The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

Chapter 226

Chapter 226

-Ava’s POV-

86%1

(+23)

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.”

between us.

softer this 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

1/4

Chapter 226

him.”

didn’t respond at

was Elaine.

me, manipulated me, done everything in

And yet…

sighed, staring at the rippling water in the fountain, “Honestly? I

sharply, eyes narrowing.

pawn in their game?” I let

don’t have to pretend to sympathize with

“I’m not pretending.”

A long silence.

trickle of the fountain, the distant rustling

know if I can’t. Her voice wavered slightly, and she clenched her fists at

hesitated before nodding, “Yeah. It does.”

wasn’t fake. It wasn’t 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 don’t even know who

to figure out who you are

but there was no humor in it. “Easier

“I know.”

turned then, her gaze locking onto

still want Grayson because you love him just

not the

“Isn’t it?”

my jaw, “No.”

head, watching me closely, “You sure?”

my cheek. I didn’t owe her an

through her hair, “You can stand there and 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

Chapter 226

swallowed hard, “That doesn’t mean they deserve forgiveness.”

her head, “No. It

silence stretched

out a slow breath, “But it also doesn’t mean the love just disappears.”

86%

23)

conversation. Not with her. Not

any of it really

heavy and unspoken. My eyes followed hers as they drifted downward, lingering on my stomach.

had caught her staring, she quickly

quieter than before, “I’m really

she murmured, 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