He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 05
I didn’t close the page.
I kept scrolling.
At the bottom of the folder was another file: *Chat Backup*.
The earliest date was three months ago.
Blair had written first:
“Let’s do the Founding Families Decathlon this year. It’ll test how much Mara can take, and it’ll show the pups who their real family is.”
Cynthia immediately replied, “How do we make sure you and Graham end up together every time?”
George came up with the idea. “Mark the edge of the wax. Blindfold feeding, slow dance, bonus points for a kiss. She won’t be able to ruin every round without looking like she’s disappointing the pups.”
They had even discussed the family portrait in advance.
Blair and Graham in the center. The two pups beside them.
And I would be the one to press the shutter.
I looked at the date, and the anger in my chest cooled into something far more dangerous.
Months ago, they had already decided exactly where I was meant to stand.
Then Graham finally appeared in the chat.
“Mara might not be happy about this.”
Just that one line.
For a second, I almost believed he had at least hesitated.
But his next message was:
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell her it’s to help the pups accept her before the partnership ceremony. If she wants into the Whitmore family and Tidewatch, she has to prove she can handle this.”
*Has to prove it.*
So the partnership he had promised me, the love I had poured into his children, even the pack application he still hadn’t submitted—they were all just tools to keep me compliant.
George added:
“She’ll do anything for a place in a pack. Even if we make her sleep in the common hall, she’ll put up with it.”
A string of laughing emojis followed.
I reopened the betting sheet.
Under the column *Will she leave?*, only Graham had added a note.
“No.”
Someone replied: “True. Make her handle logistics. As long as she thinks she’s useful to the group, she won’t leave.”
My hands and feet turned to ice.
He had always known exactly what I was most afraid of losing.