Five

LARISSA 

“Eat your food and stop glaring at her, Larissa.” Ryan’s harsh command sliced through the tension in the dining room like hot knife through butter.

Looking down at my untouched plate of roasted lamb, I swallowed the heavy, painful lump in my throat. 

Across the table, Juliet sat pressed entirely too close to him. She held a silver fork in one hand, while her other hand rested intimately on Ryan’s thigh. They looked like the married couple, leaving me looking like an unwanted guest in my own home.

“I wasn't glaring,” I muttered, keeping my voice barely above a whisper.

Scoffing loudly, Ryan dropped his knife. The heavy silver clattered against his porcelain plate, making me flinch.

“Don't lie to me. You've been shooting daggers at her since we sat down to eat. Juliet is still recovering from the horrible fall you caused. The absolute least you can do is show some basic remorse.”

“Ryan, please,” Juliet chimed in softly. Her voice dripped with fake, sugary sweetness. Placing a delicate hand on his broad chest, she looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Don't yell at her tonight. I'm sure Larissa didn't mean to look at me that way. She's just having a very hard time adjusting to the new living arrangements.”

Turning her head slightly away from his line of sight, Juliet caught my eye. A wicked, victorious smirk flashed across her lips before she quickly buried her face in Ryan's shoulder, acting scared.

“She has no right to have a hard time,” Ryan growled. Wrapping a protective arm around Juliet’s waist, he pulled her closer. He glared at me with absolute disgust. “You are the one who tried to kill my unborn child. You should be begging for forgiveness on your bare knees right now. Instead, you sit here acting like you are the victim.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks violently. Standing completely still by the walls, the maids watched my public execution with wide eyes. My husband was stripping away my dignity piece by piece, and he didn't care who saw it.

“I didn't push her,” I stated firmly. Beneath the heavy tablecloth, my hands shook uncontrollably. “I swear to you, I didn't.”

“Enough!” Ryan slammed his heavy fist onto the table. Crystal water glasses rattled wildly. “I am entirely sick of your lies. You used to be graceful. You used to be a Luna I was actually proud of. Now? You just look pathetic. You are nothing but a bitter, jealous woman who can't handle the truth. You will treat Juliet with the absolute respect she deserves, or you will not eat meals at this table again.”

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. Biting my inner cheek hard enough to taste copper, I tried to hold them back. I failed miserably. One stray tear slipped down my face, catching the warm light of the chandelier.

“Cry all you want,” Ryan sneered. Standing up quickly, he pulled Juliet up with him. “It won't work on me anymore. Come on, Juliet. Let's eat in my private study away from this toxic behavior.”

They walked away without another glance. Sitting completely alone in the massive, echoing dining room, my heart shattered into a million unfixable pieces.

Later that night, the cold walls of my bedroom felt exactly like a prison cell. Lying flat on the floor next to my large bed, I cried until my ribs physically ached. My chest tightened painfully with every ragged gasp for air.

Quiet footsteps approached from the hallway, followed by the soft click of my door shutting securely. Anna knelt beside me on the plush carpet. She didn't say a single word at first. Gently, she pulled my heavy head into her warm lap and began stroking my tangled hair.

“He broke me, Anna,” I sobbed into her simple maid’s apron. “He stripped me naked in front of the entire staff and stepped right on my heart.”

“Shh,” Anna whispered. Rubbing my shaking back in slow, steady circles, she rocked me slightly. “Let it out, Ma'am. Let it all out.”

For over an hour, I wept bitterly. I cried for the countless years I wasted trying to be the flawless, submissive wife. I cried for the tiny, unborn baby growing in my womb that Ryan didn't even know existed. Thinking about all those times I swallowed my own desires just to make him happy made me feel physically sick to my stomach. I had erased myself for a man who replaced me the second his fated mate appeared.

Slowly, the hot tears stopped falling. A strange, hollow calmness settled deeply into my bones.

Sitting up slowly, I wiped my stained face with the back of my trembling hand. The woman staring back at me in the large vanity mirror across the room looked totally ruined. Bloodshot eyes, messy hair, terrifyingly pale skin.

But right then and there, a tiny spark ignited deep inside my chest.

“No more,” I said aloud. My voice sounded extremely raspy but surprisingly steady.

Anna looked at me with deep concern. “Ma'am? What do you mean?”

“I am done playing his perfect, quiet little doll. I spent years acting like a saint so his political image wouldn't suffer. Look exactly where that got me.” Grabbing the edge of the bed, I stood up and smoothed down my wrinkled clothes. “If he wants a bitter, crazy woman, I will show him exactly what that looks like. I am going to live my life for me now. Nobody else.”

Anna gave a firm, supportive nod. “I stand by you, Ma'am. Whatever you decide to do.”

Days bled into a torturous, slow week. Keeping strictly to myself, I stayed entirely out of their way. I stopped attending the morning pack meetings entirely. I stopped overseeing the staff schedules. Forced into this bitter isolation, I simply watched them from the dark corners of the estate.

Every single afternoon, I heard Juliet’s bright, obnoxious laughter echoing freely through the hallways. Every evening, I smelled Ryan’s sharp cologne mixed heavily with her sweet, floral perfume lingering on the living room couches. They were undeniably growing closer. Their bond thickened rapidly while my own marriage withered into nothing but dust.

My status as the reigning Luna was slipping rapidly through my fingers, and I knew it. Everyone knew it. The pack members looked at me with open pity when I walked the grounds. Some even looked at me with deep scorn, fully believing Ryan's terrible lies about me pushing a pregnant woman down the stairs.

Knowing Ryan would never officially reject me just to save his own political face, I realized I had to change my own fate. The dangerous idea I had back in the hospital started taking solid, real form in my mind.

I had to do it.