Fake Heiress True Luna (Irina) novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Second Alpha Gathering

Irina’s POV

Thankfully, Julie didn’t follow after me, meaning I could find another room to clean in silence; however, as I reached the end of the hall, someone called me.

“Irina, can we talk in private?”

I turned. Luna Rosette stood there, her hands clasped gently in front of her, a soft, pleading expression on her face. The expression I had once associated with comfort and love now felt like a carefully crafted tool.

My guard slammed up instantly. “Of course, Luna,” I said, my voice carefully neutral.

She led me not to a sitting room, but to a small, sunlit alcove off the main hallway, a place that felt both private and exposed. She turned to me, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “I saw what happened with Julie,” she began, her voice a gentle, sorrowful murmur. “I am so sorry, darling. She’s just she’s struggling so much.”

“I understand, Luna,” I said, dipping my head in a show of submission. “It’s no trouble.”

“But it is trouble,” she insisted, reaching out to place a hand on my arm. Her touch felt like a brand. “It’s not right. And I want you to know how much I appreciate your patience. Your understanding. It means the world to me.”

She looked at me, her eyes begging for validation. “You have to understand, Irina. Her life……… it was so hard. So brutal. She never knew a mother’s love. She never had the comforts you did. The security. The adoration.” A single, perfect tear traced a path down her cheek. “Every hug I gave you, every lullaby I sang, every birthday I celebrated…. it was all meant for her. It was all stolen from her.”

I gulped because she was right.

Julie lived the life I was supposed to, while I took her place here.

“You are not the responsible, Irina,” Theia tried to counter, but her voice had turned so soft that I almost didn’t hear her.

Even if I did…

Deep down, I knew Luna Rosette was right.

She was Julie’s mother, not mine.

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“I know, Luna,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I think about that every day. I’m so sorry for what she went through.”

She smiled. “I knew you would understand. You have such a good heart, Irina. That’s why I know you can be strong for a little while longer. For her. For me. She just needs time to adjust, to feel safe. To finally experience the love she was denied.”

Time. The word echoed, not as a promise, but as a life sentence. Her words, so softly spoken, were bars on a cage. Be strong. Endure. Your pain is the price for her comfort. She was not asking for my understanding; she was demanding my perpetual sacrifice.

I kept my head bowed, even when I knew she was trying to manipulate me; I couldn’t help but feel a throb inside my chest.

My heart was aching because the person who was my mother for almost eighteen years was now asking for my sacrifice because she wanted her true daughter to be happy.

“Thank you, my dear.” She leaned in and kissed my forehead. “You are doing the right thing.”

She glided away, leaving me alone in the sunlit alcove. The moment she turned the corner, the tears on my cheeks began to cool. I wiped them away with the back of my hand, my

movements slow and deliberate.

Damn it. I didn’t want people to say I was weak.

Another month passed. Julie kept pestering me while Luna Rosette tried to keep me pacified with her gentle, guilt-laden words.

She was keeping me under a leash using her affection.

I was cooking lunch when the order came.

“Irina. My office. Now.”

It was Serim. His tone was all business, devoid of the conflicted emotion I sometimes heard

from him. This was the Alpha Heir speaking.

I set down the knife I was holding and made sure everything was tidy up before I made my way to his office.

He would probably tell me to work on something else, and I didn’t care at this point. The more work I had, the better, because that way I would pay my debt faster.

I thought it was going to take me longer, but because I work nonstop from dusk till dawn, I’m almost halfway there.

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I carefully knocked on the door and waited for Serim to tell me to come in. The moment he did, I found him right before Alpha Richard’s desk.

“Close the door” he said as he pushed away some documents.

I did as I was told, then stood silently before the desk, my hands clasped in front of my

apron.

Finally, he looked up. “The Alpha ceremony will be held in one month,” he stated, his voice flat. “My father is stepping down. I will be formally named Alpha of Blue Moon.”

I dipped my head. “Congratulations, Alpha Heir.”

“With the ceremony, we will also be hosting an Alpha Gathering.” He paused, his gaze intensifying, “You will prepare everything. Every detail. The accommodations, the feast, the seating arrangements, the protocols. I want it flawless.”

How much time did he say I had again?

“A month, you said?” I asked because I must have heard wrong. There is no way he wants me to plan two huge events in just a month.

“Yes, a month,” He repeated, leaving me dumbfounded.

He saw the shock on my face and misinterpreted it. A faint, grim smile touched his lips. “You know how it’s done. You were trained for it. That training is a resource of this pack, and it will be utilized. Consider it part of your… debt repayment.”

I stopped myself from clenching my fists.

One thing was to repay my debt, and another to be subjected to exploitation. The sheer scale of the task was impossible for one person, even one with my training.

Still, there was nothing I could do. Even if I asked for help, I would get none.

“Of course, Alpha Heir,” I said, my voice a carefully modulated flatline, devoid of the outrage simmering beneath my skin. “I will see to it.”

“Good,” he said, turning back to his documents, a clear dismissal. “You are dismissed. Report your progress to me directly. No one else is to know the extent of your involvement. Especially not Julie.”

“Understood.”

I turned and left his office, closing the door softly behind me. I walked back to the kitchen, my

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<Chapter 23: Second Alpha Gathering

mind already whirring. There was so much work to be done…

He wanted a flawless event? Fine.

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