The Broken Luna, Now His Regret novel Chapter 12

12 Chapter 12 The Charity Event

Kieran sat in his study long past midnight, staring at his phone screen. 1

Mira’s social media posts glowed in the darkness. Nine photos of a Christmas celebration he hadn’t known existed. A birthday he’d never thought to ask about.

December 25th. Christmas, obviously. But also Garrett Whitmore’s birthday.

The same day as his own father’s birthday.

In five years of marriage, he’d never known. Never asked. Never wondered why Mira sometimes looked sad on December 25th even while dutifully serving his family.

He zoomed in on one photo: Mira laughing, flour on her cheek, a little girl–her niece- wrapped around her waist. She looked happy. Genuinely, radiantly happy.

He’d never seen that expression directed at him.

“You knew almost nothing about Mira’s life before your marriage,” Cassian, his Beta, had said once. “Her family, her childhood, her dreams.”

Kieran had dismissed it. Their marriage was an alliance, a practical arrangement. They didn’t need to know those things.

But looking at her now–at this life she’d built far from him–he felt something uncomfortably close to regret.

The next morning, Kieran drove to Millbrook Elementary for his scheduled charity visit. The Outlands were rough territory, undersupplied and overlooked, but his $4 million donation would fund new facilities.

Good publicity. Good pack relations. A solid investment.

Principal Graham Westfield greeted him warmly, showing him the plans for the new library and medical wing. Kieran only half–listened, his attention caught by movement through a window.

A woman in scrubs crossed the courtyard, medical bag slung over her shoulder. Something about the way she moved–efficient, purposeful–made him look twice.

It was Mira.

She walked past, deep in conversation with another staff member, and didn’t even

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glance toward the principal’s office.

She had no idea he was there.

“Mr. Ravencrest?” Graham prompted.

Kieran forced his attention back. “Sorry. The plans look excellent.”

But he couldn’t focus. Mira was here. Working here. She’d been here for six months while he’d assumed she was hiding away somewhere, waiting to come crawling back

After the ceremony, Graham insisted on a thank–you dinner at Millbrook’s best

restaurant.

“Dr. Whitmore will join us,” Graham said. “She’s been instrumental in coordinating all our medical initiatives.”

Dr. Whitmore. Her maiden name.

The restaurant was small but warm. Kieran arrived with Cassian to find the table already half–full–Graham, several teachers, and Mira at the far end.

She looked up as they entered, and for one heartbeat, Kieran saw recognition and something else flash across her face. Then it was gone, replaced by cool politeness.

She looked away and kept talking to the man beside her.

“Mr. Ravencrest, thank you for coming.” Graham gestured to the empty seats. “You know Dr. Whitmore, I assume?”

Mira’s smile was professional and distant. “We’ve met.”

That was it. No acknowledgment of their marriage, their history, their daughter. Just

we’ve met.

Throughout dinner, she was charming–funny, engaged, warm with everyone at the table.

Except him. When Kieran spoke, she looked past him as if he were furniture.

The man beside her–Dr. Julian Brooks, someone introduced him as–served food onto her plate without asking, and she thanked him with an easy familiarity that made Kieran’s jaw tighten.

“Dr. Whitmore, are you married?” Graham asked.

Mira paused, then smiled. “Yes, I have a daughter. But I’m getting divorced.”

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She said it so casually. Like it was already done. Like he’d already signed the papers and she’d moved on completely.

Kieran’s phone rang–Brielle video–calling. He answered, hoping to… what? Prove something?

“Daddy!” Brielle’s face filled the screen…

“Hi, sweetheart. Mommy’s here too. Want to talk to her?”

Brielle’s expression hardened, her voice carrying clearly through the speaker. “No. I’m still mad at her. If she doesn’t apologize to Aunt Astrid, I won’t forgive her.”

Kieran waited for Mira to flinch, to react, to show she’d heard.

She took another bite of her dinner, completely unfazed.

Julian leaned closer to her. “Would you like more wine?”

“Please.”

The conversation moved on. Graham told a story. Julian laughed. Mira smiled–that warm, genuine smile Kieran had seen in her Christmas photos.

He couldn’t stand it.

“We should go,” he said abruptly. “Cassian?”

Mira looked up, mild surprise on her face. “You’re leaving already?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Not yet.” She turned back to Julian. “I’m enjoying the conversation.”

Kieran stood there awkwardly until Cassian touched his elbow. “Mr. Ravencrest?”

They left. At the door, Kieran glanced back.

Mira was laughing at something Julian said, her head tilted back, her whole face alight with joy.

That expression–the one he’d never earned in all their years together–came so easily for a stranger.

The regret he’d felt looking at her Christmas photos deepened into something sharper, something that felt almost like loss.

But surely it wasn’t too late.

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12 Chapter 12 The Charity Event

She’d come back eventually.

She had to.

Didn’t she?

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