Moira Lake could disband a tension in an army field with a few words, that’s how skilled she was in that. Even Luna had to give her that.Because as she looked around now, the party was already back in swing, everybody was already going on as if nothing had happened. The waiter would probably be the only one who got affected in the entire ordeal, Luna thought to herself. First, for having to bear the degrading words he had no doubt received from Justin’s brother. Words that Luna was sure nobody should ever have to hear in their lifetime as a human being. And secondly, because Moira was probably going to fire him after the party. Having him in their employ after tonight, to remind people of the unpleasant scene that had almost tarnished her perfect party, would just not do for Moira. Luna knew her all too well.So the waiter would probably be out of a job after tonight, and Moira’s son would get no more than that single stern word his mother had said to him to shut him up.Luna fe
“I was wondering when I was going to run into you.”Luna watched Justin walk towards her. That magnetic force, that aura of power that some men seem to only acquire when they’ve worked hard at it, why did it come so easily to Justin? The thought sent a frustrating feeling through Luna’s body, alongside the little thrill that ran up her spine as Justin’s black eyes locked on hers. If he didn’t have that dangerous power that made her drawn to him no matter how hard she tried to stop it, maybe she would be able to resist him.Damn him.“Hello, Luna,” Justin replied. His eyes were still locked on hers, not letting her go.Determined to not be the one to back down, Luna stared right back at him.“This is your company’s party, Justin, it’s rude to keep your guests waiting.”“I hardly kept them waiting.” Justin flicked his wrist, a waiter appeared out of nowhere. “The party has been going on fine without me, as I hear. And, I was in a meeting.”Justin picked up the sole glass on the
Eight years agoLuna ran a nervous hand down her sequin gown. The material was a finer one than she had ever felt pressed against her body in all her life, so when she realized she was running her sweaty palms on it, she immediately stopped. She stood on the entrance to the hall, where the party was already in full swing. Jake Kierney had only just dropped her off at the mansion a few hours ago, and a few hours after that, she’d gotten the call from Moira Lake. She’d told her a personal stylist was going to be coming to the house to help her get dressed for a party, she’d instructed her to be ready for the stylist and for her first night as Justin’s wife.Luna had been staggered to hear the news for a couple of reasons. One, she’d thought she was going to be introduced as Justin’s girlfriend first, or fiancée. And then after that, after they’d shared a few moments in public and in the spotlight, and everybody had adjusted to the idea of the two of them as a couple, then they’d be
Present“You had such hatred for me even right from the start,” Luna said to Justin.They were still facing each other other, the table between them.“All you heard was my name,” she continued, “and your voice changed. Did you think I don’t hear the change in your voice the moment you heard my name, Justin?”Even now, the memory hurt, Luna realized. Justin had the decency to look chagrined this time.“You don’t know why my voice changed that night,” he said, glancing away from Luna.“No, I don’t,” Luna agreed. “But what I do know is that night was not an exception, like you think it was. Sure, we were starting to vibe before I mentioned my name, but that was a brief moment. It could have been an exception, you made it not so. You, Justin, not me.”“And I said I had my reasons,” Justin said.Luna opened her mouth to reply him, but stopped when the music pulsing through the speakers was interrupted by someone on stage.“I would like to call on Miss Luna Jones, CEO of Green-ish
Luna downed another glass of champagne as she looked around the hall. It seemed like her little spar with Justin had cleared her head of the little buzz she had felt from the two other glasses she had downed earlier.“Damn you, Justin,” she muttered to herself. The man had taken almost everything from her, now he was taking away her ability to get drunk? Where in the world was that even fair?But then again, the world wasn’t fair now, was it? Luna let out a breath, placing her empty glass back on the table. If the world was fair, she wouldn’t be going through a world of hurt as she tried to get back at her ex-husband and his mother for ruining her life all those years ago now, would she? If the world was fair, she wouldn’t even be hurt in the first place. If the world was fair, she would have been loved by Justin, and she would have been happily married to him. If the world was fair-“Luna,” a voice said from behind her.Now what? Luna asked herself silently. She rolled her eyes
What the hell am I still doing here? Luna paced the empty compound behind the hall moments later as the question pounded in her head.All through the party, ninety five percent of the people she’d met had hurt her in one way or the other. There was the woman who had made her life a living hell and humiliated her family multiple times, the man who had pretended to be her friend but had actually been a spy for the same woman. The ‘friend’ who had been nothing but a manipulator who demeaned her with her cleverly constructed words presented as compliments. Luna let out a breath, she continued pacing. Or was it the man whom she had loved, carried his child in her and felt the life they’d both created, and who all he’d ever done was to repay her with hatred.What the hell was she doing here? What the hell was she doing at all, getting mixed up with Justin again. Haven’t the past taught her anything at all? Was the humiliation she went through in her marriage to Justin not enough? Was th
“You’re still here?” Logan asked as Luna walked back into the hall. Luna stopped by his table, she picked up the champagne flute on it and downed its contents in one gulp.“Yep,” she turned to Logan and gave him a dry smile, “it’s like I want to deliberately punish myself, you know?”Logan smiled, the crease by his eyebrows showed, reminding Luna of how she always loved to see him smile. She had never seen that crease on Justin’s face, because he has never smiled. At least not that she knew of, and definitely not to her.“I’d be the first person to say my family’s not easy,” Logan said. “I’ve always admired your fairness and grace when talking about Justin and Moira to other people, considering they’re the two people who made your life miserable for years.”Luna shrugged and gave a wry smile. “Well, if I had said negative things about them, I surely would have paid for it in tenfold now, wouldn’t I? It would definitely find a way to come back and affect me, she always found a wa
Matt pulled up in the front of the hall, Luna got into the car and he drove off again. “How was the party?” Matt asked as he merged with the city’s traffic.Luna knew he was only asking as a courtesy, so she managed to drum up a smile for him.“It was nice,” she said.Matt nodded. “Good.”Luna gave him another managed smile, Matt continued driving, in silence. Luna rubbed two fingers on her forehead, there was a slight headache already brewing there. There was a dull pounding in her head too, but Luna knew that was the aftermath of the glasses of champagne she had downed at the party. And she was tired, not so much physically, but mentally. She was tired in her soul. Her heart was sick, she rubbed a hand over her chest where her heart was, there was a stinging pain there and she didn’t know what to do about it.She thought she had passed that phase. She thought she’d passed the phase where Moira’s words could still get to her and hurt her, she thought she’d passed the stage