Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 423

Chapter 423

“Samuel, you came home smelling like perfume and guilt. Of course I knew. I just chose not to make a federal case out of it because you were going through that midlife crisis phase.”

“I was fifty-three. That’s not midlife unless I’m planning to live to one hundred and six.”

“Focus,” I commanded. “You were confessing something. Presumably something more significant than decade-old infidelity that I’ve already forgiven you for.”

“Right.” He took a shaky breath. “Your favorite jewelry. The sapphire necklace that went missing eight years ago. The one you loved and thought you’d lost.”

I went very still. “What about it?”

“I broke it,” he admitted in a rush. “I was cleaning the bedroom and knocked it off the dresser and it shattered. And instead of telling you, I panicked and hid the pieces. And then when you asked about it, I suggested maybe Xenois or Xena had borrowed it without asking.”

For a moment, I couldn’t speak. That necklace had been a gift from my mother, one of the only things I had from her after she’d passed. I’d mourned its loss for months.

And Samuel had broken it. And lied about it. And let me blame our children.

“You let me accuse Xena of taking it,” I said quietly. “Our daughter. Who died thinking I believed she’d stolen from me.”

“I know,” Samuel whispered. “I’m so sorry, Silvia. I’ve been carrying that guilt for eight years. And if we’re going to die here, I couldn’t let that be the last secret between us.”

I wanted to be angry. Wanted to rage at him for lying, for letting me hurt our children with false accusations, for keeping this secret while I mourned something he’d destroyed.

But we were lying on a stone floor, unable to move, about to be killed by enemies seeking revenge for our own past atrocities.

And somehow, the necklace didn’t seem that important anymore.

“You’re an idiot,” I said finally.

“I know.”

1/3

“And you’re going to make this up to me in the afterlife.”

Absolutely.”

“But Samuel?”

“Yes?”

“I forgive you.”

He turned his head-the only part of his body he could apparently still move-and looked at me with eyes bright with tears. “Really?”

“Really,” I confirmed. “Though if we somehow survive this, you’re buying me a replacement necklace. Something even mor expensive. With actual sapphires, not those fake ones you tried to pass off as real.”

“Those were real sapphires-”

“They were cubic zirconia and you know it.”

Jerome interrupted our bickering by grabbing me by the hair and hauling me upright. Pain exploded through my scalp. and I bit back a scream.

“Enough,” he snarled. “No more jokes. No more escapes. No more defiance. You’re going to die now, and I’m going to make sure your son hears every second of your suffering.”

“Dramatic,” I managed to gasp out. “But points for commitment to the villain monologue.”

He backhanded me hard enough that I tasted blood. Through the ringing in my ears, I heard Samuel shouting something. saw him trying to move despite his body’s refusal to cooperate.

This was it, then. This was how we died.

Not in glorious battle like we’d always imagined. Not peacefully in our sleep after long, fulfilling lives. But in a hallway, beaten by enemies seeking revenge for our own past cruelties, while our son mounted a rescue operation that would arrive

just minutes too late.

There were worse deaths, I supposed.

But also significantly better ones.

Jerome raised his hand, magic crackling around his fingers, preparing for whatever killing blow he’d planned.

2/3

And then the wall exploded inward.

Stone dust rained from the ceiling, and I heard screams and shouts of confusion.

Xenois.

My son had come for us after all.

And from the sounds of absolute mayhem erupting throughout the nest, he’d brought friends.

“Well,” I said to Samuel, who was sprawled on the ground a few feet away looking equally battered and relieved, “this is embarrassing.”

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