"My dear, would you look at that! You look so good in that color and dress. My daughter did a good job choosing it. Don't you feel pretty wearing it?"

Jabbing words of her mother-in-law made Anabella clench her first. But considering her circumstances, she could not do anything.

The world might have become a place where free thoughts were encouraged, and one could express themselves freely, but there was a time and place for everything.

A formal dinner was not a place to express her thoughts.

So, despite every fiber of Anabella's telling her to speak back, she curbed her anger and sat back down.

That was all an omega like her could and was expected to do.

"Mother, stop trying to embarrass Anabella. She might look good now, but what counts is if she looks good when 'it is time.' I am sure my brother cannot keep his hands to himself off my sister-in-law when they are alone."

Sea, her sister-in-law, replied to her mother with a teasing voice. 

Her words sounded gracious initially, but if you knew the situation (like most people around the table knew), you would guess she was mocking Anabella.

Her expression and voice looked especially mocking, but no one could argue.

Even after a year of marriage, her husband had not touched Anabella. Many were starting to question whether she was an omega.

It was pretty much an insult to Anabella's existence, but she could not speak up to defend herself. No one else did do so, either.

Not that anyone would say anything in Anabella's defense since Sea was the family's 'darling omega' while Sea was just someone their relative married for profit.

Under such circumstances, the only one Sea could turn toward was her husband. 

He should have been the one to help her out.

But her husband was too busy looking at the woman sitting on the other end of the table. 

And he was not the only one.

Her stepson from her husband's first marriage also looked longingly at the woman sitting at the other end of the table.

Anabella did not have to be a mind reader to get the clear message—she was not welcomed around here. She was just here because it was her duty.

'Should I leave? Since no one wants me here, I can disappear without leaving a hint behind. I know my husband would prefer that as well.'

And why won't he? It would allow him to change the seating arrangements and invite his 'mistress' or 'the true love of his life' as he called it, to his side in front of the family.

It was no secret that her husband was unarmed with someone else. Even when he was with her, his eyes sought someone else, and Anabella was forced to live with it.

She would have gotten up and left during this dinner if her mother's displeased pheromones had not made her back down.

One look at the older woman was enough to show just how disappointed she was in Anabella and her inability to control her husband's emotions.

And so, the dinner continued. The food went down Anabella's throat but did not reach her stomach. She had no idea how the dinner ended but was aware of its aftermath.

Most dinners with the family ended the same way as this - with her emptying her stomach in the toilet before her.

It was a miserable but normal day for the 21-year-old omega.

...

Anabella was the first one to return home. Her brother offered to drive her back, and she accepted the offer before anyone could say anything.

The look on her brother's face almost felt worth it. 

He looked annoyed and a little pissed at the fact that she had taken his empty offer and decided to head home instead of staying longer and trying to bond with her alpha and her sex-years-old stepson.

But he kept his mouth shut until he reached his car and started it.

Once they were alone, Jackson exploded in anger.

"What the hell were you thinking, leaving Daniel alone? Don't you see how he is still head's-over-heels for that bitch? If you don't do anything, then you will lose your position to her-"

"As if you care about me! You don't need to worry about a thing. This business deal will not fall through unless I divorce my husband first. My mother would never allow me to sign those divorce papers for as long as she was alive.

You don't have to worry about your inheritance."

Unable to take it anyone, Anabella finally spoke up.

Her brother was the only one who had ever seen her real face and how aggressive she could be. He felt taken aback, and he held his tongue.

He drove to her home and dropped her off.

"Look, I am just advising you because I am worried about you. You are an omega and a married one at that. Even if you are not marked, your value has greatly decreased just by marrying Daniel.

Try getting along with him if you don't want to live a miserable life. Drug him if you have to, but get him to mark you and give you a kid. No alpha can give up on an omega who has their kid."

Anabella kept a calm face to not show her disgust at her brother's words.

He spoke about her like an item, not a living, breathing human. It made her feel dirty but also familiar.

It made her feel ashamed to be related to such a man. 

But what could she do except accept her fate of being born into such a family and having Daniel as her brother? She could not change her family or her blood.

At most, she could become a beta from an omega and forever ruin her body. But even that would not give her the freedom and security she carved.

Anabella entered her cold home with an empty look on her face.

This place reflected her—cold and empty. A year in this loveless marriage had worn her off from any notion of love and support she once held.

Now, Anabella only waited for days to pass in hopes of one day numbing herself to this world and all it held for her.

*ping*

Her phone received a message, but Anabella did not have enough power to reach for her phone and check it. 

She felt that her mother might have told her about her rude behavior and that Anabella should have kept her emotions in check.

Her mother's values of what and how an omega should behave were old-fashioned and rigid, and she had raised Anabella similarly.

But something inside Anabella still asked her to check her phone one last time before she forced herself to fall asleep.

The single message on her screen made Anabella smile and her heartfelt first flutter of hope after a long time.

{Happy Birthday, Bella. I hope you are having a good time. Would you like to meet sometime to catch up with us?

Call me to confirm. 

Ah, this is Rui, in case you did not realize it. I changed my number!}

The message was a surprise, and it made Anabella's heart lighten up. 

"So, someone did remember my birthday after all. I thought no one would remember it."

Unknown to her, tears fell down Anabella's eyes. But they were happy tears instead of sorrowful ones for the first time. 

Anabella realized she had a friend she could count on, one who wanted to see her and one she wanted to see.

"Should I make an appointment? I should-"

But as soon as that thought came, reality came crashing back and knocked some sense inside her head.

She did not want to burden someone else with her life, and Anabella did not have the will to meet others.

That was what made her close her phone and put it down. 

____

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