The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story

Chapter 5

Nicholas held Elva safe and secure in his arms as he stood to his full height. Elva buried her face into the corner of his neck and shoulder. He gently patted her back.

He glanced down at Elva, his gaze so tender that it made my heart clench.

“There, there,” he whispered. “You are safe now.”

“Oh my God,” said one of the other girls in the room, fanning herself. “Of course he’s good with children.”

“Someone pinch me,” said another. “I think I’m dreaming.”

Nicholas’s soft expression hardened as he glared out at the rest of the room. “Whose child is this? Why is she here?”

I started forward, but the girl in the pink dress spoke before I could reach him.

“An outsider sneaked in, unless she’s a maid.”

Some of the other girls snickered at my expense.

“She can’t be a participant,” another girl fake-whispered, loud enough for half-the room to hear. “I thought we had to be virgins, and she’s got a kid.”

I wanted to disappear into a corner. Whether virgin or not, I was nothing compared to the rest of these girls.

My clothes weren’t as nice as theirs, and my figure wasn’t like what it had been at the Academy. I’d lost much of my musculature. I was skinny from too many nights of skipped dinners.

Elva’s wellbeing had always come before my own.

Her sake was the only reason I continued forward rather than hide in embarrassment. I stopped only when I reached Nicholas.

He looked at me, and I looked at him.

I’d forgotten how gorgeous his eyes were, golden brown with flakes of green. When we’d dated, I had spent hours looking at them, trying to memorize that color, but it had seemed different each time.

Before, when I’d stared long enough, I could earn a bashful smile from him. Now, his face was totally devoid of emotion. He looked at me like I was a stranger.

Did he… not recognize me?

had sealed me away in his past and moved

he was simply pretending, to save face. I could be a great embarrassment to him, showing up here, years after leaving him,

Maybe he hated me.

The girl in pink motioned to

voice was monotone. Another moment of staring at me blankly,

followed him. He led

Royal Highness, please remember that per the selection rules,

to look at the man,

is an

The man bowed

forward and closed the door behind us,

I might be sick. I had never imagined I’d meet Nicholas

to say. What would he think of me, to see me as

must have cried herself to sleep, eyes

at once, his perfect façade cracked.

his hands stayed gentle on Elva, his arm looped more protectively around

my

once, twice, but, no, I couldn’t make sense of

Eloquently, I said, “Huh?”

was three years old. That lined up with our breakup

to recall the memory. We’d been so young then, too eager

haste. I couldn’t remember where he was when he’d

certainty that fueled it seemed to slide into

hoping

television. For me to hide a child from him would have been a cruelty. He would likely have struggled

name. But

a moment, before the anger returned

say, he seemed to struggle to get

between me and

to Nicholas. Elva was mine in every way that mattered. I would not have

unspoken question for him, and he started to

startled. What could cause that

immediately cut off the

gently, he lowered Elva down onto one of the

Mommy,”

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