The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 226

Chapter 226

-Ava’s POV-

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The first thing I saw was the flash of annoyance on her face. Annoyance at my interruption? Or annoyance at being caught?

My eyes flickered to her hands, expecting to see a phone clutched between her fingers–some proof that she had been talking to him. But there was nothing. When I looked back at her face, the irritation had melted away, leaving behind something else. Exhaustion.

I shrugged it off, “Well?”

The annoyance flared again, “Do you see a phone in my hand?”

“No,” I shot back, folding my arms. “But I just heard you say, ‘I’m so mad at you, Liam, for everything you did, but if you come back, I know we can fix this somehow.””

She rolled her eyes, “I was talking to myself.”

I raised a brow. “Right. That’s normal.”

“It is when you have a lot on your mind,” She snapped. “And since you’re so interested in my private conversations, maybe you should work on your own boundaries, Ava. Eavesdropping is a bad look.” She dragged my name out, slow and biting, full of disdain.

At least that hadn’t changed.

For a split second, I considered letting it go. Walking away. But screw that. Maybe if I hadn’t been such a pushover for most of my life, I wouldn’t have let people like Damien use me. Maybe I wouldn’t have been left with so many scars I couldn’t even begin to process.

I narrowed my eyes, “Says the person who put a bug in my phone to spy on me.”

Something flickered in her expression. Guilt? It was gone too fast to tell.

I pressed on, “Did you know? That Crystal was–or is–my twin sister?”

She exhaled sharply, and for the first time since this conversation started, she looked… tired. Not defensive. Not smug. Just tired.

“No,” She said after a pause, her voice quieter. “I didn’t know that.”

For a moment, I didn’t know what to say.

She ran a hand through her hair, her fingers shaking slightly, “And I wasn’t talking to Liam. Well… I was. But not really. I was practicing. Rehearsing what I would say to him if I ever…. if I ever saw him again.”

There was something raw in her voice, something vulnerable that I wasn’t used to hearing from her.

I hesitated, “And you really think you can fix things? You can forgive him after everything he’s done?”

She let out a slow breath and turned toward the fountain, her gaze fixed on the water. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I really don’t know.”

stretched between

time. “I don’t even know how to process this kind of pain. I don’t know how to feel. What to think. From the very start, he

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Chapter 226

him.”

didn’t respond

this was Elaine.

Elaine, who had spied on me, manipulated me, done everything in her power to make my life

And yet…

water in the fountain, “Honestly?

her head sharply, eyes narrowing.

I was just some pawn in their game?” I let out a bitter chuckle, shaking my head, “Yeah. I don’t know how I would even begin to

“You don’t have to pretend to

“I’m not pretending.”

A long silence.

trickle of the fountain, the distant rustling of leaves.

she exhaled sharply, “It’s not even about forgiving him. It’s that I don’t know if I can’t. Her voice wavered slightly, and she clenched

before nodding, “Yeah.

a game to me,” She said, her voice thick with emotion, “And maybe I was blind. Maybe I was stupid. But it was real. And now, I

studied her, arms crossed. “Then maybe you need to figure out who you are outside of

humor in it.

“I know.”

her gaze locking onto mine, sharp

want Grayson because you love him just like I do Liam,” She said

twisted, “That’s not the

“Isn’t it?”

clenched my

her head, watching me closely,

cheek. I didn’t

pretend all you want, but love isn’t something you just switch off, Ava. You can hate someone for hurting you. You can wish they never existed. But that doesn’t erase

Chapter 226

“That doesn’t mean they deserve

her head,

silence stretched

breath, “But it

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staring at the water. I didn’t want to have this conversation. Not with her. Not when she was–against all odds -making too much sense.

“Not that any of it really matters. Not if

silence between us stretched, heavy and unspoken. My eyes followed hers as they drifted downward, lingering on my stomach. The look in her gaze

staring, she quickly looked away, her expression

my voice quieter than before, “I’m really sorry about what happened.”

almost to herself. Her fingers traced absent patterns against the fabric of her shirt as she stared downward, “I was so happy, and I really hoped she would be a girl. I was going to spoil her silly.” Her voice caught slightly, but she forced a breath and continued, “I know