Betrayal

I was hyperventilating. Tears were silently rolling down my face. My heart was throbbing in pain. And all because of the big screen in front of me and every single word being uttered by the newscaster.

There were pictures of Ryan and Juliet at the corner of the screen, with the headline ‘The greatest lovebirds of all time’.

Ryan had taken her to the event he had in Paris. He’s been taking her literally everywhere now. He started out by convincing me that the elders wanted him to show Juliet off a bit since she’s his fated mate, and it would be blasphemy against the moon goddess to keep her hidden in the shelves. And also, showing her off would be good for his political image, since she comes from some influential family of some sort. 

So he subtly pushed me aside, and he’s been taking her to events we used to go together. And do you know what’s crazy? I can’t even be genuinely offended by it because she’s his fated mate. That’s her position. If he’d met her earlier, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to even be in his life at all. 

I get it but it hurts so much. It hurts more because he keeps sugarcoating it. He keeps saying nothing’s going on and I’m still the only one he loves. 

But no matter how beautiful he tries to paint it, it’s still fucking obvious that he’s distancing himself from me and giving her more attention. He’s also indirectly redirecting people’s love and attention to her. 

Juliet is now the unofficial Luna of the Pack, and I’m just here, crying my heart out. 

Maybe…I don’t know, but maybe, if he just tells me the truth. If he admits to my face that he wants to be with her and not me, then I’ll know where I stand. 

I’ll pack up my shit and leave. It’ll hurt like hell, but at least I won’t feel so confused and stuck. But he’s not doing that. He’s shoving false hopes down my throat while drifting away from me at the same time. And I don’t know how to handle that. He’s trapped me in an uncomfortable, suffocating silence, and that’s not fair. That’s not fair at all!

The television turned off, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned my head to the side and saw Anna, standing with the remote in her grip. 

“That’s enough screen time, Ma’am. Please.”

“Turn it back on. I’m not done watching.” I ordered quietly, wiping at my tears. 

“Why do you keep hurting yourself like this? This much crying isn’t good for you or the baby. Please, Ma’am.”

The baby, right. A baby who’s gonna grow up without a father because I haven’t told Ryan about my pregnancy. And the scary thing is that I don’t see myself doing that. Not when Juliet is already flaunting her invisible baby bump everywhere.

If I announce my pregnancy, people are gonna perceive the news from the wrong perspective. They’ll think I’m bitter and that I’m trying to compete with Juliet. And I don’t want people to see me like that. I wanna remain the graceful Luna they once knew. 

But it hurts knowing that I’m doing that at the detriment of my unborn child. 

“I’ll help you to your room, Ma’am,” Anna said, gently reaching for my arm. 

Hearing about my room made me aware of how dizzy I’d gotten from crying too much. 

She helped me to my feet, upstairs, and to my room. I slowly crawled into my bed and she covered my body with the sheets. 

She left the room and I had the privacy of crying until no more tears could roll out of my eyes. And then I finally dozed off. 

When I woke up, it was already dark. I gently got off my bed and left my room. I was gonna head to Ryan’s to check if he was back, but I stopped in my tracks when I heard his laugh coming from across the hallway. 

Juliet’s room. 

I didn’t wanna do it but I couldn’t stop my legs that were already headed in that direction. I reached for the doorknob and turned it slowly. The door opened and I peered inside. 

Juliet was wearing matching lingerie and was in his arms. He was dressed in just boxers and they were on her bed. She was glowing with happiness while he whispered sweet nothings to her ears, tickled her after, and she laughed out loud like some high school teenager. 

That should be me. That should be me in his arms, giggling to his touches and teases. That should be me and not her. 

A whimper cracked through my lips and I quickly backed off. I hurried downstairs and headed to the kitchen for water to help me cool off. 

I took deep breaths but damn, these tears wouldn’t stop rolling down. What’s their problem?

“Hey.”

I spun around at the voice. Juliet. She’s standing at the doorway, wearing a night robe over her lingerie. 

Quickly, I sucked back my tears and flashed her the brightest smile that I could come up with, which wasn’t much, by the way. 

“Hey.”

“Can…can I have a bottle of water?”

“Uh, sure.” I opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water. I handed it over to her. 

“Thanks.” She smiled and took a sip. Her gaze stayed on me, like she was assessing me and that made me somewhat uncomfortable.

“Do you need anything else?” I asked with a calm tone. 

She shook her head. “You’re so pretty and I get why the people and Ryan were head over heels for you.”

Were. She used the past tense. Was I overthinking this or was she trying to tell me that that’s no longer the case because she’s here now?

“Thanks,” I mumbled flatly. I couldn’t sound as friendly as I wanted to. Not with the aura she was emitting. 

“You know Ryan and I are gonna have a baby. And it’d mean a lot to me if you become my baby’s godmother.”

I choked on my saliva. Say what?

“What do you think?” She beamed, awaiting my answer. 

“I think I should go to bed. Please excuse me.” I set down my bottle of water on the counter and walked past her. “Nice having this little chat with you by the way.” 

I headed upstairs, holding back my tears so strongly. And then I felt a strong pull on my hand. I didn’t think twice and shrugged the grip off. When I turned around, she was already tumbling down the staircases. 

She landed on the floor and gave a very loud shriek. 

Ryna bolted out of her room and raced downstairs, pushing me aside as he went for her. 

I was still in a daze watching the drama unfold. She’s crying in pain and Ryan has her in his arms, asking what happened to her. 

“Larissa…pushed me.” She said and that knocked me out of my damn daze. 

“What?!”.