The Rise Of The Betrayed Luna (Amorah and Holmes) novel Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Amorah POV

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I stared at Bethany’s message for almost a full minute after the screen dimmed in my hand. Conrad watched me from across the room with tension already hardening his expression.

“You’re not going alone,” he said immediately.

I looked up slowly. “I haven’t agreed to anything yet.”

“She wants to isolate you.”

“She wants something else too.”

Conrad stepped away from the desk and stopped directly in front of me. “Bethany never moves without a reason.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you even considering this?”

Because part of me needed answers badly enough to risk it. Not about the council or succession anymore.

About Holmes.

I lowered myself carefully onto the couch and rested a hand against my stomach. Conrad stayed standing beside me for several seconds before finally sitting close enough for his knee to touch mine.

“This isn’t only political anymore,” I admitted quietly.

His jaw tightened immediately. “I know what Holmes did to you!

“No,” I said softly. “You know what happened. That’s different.”

Before Conrad, before this territory, before the twins and the pregnancy and the council chaos, there had only been humiliation. Holmes had betrayed me publicly, left me drowning in whispers and pity while Bethany stood beside him looking victorious.

For a long time, surviving that pain had felt harder than surviving exile itself.

“I spent years wondering what she had that I didn’t,” I admitted.

Conrad’s eyes lifted toward me sharply.

“I kept thinking maybe I wasn’t enough,” I continued quietly. “Maybe I was too emotional or too weak or too difficult.”

“You were never the problem.”

I looked down at my hands instead of answering immediately.

“That’s easy to say now,” I murmured. “But back then, Holmes made me feel replaceable.”

Conrad reached over and pulled my hand into his slowly. “You are not replaceable to me.”

The words settled painfully deep inside my chest.

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Heaned back against the couch with a long breath. “I need to go.”

Conrad closed his eyes briefly like he already expected the answer.

“She could be setting a trap.

“She probably is.”

“You’re pregnant.”

“And tired of running from ghosts.”

His grip tightened around my hand for a second before loosening again.

“I don’t want you alone with her,” he admitted quietly.

“I know.”

“But I won’t lock you inside this territory either.”

I looked at him properly then.

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That was the difference between him and Holmes. Conrad never tried controlling me whenever he felt threatened.

He trusted me even when it scared him.

“I need closure,” I said honestly.

Conrad nodded slowly after several seconds. “Then you’ll have it.”

Relief mixed painfully with affection inside my chest.

Before leaving, I stopped by the nursery where Kyra sat arranging folded baby blankets across the small couch. The second she noticed my expression, she climbed down immediately and wrapped herself around my waist carefully.

“You’re leaving again,” she mumbled.

“Only for a little while.”

Her arms tightened instantly.

“You always say that when something bad is happening.”

The words hit too accurately.

I crouched slowly in front of her and brushed her hair behind her ear. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

Kyra looked unconvinced.

“Promise?” she asked quietly.

“I promise.”

She stayed close to me even after nodding.

When I left the nursery, I nearly collided with Zane outside the doorway. He crossed his arms immediately after seeing the

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Chapter 118

security detail waiting downstairs.

“Is this about Holmes again?” he demanded.

I hesitated briefly. “Partly”

His expression darkened instantly.

“Why does he keep hurting this family even when he’s not here?”

The anger in his voice sounded too old for a child.

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I exhaled slowly before kneeling slightly in front of him. “Some people hurt others because power matters more to them than loyalty.

“Ther he’s pathetic.”

I blinked once.

Zane looked genuinely furious now.

“He had you,” he muttered. “Why wasn’t that enough?”

The question followed me all the way downstairs.

An hour later, I entered the abandoned private lounge Bethany selected for the meeting while hidden guards stayed positioned outside the surrounding block. Conrad agreed to surveillance only after forcing three separate security teams into place.

Even now, I could feel his protectiveness wrapped around the entire building.

Bethany sat alone near the back window when I entered. She looked thinner than before, but her eyes still carried the same sharpness I remembered.

“You actually came,” she said.

“You asked for a meeting.”

“I expected Conrad to forbid it.”

“He doesn’t own me.”

Something unreadable crossed her face briefly before disappearing.

I remained standing instead of sitting. “Talk.”

Bethany leaned back slowly in the chair. “You’ve changed.”

“So have you.”

She let out a humorless laugh.

“No,” she said quietly. “I’ve always been this way.”

The room stayed silent for several seconds.

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You said you had the truth,” I finally said.

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Bethany studied me carefully before speaking again. “Do you still think Holmes betrayed you because he loved me?”

My stomach tightened immediately.

“I stopped caring why a long time ago.”

“That’s a lie.”

I said nothing.

Bethany folded her hands together calmly. “Holmes wanted power long before he wanted me.”

My chest went cold.

“He pursued me because I gave him access to people connected to succession politics,” she continued. “Council wolves. Bloodline alliances. Information.”

I stared at her silently.

“He knew I was useful,” she said. “That’s what attracted him first.”

“You expect me to believe your relationship was political?”

“I’m telling you his betrayal was.”

Every memory suddenly felt different.

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