Disgrace

Maddie Pov's

There was no light from the window entering the small 2x3 room, making it damp, cold, and suffocating. The place was dirty and stank so badly. I never imagined that Aaron would treat me so disgracefully like this.

“I never did that.”

My fists clenched. Remembering what Aaron accused me of earlier felt so strange and absurd to me.

I know that Aaron never once treated me well after we married, even long before that. But to the point of putting me in jail, while he didn’t even give me evidence about what kind of mistake I made, is insane! He’s gone too far.

It’s unbelievable. The truth he said?

What kind of truth is he even talking about? Did he really dig into the truth from Emma’s words? Did he really not show any bias toward her and just place all the blame on me?

My body slumped down. The image of Emma and Aaron’s closeness flashed in my mind like a strike that sent me into agony. Even after all this time, I could still see how strong the love between them was.

When I was sixteen, that was the time they were together. For the first time in my life, after spending so long pursuing him with all my love, my heart was completely shattered when I found out that Aaron had officially become Emma’s boyfriend. So I wanted to see it. I wanted to make sure if he truly had fallen in love with her, or if he was just playing around like any other boy.

But it felt like a blade pierced right into my heart when I saw the way he looked at her with such warm and loving eyes, how the corners of his lips moved whenever she spoke, how his hands caressed her with so much affection. He was so deeply in love with her. And I just stood there, staring at them, wishing Emma was me. Tears welled in my eyes that day as I ran home as fast as I could, before the pain in my chest made it impossible for me to even move.

I never moved on from that moment. Even when Aaron was with her, I was still in love with him. But I kept it in silence. I didn’t want to ruin his happiness.

And when I turned 18, I felt like the Moon Goddess was giving me a gift for my patience, as if she pitied me. She made me Aaron’s mate, recognized by our elders who declared that I was the right candidate to become his Luna.

I was so happy at that time.

I thought that all the silent love I had for him had finally paid off.

But now I know it didn’t. Nothing changed in the way Aaron looked at her. He was still madly in love with her, not me.

Once again, I was broken and hurt. The feelings from when I was 16 crept back into me, the agony of that time returning with even greater intensity.

“Here is your water, Luna.” A flat voice came from the door, followed by the scraping sound of a tin cup against the floor, pulling my attention away.

There stood several guards, lazily averting their gaze from me.

Seeing someone of lower status than you acting without respect was already enough to crush one’s pride. I turned my eyes away; there was no clear light in that place, but the dim glow in the room was enough to reveal that the water in the cup was murky.

My brow furrowed as I saw dirt floating in the water they had given me.

“You gave me dirty water to drink?” I questioned calmly.

This is an insult.

And he did it on purpose, its clear by the way he rolled his eyes in annoyance, staring at me lazily, as if he was disgusted to even face me.

“Change the water.” Since he seemed unwilling to speak properly, I gave the order.

“There’s no more water.” He answered with a daring tone.

No yelling, no cursing, not even raising my voice. I faced him calmly, yet he kept pushing my patience further.

I rose from where I sat on the dirty floor, stood while holding the cup, and showed it to him. “Drinking this dirty water is the same as an insult to me—”

He smirked, my eyes weren’t trying to deceive me. “So what? What can you even do?”