Marriage. It was all a big joke.

She was hoping that she could turn back time and not allow herself to consent to this arrangement. She left her life and her family with the hopes that she would find love with Williams Montenegro, but she was losing that hope.

Whenever she looked at the alpha, she felt that he looked at her as if she was translucent—nothing, like a dishrag, in fact, because after donating blood, she was back to being one.

She heard the keys jingle as she was reading a book.

She looked up and immediately smelled the alpha's intoxicating scent.

The harsh truth was he would smell incredibly sexy for Addison when she needed to donate blood.

For the two years they had been together, Addison should already be immune to it, but her omega gave in every single time.

"Addison?" Williams said seriously as he approached her.

Addison just looked up at him, resisting the urge to approach him and feed his ego.

"My mother said you visited them? How sweet of you!" Williams said as he ruffled the omega's head.

'I am not your pet,' Addison disdainfully thought. 

"Yes, I did." She smiled a weak smile.

"That's great." Williams sat down, forcing himself to smile at his wife.

Addison did, after washing a week's worth of laundry, ironing them, putting them back in their closet, and mopping the entire house after cooking a week's worth of food.

Her pheromones must have given off a bitter, foul scent, but there were scent blockers, ones that Williams gifted her.

"Does Ivy need a blood transfusion? Is that why you are here?" Addison asked as she continued reading the book.

"Yes, tomorrow. I need you tomorrow." Williams said as he stood up.

Addison knew it like clockwork, and she just sighed. "Okay, I will be there." She said before the alpha walked out the door.

Ivy, one of Williams' childhood best friends who was engaged to another best friend.

They were out partying one night two years ago when they met with an accident.

Williams was the driver, and he was a bit buzzed when he hit a 16-wheeler truck that killed his best friend and caused serious injuries to Ivy, requiring regular blood transfusions.

---

12:20 AM. 

She had to be asleep because she had to go donate blood tomorrow, but sleep somehow escaped her, an uneasy feeling slowly burdening her heart heavily and wanting to be free but she could not.

Her phone buzzed with a notification. 

It's curious how she is receiving a message  this late because not even the man she married would bother checking up on her at an ungodly hour. 

The message read: How can you say you are married to this man when he was never yours to begin with?

She stared at the picture of Ivy being held protectively in Williams hold. 

A silly dream that she built in her head, hoping her husband would come to his senses, slowly dissolved as she looked at the message sent to her.

Whoever sent this knew she would be wallowing in misery and eventually try to escape the excruciating pain she was trying to swallow.

But then she knew her alpha needed her because, in the first place, her blood was the reason why he married her, but she could not take the pain that was slowly simmering in her heart.

At first, she thought she could take it, but she was wrong; she couldn't.

They married in front of a judge with no witnesses, no guests, no party, and no honeymoon, not even a ring.

She took her clothes and was picked up by the chauffeur who brought her to Williams' house where she was alone with some staff.

She was compensated, though; every three weeks, she would donate blood, and Williams would wire her $250k as compensation.

They had been together for two years and a few months, and Addison had saved enough money to finally get her freedom without guilt or remorse.

Sleep finally found Addison in the wee hours of the morning. She dragged herself awake as the driver brought her to the hospital.

"Thank you, Sean," Addison said to the driver who had been nice to her every single time.

Well, the staff was nice, or maybe they just felt pity for her because they knew the bitter truth of their relationship.

A notification on her phone buzzed, a week before her heat or what Dr. Young told her was the schedule of her heat.

As a recessive omega, she hadn't experienced full heat yet, only mild symptoms, sometimes no symptoms. She should be fine, she thought.

The alpha stood in the hallway waiting for Addison with his arms crossed on his chest.

"You are late!" Williams shook his head.

"Yeah, I didn't sleep well," Addison said, feeling faint and weak. 

"Did you take the vitamins the doctor prescribed you?"

Addison shook her head. "They make me nauseous, maybe when I am nearing my heat," she avoided his eyes, lying.

"Oh, is it that time?" Williams asked.

"And the doctor advised me not to donate blood at this time," Addison said.

"Addison, you promised," Williams warned.

"And I am not backing out of it," she responded.

The nurse sent her to the blood donation room and set her up.

"Are you okay, Miss Addison?" The nurse asked.

"Just take the blood so I can go home and sleep," she said, looking at the floor.

"Okay, Miss," the nurse smiled at her.

They set up the blood draw, and after 45 minutes, a pint of her blood was sealed and delivered to the blood bank to be processed, and her previous donation was sent to the room where Williams and Ivy were.

"Miss Addison, do you need anything?" Asked the nurse as she taped her up.

"I just need to go pee," Addison said, feeling weaker. 

"You are pale; you should drink some orange juice," the nurse recommended.

"I will after I go to the restroom," she replied.

"Okay, say the word if you need anything."

She stepped outside at the same time the door to the other room opened.

She stood there frozen as she watched Williams hold another omega in his arms.

Williams stroked Ivy's forehead lovingly as she got a blood transfusion.

Addison's cellphone sounded with a notification.

$250k was deposited in her account.

She smiled sadly as she looked at Williams.

Suddenly, an overwhelming heat enveloped her body as she released strong strawberry vanilla pheromones.

Williams' head whipped toward the door as he saw Addison standing, red and weak.

Addison suddenly held on to the doorknob, feeling nauseous.

She knew she was going to faint due to the sudden change in her body.

Her surroundings started spinning and her knees buckled.

She looked at Williams and said, "Help, Williams," before she fainted on the ground.

Williams was about to stand up when Ivy touched his hand lightly, her face looking up at him. "Let the nurses take care of Addison; I need you here."

Williams then stayed seated. He was worried and guilty. He looked at Addison being helped by the medical staff as he held on to the omega he promised to care for.

---

Addison opened her eyes to an unfamiliar sight.

"Where am I?" She suddenly sat up.

"Oh, you are awake," the nurse said.

"What happened?"." 

"You fainted yesterday," the nurse replied in a pitiful voice.

"Oh, and my husband, did he visit me yet?" Addison asked.

She asked because she wanted to know if there was a slight chance that her alpha might feel some concern toward her and not just her blood.

"Oh, he sent the driver for you, just in case you needed to go home," the nurse responded.

"Is that so?" Addison asked firmly. 

"Yes," the nurse said as she took his vitals.

She took her phone but the battery was drained.

"Miss, is it possible that I can borrow a charger from you?"

"Unfortunately I didn't bring my charger but you can borrow my phone," she said taking out the phone from her pocket.

"Thank you," Addison smiled as she dialed a number she knew she would use someday.

"Hello, Barrister Kael."  

"Miss Powers? What a surprise to hear from_." 

"I'm filing for a divorce and would like to move forward with the proceedings, can you bring me the paperwork?". 

.

.

TBC