Alpha's Discarded Luna (Talia) novel Chapter 284

< Alpha’s Discarded Luna

Chapter 281

Imema’s POV

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The deafening roar of the standing ovation from the main hall still bleeds through the thick velvet curtains of the private green room, sounding like a mockery. My hands shake so violently that the silk clutch I am holding slips through my fingers, clattering loudly against the hardwood floor. Inside my chest, my heart hammers with a frantic, suffocating panic that turns my throat bone-dry.

This cannot be happening. This is not how it was supposed to

Talia was supposed to be ruined. She was supposed to be standing on that stage weeping, exposed as an unrefined,

talentless commoner in front of every major music critic

and high-society patron in the city. Instead, she completely transformed the entire gala into her personal kingdom. The

praise echoing from the ballroom is disgusting, a brutal

confirmation that my perfectly laid trap has backfired

completely.

Cassian sits slumped on a velvet sofa across the room, his head buried in his hands. His immaculate tuxede is slightly rumpled, his breathing shallow and panicked. The

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“She… she changed the rhythm,” Cassian mutters, his voice cracking as he stares at his own trembling fingers with wide, hollow eyes. “The emotional transitions in the third movement… they are mathematically impossible to replicate with standard technique. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t breathe,

Imema.”

“Shut up, Cassian!” I snarl, my sweet, angelic mask slipping

entirely in the privacy of the room. My voice is sharp and

venomous, a jagged contrast to the soft purr I usually offer the world. “You are a legendary prodigy! How could

you let an uneducated housewife completely obliterate

you on a live stage? You have dragged me down into your

embarrassment!”

Before Cassian can look up to reply, the heavy oak doors of the green room are violently thrown open. The wood hits the

structural wall with a dull, thunderous thud that makes both

of us flinch.

Old Master Gerard strides into the room, his tall, imposing

frame practically radiating an absolute, suffocating fury. His

face is turned a dark, dangerous shade of purple with rage, his chest heaving beneath his tailored evening coat. The calm, aloof maestro who commands the most elite musical

conservatory in the country is entirely gone. In his place is a monster of pure, unadulterated wrath.

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< Chapter 281

automatically in profound terror. “M-Master Gerard-”

“Silence, you pathetic excuse for a technician!” Gerard bellows, his voice echoing off the high ceilings like a crack of thunder.

He doesn’t just look at Cassian. He turns his blazing, unforgiving eyes directly onto me, stepping closer until his massive shadow completely engulfs me. The sheer force of his presence makes my knees go weak, forcing me to take a step back until my spine hits the cold edge of a vanity mirror.

“Master Gerard, please,” I stammer, quickly trying to piece my vulnerable, innocent facade back together. I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing a tiny, practiced tear to pool at my eyelashes as I look up at him. “We were only trying to protect the integrity of your classical standards. We had no idea Talia would use such cheap, theatrical tricks to manipulate the critics-”

“Do not dare open your treacherous mouth to lie to me,

Imema!” Gerard roars, slamming his fist down onto a nearby

wooden side table, splitting the polished veneer. His voice

drips with an absolute, lethal disgust that strips away any hope I have of manipulation. “You think I am as blind as that young Alpha you lead around by the nose? You think I cannot 3/7

sée right through your pathetic, shallow schemes?”

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<Chapter 281

“Because of your petty, venomous jealousy, I was dragged into this circus!” Gerard shouts, his finger pointing directly

at my face, trembling with the sheer force of his anger. “You

systematically fed my circle lies about Serena’s lineage! You

used your fake, sweet words to manipulate my prized student

into a vulgar public brawl, and for what? Because you cannot

bear to see a woman of true, sovereign talent exist in the

same world as your hollow, artificial status!”

“Master, I only-” Cassian tries to interject, his voice

trembling.

“You are no student of mine, Cassian!” Gerard cuts him off

with an icy, definitive wave of his hand. He turns back to me,

his eyes narrowing into cold, razor-sharp slits. “Look at what

your pathetic malice has achieved tonight, Imema. Because

I listened to your poisonous whispers, I was tricked into

publicly offending a priceless, legendary gem like Serena’s daughter. A woman who possesses the rare, ethereal magic of a true master. And what am I left holding in my circle? A worthless, rigid lump of coal like Cassian!”

The harsh, cruel words hit me like a physical blow. The

comparison is devastating, a total execution of my social

standing.

Ayou

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want a place in the musical world?” Gerard sneers,

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< Chapter 281

authority. “You want to use my conservatory to back your high-society ambitions? It is over. I am officially cutting all ties with both of you tonight. I will personally ensure that your names are thoroughly blacklisted from every conservatory, every orchestra, and every elite artistic circle from here to the capital.”

“No… please, Master Gerard, you cannot do this,” I whisper,

my voice cracking as a real, terrifying wave of panic replaces my practiced tears. I reach out a hand to touch his sleeve, desperately begging for a single chance to salvage the disaster. “My family… Aires’s pack… the sponsors-”

“Your pack cannot save your reputation from the judgment of true masters,” Gerard says, stepping back from my touch with absolute, visible revulsion, as if I am a piece of filth

sticking to his coat. “You are an artificial fraud, Imema. And tonight, the entire city has witnessed the depth of your emptiness.”

Without another word, the maestro turns on his heel and

strides out of the green room, pulling the heavy oak doors shut behind him with a solid, definitive thud that sounds exactly like a cell door locking.

The silence that follows is suffocating, broken only by Cassian dropping back onto the sofa, weeping silently into his hands.

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< Chapter 281

keep from falling to my knees. A cold, heavy sweat breaks

out across my forehead, ruining my flawless makeup. Inside

my chest, a profound sense of utter desperation claws at my lungs, making it impossible to take a deep breath.

My high-society influence is evaporating in an instant, slipping through my fingers like water. In our world, an endorsement from Master Gerard is the ultimate currency

of prestige. Without it, the corporate sponsors who used to flatter me will look past me. The elite matriarchs who invited

me to their private tea circles will close their doors in my face

to protect their own families from the scandal. I am being

stripped of my power, exposed not as a sophisticated patron

of the arts, but as a malicious, failed conspirator.

I look at my reflection in the massive vanity mirror. The girl

looking back at me looks pale, desperate, and utterly ruined.

If Aires hears about this-if he discovers that I used his name

and his pack’s status to orchestrate a public humiliation that

completely blew up in our faces-he will look at me with that

same cold indifference he used on Talia.

No. I cannot let that happen. I have to find Nick. I have to fix

this before the news reaches the mansion.

I grab my fallen silk clutch from the floor and rush out the Back exit of the green room into the dark, rainy night.

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