Chapter 4

The penthouse was nothing like Luna remembered.

Three years ago, she had only seen it once, briefly, at night, when Atlas had smuggled her in through a private elevator to avoid the press. Back then, it had felt like stepping into a dream.

Now, it felt like a trap. 

The elevator doors opened with a soft chime. Marble floors stretched out before them, polished to a shine. The ceilings were impossibly high. Cold steel. Every surface looked expensive enough to pay off her daughter's medical bills twice over.

Emery’s hand was in hers, small and warm. She looked up, wide-eyed, but said nothing. Her face was still pale, lips chapped from the hospital air.

“Welcome home,” Atlas said behind them.

Luna turned. “This isn’t our home.”

“It is now,” he replied, already walking ahead.

She didn’t follow at first.

She looked down at Emery and whispered, “It’s just for a little while, okay? Mommy’s with you.”

Emery nodded quietly and leaned her head on Luna’s hip.

They stepped inside.

Everything about the place screamed don’t touch. The living room alone was bigger than the entire apartment Luna had been renting in New Haven. Floor-to-ceiling windows bathed the space in golden light. Sleek black couches, abstract art, and a view of Manhattan that looked unreal.

Atlas gestured toward one of the doors. “That’s your room. I had the staff set it up for two.”

“You did this… today?” Luna asked, surprised.

He shrugged. “I make things happen when I want to.”

“Right,” she muttered. “Of course you do.”

They stepped into the guest wing. The room was elegant, but warm. Emery’s bed had soft pink sheets. A plush bunny sat on the pillow, a new one, still with the tag. There were toys on the shelf. Children’s books. A basket of stuffed animals Luna hadn’t packed.

Emery blinked. “Is this mine?”

Luna looked at Atlas. “You planned this before the DNA test came back.”

He met her gaze. “I had a feeling.”

Luna folded her arms. “You don’t have feelings.”

His voice was low. “I do when it comes to her.”

“I don’t want her to get attached to all this,” she muttered. “We’re not staying forever.”

“That depends on you.”

Luna bit back the urge to argue. “Come on, sweetheart,” she said, guiding Emery to the bed. “Let’s rest a little.”

“I’m not tired,” Emery whispered, then yawned a second later.

Luna tucked her in gently, brushing her hair back. “Just close your eyes for a bit. I’ll be right here.”

“I’ll have dinner brought up in an hour,” Atlas said. “If she needs anything, press the call button by the bed.”

Luna turned to him. “She needs peace. That’s all.”

Atlas didn’t argue. He simply walked out, clenching his jaw. 

********************

Luna stepped onto the rooftop terrace, needing air. The night wind was cool, brushing against her skin. 

She found Atlas standing by the edge, a glass of something amber in his hand.

He didn’t look at her when she spoke.

“You planned all of this. The room and even the toys.”

“I told you,” Atlas said. “I had a feeling she was mine.”

“That doesn’t mean you own us.”

He finally looked at her. “You think I don’t know that?”

“You’re acting like you do.”

“You disappeared with my child, Luna.”

“You forced me to.”

Atlas laughed dryly, shaking his head. “You still don’t get it.”

“Then help me understand,” she snapped. “Because all I remember is you calling me a liar. In public. In front of everyone. After everything we shared. After everything you promised.”

“I saw that video.”

“You saw what you wanted to see.”

Atlas went still.

Luna’s voice trembled. “Did you ever once stop and ask yourself why I’d do that? Why I’d suddenly throw everything away and sleep with your brother?”

He didn’t answer.

“Exactly,” she said. “You didn’t ask. You just believed it.”

“Because it wasn’t the first time someone lied to me,” he said bitterly. “Everyone around me has always had an angle. You were supposed to be different.”

“I was.”

He looked at her now, eyes dark. “Then why didn’t you fight harder?”

“Because I was drowning!” she shouted. “You didn’t just break up with me, Atlas. You broke me. You stood there and let everyone believe I was some gold-digging trash who slept her way through your family. You left me with nothing.”

Atlas stepped forward, voice lower now. “I thought you were the one person in my life who wouldn’t betray me. You think I was cold? You think I didn’t suffer too?”

“I don’t know what you felt,” she said, voice raw. “Because you shut me out. Completely.”

The silence after her words felt louder than anything else.

Finally, he spoke.

“I can’t undo what I did.”

“No,” she whispered. “You can’t.”

They stood there in silence again, the city lights flickering below like stars scattered across black glass.

Then, Atlas spoke, soft, low, almost to himself.

“Is she happy?”

Luna blinked. “Who?”

“Emery.”

She hesitated. “Yes. She was, until she got sick.”

He nodded slowly, then set his glass down. “She’s going to live.”

Luna felt something tighten in her throat. “You don’t know that yet.”

“I do,” he said firmly. “Because I’ll make it happen. Whatever it takes.”

She stared at him.

And for the first time in years, she didn’t see the man who destroyed her.

She saw the man who once held her at midnight in a library and whispered her name like it meant something.

“Why the marriage?” she asked softly. “Why force me to marry you?”

Atlas stepped closer, eyes locked with hers. “Because I don’t trust you.”

“And marrying me will fix that?”

“No,” he said. “But keeping you close will help me find out who you really are now. And maybe… maybe I want to see if there’s anything left of the girl I used to love.”

Luna’s heart slammed in her chest. Before she could respond, her phone buzzed in her pocket.

She pulled it out, frowning.

Unknown number.

She answered, “Hello?”

A cold voice came through the speaker. “You shouldn’t have come back.”

Her blood ran cold. “Who is this?”

The line went dead.

She looked up at Atlas, her hand trembling.

“What is it?” he asked, already stepping forward.

Luna swallowed hard.

“I think someone knows… we’re here.”