confirmation before I could act on


    information.


    "The Ancestral Moonstone Amulet," she replied, her voice strengthening with conviction. "The one Ethan always wears around


    his neck."


    I nodded, remembering the distinctive amulet that Ethan n never removed, even


    during our most intimate moments. He had


    always imed it connected him to his lost childhood love.


    "That amulet belonged to you, Olivia," my mother continued. "You gave it to him when you were children, and he gave you his jade bracelet in return."


    The memory crystallized in my mind-the small jade bracelet I''d treasured until it was lost during our escape from the orphanage. The token from my "Ice-Eyes Alpha” that I''d clung to during the darkest nights.


    "I found that amulet on Victoria Frost," my mother revealed, her eyes shing with indignation despite her weakened state. "She


    imed it as her own, but I recognized it immediately."


    I recalled my mother''s reaction when she first saw the amulet on Ethan months ago-her startled expression that I''d dismissed


    as nothing important


    The truth settled over me like a heavy cloak. I was indeed Ethan''s "Little Orange,"


    his long-lost childhood sweetheart.


    The mate who had rejected me had been searching for me all along, while the woman he believed to be his childhood love had.


    been deceiving him for years.


    The irony was almost too painful to bear. But my focus remained clear-justice for


    Lily. This revtion was simply another


    weapon in my arsenal.


    I leaned closer to my mother, my voice steady despite the turmoil within. "Mom,


    do you have proof?"


    I understood the importance of concrete evidence. Ethan would never believe


    such an usation against Victoria without


    irrefutable proof.


    My wolf growled softly at the thought of Victoria''s deception-years of maniption


    that had cost me not only my mate''s love


    but potentially contributed to my daughter''s death.


    If Victoria had lied about being Ethan''s childhood sweetheart, what else had she


    lied about? Had she yed a role in redirecting


    the kidney donor that might have saved Lily''s life?


    My mother''s eyes met mine, determination burning through her exhaustion.


    "Yes," she replied simply.