4. Expelled

Overcome with anxiety, Luna finally answered her father's call to the living room, followed by Matteo, who also answered Alex's call.

It turned out that Alex wasn't the only one there; Adrian and his parents, Robert Carter and Sarah Carter, were also present. Everyone in the room stared at Matteo and Luna with hatred in their eyes. Instantly, the atmosphere in the room felt heavy for Luna.

"Why did you call me, Father?" asked Luna, who had no idea why Alex had called her.

Luna's innocent expression immediately added to Alex's anger.

"Don't play dumb in front of me!" Alex said, his hands clenched on his lap.

"What do you mean, Father?" Luna's brow furrowed deeply; she really had no idea what her father was talking about.

"You're still asking me what I mean?" Alex asked with a sharp sneer that made Luna's hair stand on end. It was the first time she had seen her father's terrifying expression. "Father saw you doing something inappropriate with Matteo last night."

Luna's eyes widened instantly. It turned out that her father already knew about the embarrassing incident, and she herself didn't know what had caused her to end up in bed with Matteo.

"But I didn't do anything, Father!" Luna protested, which immediately made Alex even more furious. The middle-aged man stood up and slapped his beloved daughter across the face. "You still dare to deny it. How can you not know anything when it's clear that one of the servants saw you walking in the maid's corridor that night?"

Holding her cheek, which was sore from Alex's slap, Luna tried to digest her father's words, but no matter how hard she tried to remember, she couldn't recall anything about last night. She didn't even remember walking in the servants' corridor that night.

"But I wasn't there that night." Luna's protest made Alex even angrier. The middle-aged man landed a hard slap on the other cheek that hadn't been slapped yet, this time even harder, causing the girl to fall to the floor.

"Stop it, sir!" Matteo shouted, unable to bear seeing Luna being treated harshly by her father.

Matteo's shout immediately drew everyone's attention to him, leading them to believe that Luna and Matteo did indeed have a special relationship.

"Why, Matteo, aren't you grateful that your cunning plan earned you a slap from her father? I am even more convinced that you two have a special relationship," said Alex, narrowing his eyes sharply at Matteo, the bodyguard he had always been so proud of. "No wonder you are so possessive, even forbidding Adrian from touching my daughter. Apparently, you yourself want Luna's body with her crown intact."

"Sir, you should hear my explanation first," said Matteo, who immediately received a shake of the head from Alex.

A maid who was assigned to pick up the bedsheets that bore traces of Matteo and Luna's lovemaking was also invited into the living room. There was evidence in the form of bloodstains and wet fluids, indicating that last night in that room, Matteo and Luna had been intimate.

"What did you find on the sheets you're holding, Donna?" Alex pointed at Donna, who immediately stepped forward and unfolded the sheets in her hands.

Everyone in the living room could see the blood on the white sheets. Luna's eyes immediately welled up with tears as she covered her mouth with both hands. Now she realised that the pain in her womanhood was caused by the tearing of her hymen.

Why did Matteo have the heart to do this? Luna asked herself.

"There are bloodstains on the sheets, sir," replied Donna, pointing to the bloodstains on the fabric.

"Well, Matteo? You've felt the sensation of tearing the hymen of my daughter, whom you've been protecting all this time, haven't you? You two are really cunning, traitors!" A fist landed on Matteo's face, instantly making the man's eyes flash with anger.

Matteo quickly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to suppress the urge to retaliate against Alex's punch to his handsome face.

"Enough of your charade!" Adrian chimed in.

The blond-haired man took out his mobile phone and showed Matteo a photo, in which Matteo was hugging Luna, both of them naked on the bed.

Matteo squinted at Adrian's mobile phone screen. It was hard to believe, but that morning he had indeed woken up to find himself and Luna naked.

"I know that this morning I woke up naked in bed with Miss Luna, but we did not do what you are accusing us of. And I don't remember stepping into the maid's room at all," Matteo argued, remembering the images flashing through his mind. Apparently, last night's events were not a dream.

No matter how hard Matteo tried to deny it, everyone else there argued even harder.

"Don't be stupid, Matteo; there's no way you and Luna were suddenly there!" Adrian growled, his face red with anger.

For a moment, Matteo realized that, as far as he could remember, he had been with Adrian in a garden gazebo that night.

"But weren't you with me last night, Adrian?" Matteo asked coldly. For some reason, he sensed that something was wrong with Adrian.

The hawk-like gaze made Adrian a little scared, but as much as possible, the cunning man hid his fear. No one could know that he was acting right now!

"Yes, you're right, Brother, we were together last night. But suddenly you left me. And if I had known you were going to meet my fiancée and do something indecent with her, I could have killed you right then and there!" Adrian grumbled, gesturing as if he wanted to hit Matteo, but Robert and Sarah prevented him.

"Enough, don't do that here, Adrian!" said Robert as he brought his son back to his seat.

After making sure Adrian was sitting calmly, Sarah, who had been holding her tongue to avoid insulting Luna, finally spoke up.

"We are here to cancel the engagement between Adrian and your dirty daughter," said Sarah, staring at Luna with a fierce gaze.

Luna stared blankly at Adrian and his parents alternately. Her lips opened and closed repeatedly. She wanted to say that she wanted the engagement between herself and Adrian to continue.

The girl then stood up and knelt at Sarah's feet.

"Please, Auntie, don't cancel the engagement between me and Adrian. I love your son so much!" Luna cried tearfully.

"Do you think we would allow our son to have a relationship with a cheap woman like you?!" Sarah cried as she roughly removed Luna's hands from around her legs. The middle-aged woman then wiped the part of her leg that Luna had touched as if it had just been touched by something dirty. "There are many better women out there. Of course I won't let my son have the leftovers from other men!"

Sarah's actions did not escape Matteo's attention. It pained him to see Luna being treated so badly. But there was not much he could do at the moment.

"Auntie, please, give me one more chance. I promise I won't disappoint you," whispered Luna, who was still sitting on the floor.

Luna's words immediately drew a sharp glare from Sarah. The middle-aged woman folded her arms and turned her face away from Luna.

"Don't expect us to forgive you and give you a second chance. Infidelity is a disease, and you know very well that diseases can recur!"

"No, Auntie, I promise," said the girl, this time kissing the top of Sarah's shoe.

"Stop all your foolish behavior! I won't be swayed by your charade, you sly fox!" replied Sarah sarcastically as she swung her leg, causing the shoe she was wearing to hit Luna in the face.

"Come on, dear, we'd better leave here. There's nothing more to discuss," said Sarah before finally leaving the living room of the Alexander Winterbourne family residence.

Luna's heart felt torn apart, so painful that it was difficult for her to stop crying.

"Dad, please do something," Luna whispered between sobs.

It was difficult for Alex to let his beloved child cry like this, but his anger was even greater; he was so ashamed of his beloved daughter's actions.

The cancellation of Luna's engagement would be the talk of the town, given the Winterbourne family's reputation as the third richest and most respected family in Los Angeles after the Vicenzo and Astro families.

"You're right, Luna, I have to do something," Alex said coldly, turning his face away from Luna.

A glimmer of hope lit up Luna's tear-stained face. She looked up to hear what her father had to say.

"You must leave this house immediately," said Alex angrily, unable to look at his beloved daughter. "And you, Matteo, from today onwards, you can no longer work for our family," said Alex before finally leaving the living room.

"Father!" Luna screamed hysterically when she heard Alex say she was being expelled. "Father, you are being cruel to me; please listen to my explanation first!"

Luna called out repeatedly, but Alex had no intention of turning to look at Luna, making Matteo feel sorry for the girl.

Slowly, Rosaline—Luna's stepmother, who was satisfied with Luna's expulsion from the house—left the living room. Several servants who had witnessed the scene did the same, leaving only Emily between Luna and Matteo.

"I sympathize with your misfortune, Luna," Emily whispered as she held her stepsister's shoulder.

Luna responded with a bitter smile before finally taking the suitcase containing her clothes, which had been brought by one of the servants.

"I'm leaving. Please take care of Father." Luna said goodbye, not suspecting Emily in the slightest.

Emily laughed heartily to herself, her plan going smoothly without anyone suspecting a thing. Emily's scheme was so well-executed that she had a servant deliver a drink she had laced with a high dose of sleeping pills to Luna. And once Luna was asleep, Emily and Greta, the maid who had helped her with the dirty work, carried Luna's body without anyone's knowledge to the servants' quarters, where the incident had taken place, and removed Luna's engagement dress as if Luna herself had taken it off.