Alpha's Discarded Luna (Talia) novel Chapter 37

Alpha’s Discarded Luna

Chapter 36

Talia’s POV

The reporters swarm around Aires like sharks scenting blood. They’ve been hungry for his words for weeks, and now he’s here, in the flesh, walking into their trap.

“Alpha! Your silence throughout this ordeal–does it mean you believe your wife is guilty?”

“Alpha Perseus, will you be filing for divorce after this?”

“Alpha Perseus, is that why you’re here? To watch her confess?”

| 16:11

Chapter 36

He moves through them like ice through water. His face reveals nothing. His voice, when it comes, is quiet but carries absolute authority. “Make way.”

That’s all, two words are all it takes for the reporter to freeze, intimidated by the cold promise in his gaze. They part, and he walks through them untouched.

He reaches the edge of the stage, looks up at me. Beside him, Leo speaks into a headset, voice carrying in the sudden hush. “Clear the venue. The press conference is canceled.”

Chaos erupts. Shouts of protest, confusion, outrage. But security is already

2/13

| 16:12

Chapter 36

moving, herding people toward the exits.

I watch it happen. The careful dismantling of my one chance at truth.

A laugh escapes me–sharp, brittle, cutting through the noise like glass. Every head turns back to me. Every camera

swings my way.

“Mr. Jones.” I let the name drip with sarcasm. “Canceling my press conference. How convenient. Were you worried I might reveal something unflattering about Ms. Volkov? Something that might shatter her perfect, tragic image?”

The crowd stirs, confused, hungry.

3/13

1 16:12

Chapter 36

“What truth?”

“Is there something we haven’t expected?”

“She must have something if she called

this conference!”

Aires climbs the stage steps. His eyes

lock onto mine, dark and unreadable. He reaches for my wrist.

“We’re leaving. Now.”

I jerk back, shaking off his grip. “Leaving? So you can continue managing the narrative? So I can keep playing the

villain while your precious Imema plays saint?”

4/13

| 16:12

Chapter 36

His jaw tightens. “I will handle this. Come home. We’ll discuss it privately.”

“Discuss?” The word is venom. “You want

to discuss? Where was this energy when I was being torn apart online? When your witnesses–your planted witnesses–were lying through their teeth? You were at her bedside. Comforting her. Promising to fix everything for her.”

His patience fractures. “How long do you intend to make a scene, Talia?”

୮

“Make a scene?” I stare at him, disbelief and fury warring in my chest. “Is that what you call defending myself? Is any resistance to your precious Imema just ‘making a scene‘ in your eyes?”

| 16:12

Chapter 36

Something flickers in his expression. Not guilt–he doesn’t do guilt. But recognition, perhaps, that he’s on thin ice.

“I will clear your name,” he says, quieter now. “You’ll have your explanation. But not like this. Do you want the whole world laughing at us?”

I study him for a long moment. The crowd is being pushed out, their protests fading. The cameras are still rolling, but I know -I know–the live feed is already gone. Whatever I say now dies in this room.

“If I go with you,” I say slowly, “the truth dies here. You know that. You planned

that.”

6/13

a

| 16:12

11

Chapter 36

His silence is confirmation.

But I’m tired. So tired. And fighting him physically won’t work.

“Fine.” The word tastes like ash. “We’ll

talk.”

I walk toward backstage without waiting for him. Behind me, I hear the last of the crowd being evacuated, the doors slamming shut on my chance at justice.

The green room is small, cramped, ugly fluorescent lights buzzing overhead. I stand with my arms crossed, facing him

7/13

| 16:12

Chapter 36

like a general facing an invading army.

“Speak, Mr. Jones. What wisdom do you

have for me?”

His voice is cool, measured. “I’ll handle the online situation. The posts, the commentary–I’ll have it suppressed.”

I laugh, short and humorless. “Suppressed. Not corrected. Not retracted. Suppressed. You’ll bury it so it festers underground, and I’ll always be the woman who got away with murder because her powerful husband silenced everyone.”

His eyes flick to the fading bruise on my temple, the scabbed cut on my forehead:12

Chapter 36

Something shifts in his gaze, almost imperceptible.

“I’ll issue a statement. Clarify your position.”

“Now you’ll clarify?” I shake my head. “Weeks of lies, and only when I’m about to expose her do you decide to speak?”

He doesn’t deny it. He just watches me with those cold, fathomless eyes.

“Name your terms.‘

་་

The offer hangs in the air. Blank check. Anything I want.

I should be strategic. Think ahead. Plan6:12

Chapter 36

Instead, I just feel tired.

“Two conditions.”

“Agreed.” Immediate. Without hesitation.

I hold up a hand. “Hear them first, Mr. Jones. You might change your mind.”

He waits.

I take a breath. “First. You issue a public statement–on video, not written- clearing my name completely. You admit the witnesses were false. You admit the

narrative was manufactured. You name

who manufactured it.”

10/13

19 16:12

Chapter 36

Something tightens in his jaw.

“Second.” My voice drops. “You stay away from me. Completely. No visits, no calls, no ‘checking in.‘ If you want this marriage to exist on paper only, fine. But you don’t get to drift in and out of my life playing a concerned husband when it suits your

narrative.”

The silence stretches. His expression is unreadable, but something shifts behind his eyes.

“Those are your terms?”

“Yes.”

He studies me for a long moment. Then6:12

Chapter 36

quietly: “Agreed.

11

I blink. I expected argument. Negotiation. Something.

Instead, he simply turns and walks toward the door. His hand pauses on the handle.

“The video you wanted to show. The real

one.”

I stiffen.

“Keep it safe.” He doesn’t turn around. “You may need it again.”

Then he’s gone, and I’m alone in the

buzzing fluorescent light, holding the 16:12

Chapter 36

phone that contains my salvation, wondering why my victory feels so hollow.

Write your comment

Gifts

13/13