The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 181

Chapter 181

“I didn’t promise you anything.”

“But you didn’t stop it,” she repeats, more urgently. “You let them believe it Let me believe it.”

Her grip tightens around my sleeve.

“Do you know what that does to someone?” she whispers. “To be looked at like they already belong somewhere?”

“Ellie is your sister,” I say firmly. “Have some respect and back up.”

“What?” she snaps, the word breaking out of her before she can soften it. Tears welling. “Respect? For what? For losing? For losing you?! My father?! Everything I was promised?!”

Her breathing turns uneven.

“It’s not fair,” she says, quieter now. “You don’t get to just choose her and watch her walk down the isle like none of it mattered. Like I didn’t matter.”

She searches my face like she’s looking for hesitation.

For regret.

For weakness.

“I deserve to know why,” she says. “I deserve that much.

She searches my face like she expects something to break.

I exhale. Hard.

She’s not leaving. She is still wearing that dress, and she is still standing here like this is unfinished business.

“If you think you deserve an explanation,” I say finally, my voice even, “and it will get you out of that dress, then I’ll give you one.”

Hope is a dangerous thing. I watch it flare in her eyes before she can hide it.

“Ellie never tried to impress me,” I say.

Vivian blinks.

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“She never performed. Never angled herself to be seen a certain way. She did what she wanted. For hersel Even when it made her difficult. Even when it made her inconvenient.”

I pause, choosing the words carefully.

“But when it comes to the people she loves,” I continue, quieter now, “she gives everything. Without hesitation, or calculation. She doesn’t even realize she’s doing it.”

Vivian’s expression tightens.

“She fought me,” I add. “Argued with me. Still does. And yet she agreed to stand beside me when it

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mattered. To help her mother. To help the pack. To help me. She didn’t do it to earn anything or put on a show. She did it because that’s who she is.”

I meet Vivian’s eyes.

“That’s how I know she cares. And I know,” I continue, my voice lowering slightly, “that if I ever needed her, truly needed her, she would not turn her back on me. Or I her. Not on this pack. Or on herself.”

Vivian stares at me like I’ve struck her.

“And I am not all of that?” she asks softly.

I don’t answer.

She laughs, but clearly not amused.

“I was raised for this,” she says, her voice sharpening. “The Management Academy. The training. The expectations. I organized this entire wedding. Every detail. The council is praising it. The guests love it.”

Her hands gesture toward the hall behind us.

“They love everything,” she continues, her voice trembling now, “except the one thing she chose.”

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