Chasing His Kickass Luna Back

Abby

“I mean your cheating, of course.”

Gianna's words cut through the air, leaving me feeling as though I've just been splashed with acid. It's clear that her words were intended to cut deep, and all the while, Ethan just sits there beside her with a puzzled expression on his face.

My eyes are wide as I stammer out a response. “Ex... Excuse me?” I murmur.

An evil smirk tightens her face. “You heard me,” she says, her tone laced with pure and unadulterated venom. “You're a cheater. I can't even believe you're sitting here right now, as if you did nothing wrong.”

Karl and I exchange a wary glance. It's clear that he's just as astonished as I am. My eyes slide over to Ethan, though, and his face betrays nothing.

I can't tell what's on his mind; I knew that Gianna must have spread some lies, manipulated reality while he was in his coma, and it seems to me that it somehow worked. But I can't feel bad for him, not when he’s sitting here silently while his new girlfriend tries to start a fight at the dinner table. "Well?" Gianna says with a chuckle, still swirling her drink around in her glass. She takes a slow, calculated sip, her eyes never leaving mine over the rim of the glass. “Nothing to say, Abby?"

I don't know what to say. I thought that we were all on the same page here; that Gianna set up that whole scheme to make it appear as though I had cheated, all for her own gain. And yet, here she is, acting as though I did do it all along.

Before I can muster a reply, Karl suddenly intervenes.

"What the hell are you talking about, Gianna?” he hisses.

Gianna's eyes snap over to him. “Don't act like you don't know,” she says.

Karl lets out a wry chuckle. “Seriously, Gianna?” he replies incredulously. “Abby didn't cheat. You orchestrated the whole scenario with that gardener so you could become the new Luna. And now that you're bitter over the fact that your little plan didn’t work, you now prey on my brother?”

As Karl speaks, his gaze shifts over to Ethan. Ethan's face is an unreadable mask of stoicism, but I can see the way that his knuckles are turning white from clutching his wine glass so tightly. If he grips it any tighter, it'll surely break.

But Ethan says nothing. I feel incredulous; is he really so oblivious, or is he simply refusing to see the truth?

Gianna scowls, her perfect facade wavering for a brief moment before she retorts with a voice that's filled with venom. “I did no such thing,” she growls. “You framed me because you wanted to get back together with your cheating ex-wife and you had to cover your tracks, otherwise no one would support the relationship.”

A tense silence falls over the table. I can feel Karl's body stiffening beside me, and he looks over at his brother, his eyes wide. “You're just going to say nothing, Ethan?” he says with a scoff. “Seriously? You know she’s full of shit!"

Ethan, who has been mostly silent, takes a shaky sip of his wine and swallows before answering. “Can we not just enjoy our evening?” Ethan says. “The wine is delicious, and the food is on the way. If we could all just get along—"

But Karl cuts him off by standing abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor so loudly that other nearby patrons begin to look our way. His voice is laced with disappointment as he addresses his brother.

“You know, I'm truly devastated, Ethan,” he says quietly, his voice hardly more than a mere whisper. “You were once intelligent, strong, and logical. Now you're so easily swayed by a manipulator like Gianna. I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt because of your coma, but I can only let it go so far.”