Fake Heiress True Luna (Irina) novel Chapter 68

Chapter 68: Eavesdropping

Irina’s POV

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The scent of old stone and rot hit me first when I stepped inside. My paws made no sound against the cracked floor. The echo of Aiden’s wolf’s distant breathing reminded me he was

still here with me.

The air inside was heavy; there was a different scent that I couldn’t exactly pinpoint, but it was clear it didn’t belong to a wolf.

It was darker, almost rotten.

I kept moving until I heard them.

“…you

didn’t tell me she was the Enigma!” Elder Harden’s voice reverberated through the stone walls, deep and furious.

Julie’s scoff followed, sharp and dismissive. “Don’t be so dramatic, Harden. She was supposed to be nothing. I made sure Irina would never wake up that side of her.”

My fingers curled into fists. All our assumptions were right.

She knew what I was. The question is, when?

“Nothing?” Harden snarled, and I could hear the scrape of his boots as he moved. “You fool. You think the Enigma’s spirit can be caged forever? You promised me her essence-her power-and now she’s out there, slaughtering my men!”

Julie laughed. “Please. You’re exaggerating. She was probably lucky.”

A low growl cut through her mockery, raw and animal. “Enough, Arlette.”

The name made me freeze. Arlette?

Julie gasped. “Don’t call me that.”

Harden’s snarl deepened. “Why not? It’s who you are, isn’t it? The lying, scheming witch who seduced her way into the council’s favor, who thought she could control destiny itself?”

I inched closer, keeping to the shadows. The torches flickered just enough for me to see them: Julie-no, Arlette-pinned between the stone wall and Harden’s towering form. His hand was gripping her throat, his face twisted with fury.

“I only helped you,” he spat, “because you promised to deliver the Enigma to me. Untouched. You said she was yours to command, that she would obey you. And now look at what you’ve

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<Chapter 68: Eavesdropping

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done-you’ve awakened her. If I had known that woman was the enigma, I would have never helped you, but you had to hide who she was.”

Julie tried to push him off, her voice strangled. “If she dies… other would be born.”

He laughed bitterly. “Yes, in a f*****g century!”

Then he shoved her harder into the wall, the impact echoing like a drumbeat through the chamber. His spit landed on her face as his voice dropped to a hiss. “You’ve doomed us all, Arlette.”

“I did what had to be done,” She countered, still not ready to back down. “You won’t have her, Harden. Ever. Even if you do, she is not your mate, meaning you can’t wake that side of her.”

He scoffed. “That’s what you think, Arlette. You are not a wolf, but even you are not that stupid.”

I have a bad feeling about this.

“What the f**k are you planning to do?” She snarled, gritting her teeth.

Harden lifted his hand to caress her face, almost as if he were her lover. I couldn’t see how they looked from this distance, but just from behind, it was clear they didn’t have a significant age difference.

“My dear Arlette, you are one of the strongest witches, and you are going to tell me you don’t know how to create a bond?”

I froze. Harden was crazy.

Even crazier than Arlette.

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For a second, I thought I’d misheard him. But the way Arlette’s body went rigid, the sudden spike of fear in her scent-it confirmed it.

Create… a bond?

That wasn’t just madness-it was sacrilege. Bonds were sacred, woven by the Moon Goddess herself. No witch, no elder, no goddamn power-hungry monster could make one. At least, not without blood, and a lot of it.

Arlette hissed, shoving his hand away. “You’ve lost your mind.”

Harden laughed, low and rasping, his tone dripping with dark amusement. “Oh, I lost that long ago, my dear. The moment the council decided I was disposable. You and I both know why I wanted her power, but you just had to get in the way.”

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apter 68 Eavesdropping

have my reasons,” Arlette choked out. “She doesn’t deserve happiness.”

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nd why is that, hmm?” He questioned, leaning closer. “Why do you hate poor Irina, Arlette? aat did she do to you?”

lette clenched her jaw. I swear, I could hear how her teeth were about to break.

she related to that man?”

hut up,” She growled lowly.

mm, so it is…”

at man?

den’s wolf suddenly appeared by my side. Even though he just heard another man wanting

claim me, he didn’t lose his composure.

hut the f**k u-” Arlette couldn’t finish her sentence because Harden wrapped his hand

ound her neck.

ou wanted that man, that mutt, but he wasn’t yours from the start, Arlette. He was argaret’s mate,” Whose Margaret? “You want to act all high and mighty, telling me I can’t eate a new bond, when you did that for yourself already.

never… created… a new… bond,” She gritted out.

chuckled darkly. “Of course you didn’t. You just killed Margaret, driving him insane, but They already had a child. One who looked exactly like her.”

nut. Up.”

lette was trembling, but it was not because she was scared; she was angry.

ut you couldn’t kill her either because she was also his, right?” He stepped even closer; the stance between them was non-existent. “So, what did you do with that child, hmm?”

pulse thundered in my ears. Child?

ell me, Arlette. What happens to the daughter of the woman you murdered?”

lette’s hands sparked with magic, faint runes glowing under her skin like molten veins. “You now nothing of what happened that night.”

h, I know enough.” Harden’s smile was a grim s***h of teeth. “I knew you took that child d exchanged it for the baby daughter of Blue Moon, I knew you wanted that girl to have verything and then take her mate away, just like her mother had done with you.”

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Arlette’s power flared, hot and wild, but her voice shook when she finally spat, “You have no idea how much I suffered for that man. He promised we would be together, that he… he loved

me…

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