Chapter 5

IVY POV

The silence after the slap was deafening.

Amy stayed frozen on the floor, her eyes wide, lips trembling. Noah’s hand hovered near her shoulder, but he didn’t touch her. Instead, his jaw tightened, and I could see the storm brewing behind his eyes the same storm that had once terrified me into submission.

I stepped back slowly, chest heaving, every nerve alive. I didn’t care about the pain in my ribs or the stinging in my hand. For the first time, I wasn’t apologizing. I wasn’t shrinking. I wasn’t anyone’s servant or shield.

Noah finally spoke, his voice low and dangerous. “Ivy…”

I cut him off. “Noah. Don’t.”

He blinked, surprised. Then his gaze sharpened. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t act like you have the right to control me anymore. Don’t act like you can decide what I feel or what I do. That time is over.”

Amy whimpered, still curled slightly against him, but I didn’t look at her. I couldn’t. She wasn’t real here. She was a shadow, a ghost of every betrayal and humiliation I had endured.

Noah stepped closer, towering over me, and I could feel his presence pressing against me like it always had but this time, I didn’t flinch. I didn’t shrink. I held my ground.

“You think you can just walk back in here and …..” His words stopped, the growl catching in his throat as he processed my defiance. “After everything? After what happened?”

I raised my chin. “After you killed our child with your absence? After you handed my months of work to her on a silver plate? After you made me a nanny for her every whim?”

For a moment, I saw something flicker in his eyes a mixture of guilt and disbelief but it was gone almost instantly, replaced by rage.

“You’re lying,” he spat. “You… you don’t mean that.”

“I do,” I said, voice calm, almost eerily so. “Every word.”

Noah’s nostrils flared. He leaned in, eyes narrowing. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing? You’re destroying everything! Me, your position, the pack…”

“Destroying?” I laughed, short and sharp. “Noah, I’m saving myself. You’ve already destroyed me. I’m just cleaning up the pieces.”

Amy whimpered again, and for a second, I thought about ignoring her, walking past them, and leaving. But no this wasn’t about them. This was about me.

“You’re going to regret this,” Noah warned, voice low and dangerous. “You’ll regret leaving. You’ll regret standing against me.”

I tilted my head, studying him carefully. “Do you know what I regret?” I asked softly, letting each word hit like a blade. “Regretting staying with you for so long. Regretting loving someone who couldn’t even be there when I needed him most. Regretting thinking that being Luna meant I had to sacrifice myself for you.”

He froze, the room suddenly quiet except for our breaths.

“Now,” I continued, my voice rising slightly, “I’m done. I’ve signed the papers. You can reject me if you want but I won’t wait around for your decision. I’m leaving, Noah. Completely. And you can’t stop me anymore.”

Noah’s hand twitched toward me, but I didn’t flinch. Instead, I grabbed my suitcase from the corner and started moving toward the door.

Amy made a noise, weak but sharp, as if to plead. I didn’t look back.

Noah blocked the doorway suddenly, his frame massive, like the Alpha he was. “Ivy… wait. You can’t just….”

“I already did,” I interrupted. “Everything I ever needed from you, I got on my own. I don’t need your permission. I don’t need your attention. And I certainly don’t need her.”

The anger in him was palpable. I could see it, smell it could almost feel it pressing against my skin. But I didn’t let it break me.

“Then go,” he growled, voice low but shaking. “Go and leave me here with her.”

I walked past him slowly, deliberately, letting my heels click against the floor. I didn’t run. I didn’t stumble. I walked as if every step was reclaiming what had been stolen from me.

Amy’s whimper became a small, pleading voice. “Ivy… don’t…..”

I ignored it.

The elevator ride felt like an eternity. Every second, every floor passed with unbearable weight, like the world itself was holding its breath. When the doors finally opened to the lobby, I didn’t look back.

A black car waited outside. The driver, impeccably dressed, opened the door without a word. I slid in, suitcase beside me, and the car moved before I even had a chance to think.

The wind hit my face as the city lights blurred past the window. Freedom. The taste of it was almost foreign.

My phone buzzed once. I glanced down. A message from an unknown number: “You’re making a mistake.”

I didn’t reply.

Mistake? No. The mistake would have been staying.

The car pulled up to a secluded mansion outside the city, the emblem above the gates unmistakable. Liam’s manor.

I stepped out, suitcase in hand, and took a deep breath. The air here was heavy with safety and power, the kind I had been denied for years.

The butler greeted me quietly. “Miss Ivy, Alpha Liam is expecting you in the study. He sent instructions that you’re not to be disturbed.”

I nodded. Inside, the manor was as immaculate as ever. The scent of sandalwood and cedar filled the air. Soft light illuminated every corner. It felt… calm. Controlled. A stark contrast to the chaos I had left behind.

The study door opened, and Liam stepped in, tall, imposing, but not intimidating. Not yet. He studied me carefully, taking in the subtle changes the tension in my shoulders, the cold fire in my eyes, the way my hand clutched the suitcase like a weapon.

“You made it,” he said simply.

“I did,” I replied, voice steady. “I’m here. But don’t think I came for you, Alpha. I came for me.”

He raised an eyebrow, amused. “Good. That’s… rare.”

I set the suitcase down and let it thud against the polished floor. “I need to cut ties. Completely. Noah, the pack, everything. I can’t afford distractions. Can you help me?”

He nodded slowly, eyes never leaving mine. “I can. But be aware there’s a price for freedom. Not all of it is monetary. Some of it… will test you.”

I met his gaze without hesitation. “I’ve already survived worse.”

And I had.

The thought of what lay ahead didn’t scare me. It didn’t intimidate me. Because for the first time, the decisions were mine.

No one else’s.

Not Noah’s. Not Amy’s. Not anyone’s.

Only mine.

And that… felt better than anything else I had known in years.

Outside, the wind picked up, whispering against the manor’s windows. Somewhere in the city, Noah would realize I was gone. Somewhere, Amy would be left without her control. And somewhere, I would begin.

Begin what, exactly?

I didn’t know.

But I was ready.

And that was enough.