The Heartbroken Luna's Choice Banish Love novel Chapter 368

Third Person's POV

In the corner, Georgia, George, and Angela kept their heads down, hugging the walls as they tried to make a break for it.

Even as she was being dragged away, Samantha continued to shriek curses at everyone in the room.

She had spent half her life scheming, with one single goal: breaking into the elite circle.

Abroad, she had succeeded with reckless abandon. But back in L.A., faced with Cassian's cold distance, her rogue heart had started to falter, paralyzed by doubt.

That hesitation was exactly why she'd lost everything.

Watching her family abandon her without a second thought, Samantha felt a bone-deep chill.

When she had money, she was the family's golden goose; the second she hit rock bottom, she was less than trash to them.

"I hate you! I hate all of you!" her screams faded as the heavy doors of the ballroom slammed shut behind her.

Once the guests were cleared out, the ballroom was a hollowed-out wreck.

Cassian looked at his mother, Alaina, his face etched with exhaustion. "Mom, I'm sorry. I couldn't let Crispin's death just stay a secret."

Alaina let out a long sigh, her eyes heavy with disappointment. "You did the right thing regarding that boy. A murderer belongs in a cell. But you shouldn't have kept me in the dark—and you definitely shouldn't have used lies to hurt Trista."

Cassian lowered his gaze.

He had tried to come clean, but he had realized something devastating: Trista didn't care anymore.

That indifference hurt more than her anger ever could.

"That woman got what was coming to her, and the bond is broken." Alaina patted his shoulder, her voice final. "It's over, Cassian."

Cassian looked down, hiding the turbulence in his eyes.

"Over? Not a chance."

He was going to win her back. He would pursue her until she agreed to come home—back to him, back to Ironthorn.

A few days later, Humphrey pushed open the office door. "Alpha Cassian, Samantha confessed to everything. Life sentence. She went manic her first night in the cell—hit her head against the wall and bit a guard. She's completely broken."

Cassian toyed with a pen. "And the others?"

"Ainsley wants nothing to do with the kid. The Francis family cut Samantha's parents a ten-million-dollar check, and Ainsley flew back home this morning," Humphrey reported quietly.

"The parents took the cash and are planning to skip town with the boy. Looks like they're going to try to vanish."

When Cassian didn't respond, Humphrey slipped out, leaving the office in dead silence.

Cassian leaned back in his leather chair. The slate was finally clean.

From now on, he would do whatever it took to make it up to Trista. He wanted her back.

"This is where you grew up. I bought it back for you last month."

Trista looked down at the cold piece of metal in his palm and let out a dry, self-deprecating laugh.

She didn't take it. Instead, she reached out and tucked the key back into his pocket.

"If I wanted it, I would have bought it myself," she said flatly. "Cassian, if we're here to end this, let's leave the real estate out of it."

Cassian's brow furrowed, his voice hoarse. "Samantha is in prison. She's never coming between us again. Trista... stop pushing me away. Please."

He reached for her hand, but she stepped back before he could make contact.

She looked at him with the cold eyes of a stranger.

"Cassian, you're still not listening," Trista said, her face a blank mask. "Our problem was never about Samantha."

"If she hadn't shown up, we wouldn't be here!" Cassian interrupted, his voice cracking.

Trista felt a wave of irony hit her.

Yeah, if it weren't for Samantha, he'd still be the high-and-mighty, cold, 'loyal' Alpha.

And she'd still be the canary in his cage, revolving her entire life around him while waiting for a few crumbs of passion in the middle of the night.