Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 191

Chapter 191

LUMINA

68

I stood frozen in the hallway, my mind reeling from Xenois’s revelation. Riley was my son. My baby. The child I’d spent months

resenting was actually my own flesh and blood, stolen from me before I’d even known he existed. I didn’t know how to process all this. It

seemed surreal to me. A part of me was waiting for my mate to say it’s a joke and bring out Sophia from where she was hiding. But he

wouldn’t be that cruel.

My hands trembled as I stared back toward the hospital room, where I could still hear the soft murmur of the boys’ voices. Everything

I thought I knew about my family, about my marriage, about the past six years, had just been turned upside down.

“I need proof,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “I need to be absolutely certain. The last paternity test showed Sophia as his

mother.”

Xenois nodded, understanding flickering in his eyes. “We’ll get another test done immediately. But Lumina, I know this is hard to

process, but I need you to trust me on this. Riley is ours.”

I took a shaky breath and walked back toward the room, my legs feeling unsteady beneath me. When I pushed open the door, I saw

both boys on Ollie’s hospital bed, Riley curled up against my son’s side as they whispered to each other in the way children do when

they’re sharing secrets.

The sight hit me like a physical blow. They looked so similar – the same dark hair, the same stubborn chin, the same long eyelashes that reminded me of Xenois. How had I missed it before? How had I been so blinded by my own pain that I couldn’t see what was right in

front of me?

Xenois moved past me and approached the bed gently. “Riley,” he said softly, “there’s someone who wants to properly meet you.”

Riley looked up at him with those familiar dark eyes, then shifted his gaze to me. I could see the hesitation there, the uncertainty of a child who had learned not to trust easily. My heart broke thinking about what he’d been through, what Sophia had put him through

while using him as a weapon against my family.

I walked closer to the bed and knelt down so I was at eye level with both boys, my hands shaking as I tried to process the enormity of what was happening. Tears were already starting to fall, and I didn’t bother trying to stop them.

Riley scooted slightly closer, his small body tense with nervous energy. “Mrs. Lumina?” he said hesitantly, his voice so quiet I had to

strain to hear it.

The formal way he addressed me made my heart shatter into pieces. This was my baby, my son, and he was calling me “Mrs. Lumina”

like I was a stranger.

I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat, tears streaming down my face as I opened my arms in invitation. “I’m so sorry,”

I managed to whisper. “I’m so, so sorry for everything.”

1/3

19:59 Mon, Jan 26

Chapter 191

“It’s not your fault at all, Riley said immediately, and I could hear an echo of Xenols in his voice, that same need to comfort others even when he was the one who needed comforting.

68

He moved closer, reaching out tentatively to take my hand. When our skin touched, I felt something click into place in my chest –

that maternal recognition that I’d been too hurt and angry to acknowledge before.

I missed you so much,” I whispered, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. “I didn’t even know you existed, but somehow I

missed you. There was always this emptiness, this feeling that something was missing from our family.”

Riley’s eyes filled with tears as he looked into mine, searching for something I hoped desperately I could give him. Then, all at once,

he threw himself into my arms, his small body shaking with sobs.

“I’m sorry,” he cried against my shoulder. “I’m so sorry I helped Sophia hurt you. I didn’t want to, but she made me, and I couldn’t

stop it, and I hurt Ollie and I hurt you and I’m so sorry.”

I wrapped my arms around him, holding him as tightly as I dared, feeling like my heart might explode from the combination of love and rage coursing through my system. This was my baby, my son, and he was apologizing for things that had been done to him, not by

him.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I said fiercely, pulling back just enough to look at his tear-stained face. “None of it was your fault. You were just

a little boy, and adults failed you. I failed you by not knowing you existed, by not being there to protect you.”

I pulled him close again, breathing in the scent of his hair and marveling at how right it felt to hold him. This was what had been missing from my life not just Ollie’s twin, but my other son, the piece of my heart I hadn’t even known was gone.

–

An hour later, I was sitting on Ollie’s hospital bed with both boys curled up in my lap, Riley on one side and Ollie on the other. The weight of them against me felt perfect, like this was how we were always meant to be.

Ollie was practically vibrating with excitement as he chattered away, his earlier depression completely forgotten now that his brother

was back.

“I knew it,” he said for the tenth time, his voice filled with pride. “I kept trying to tell everyone that Riley was my brother, but nobody would listen to me. I kept having dreams about him, and I could feel him even when he wasn’t here.”

“You were right about Sophia too,” Riley said quietly, his head resting against my shoulder. “You kept saying she was dangerous, but I

couldn’t see it. I thought she loved me.”

“She manipulated you,” I said gently, running my fingers through his hair. “That wasn’t your fault. Adults are supposed to protect

children, not use them.”

2/3

19:59 Mon, Jan 26

Reborn From Regret A Second Chance at Luna’s Heart