Chapter 8

She locked her stare on Evelyn's face, waiting for her to break.

But Evelyn only tilted her head slightly.

The expression on her face was still that pure, harmless confusion.

"Chloe, sweetie, what are you talking about? Blood and all that — that's so scary."

"Mom texted me this morning. Said she sent me some smoked meats from back home. As for a baby..."

She dropped her head shyly and rested a hand on her flat stomach, her voice full of hope. "Damon and I were planning to have one right after the ceremony. You're very well informed."

The smile, the tone — flawless.

As if what Chloe had said was some horror story from another world.

Chloe's chest heaved, and a nasty heat shot up inside her.

"Still pretending!" She lurched forward. "You think forgetting means it didn't happen? Damon doesn't actually love you. If he loved you, would he have walked out on you at the ceremony to hold me?"

"Would he have let me live in his house, spend his money, be his 'Luna' all these years?"

"You're just something he tricked, something he thought was good enough to bring home. Your mother, your baby — they died because of you, because of your 'love.'"

This time, Evelyn's smile slowly faded.

When she lifted her eyes, a thin layer of ice had settled at the back of them.

"Chloe." Her voice wasn't loud, but it made Chloe's chest drop. "Do you know what the biggest difference is between a person and an object?"

Chloe froze.

"An object stays where you put it. A person—" Evelyn stood up, looking down at her, "—needs to know her place. If you're supposed to sit quietly in a corner, don't keep trying to jump up on stage and point fingers."

"You—" Chloe stammered.

"You think that living in his house, spending his money, makes you 'Luna'?"

Evelyn bent down slightly, bringing her face closer, and spoke in a low breath meant only for the two of them, unhurried:

"That bond paper is your shield. It's also your coffin lid."

"Right now, in his heart, who do you think matters more? The trouble he had to 'take responsibility' for? Or the mate-to-be who got hurt because of him and 'lost her memory'?"

The color drained from Chloe's face and turned green. She glared at Evelyn.

She had been convinced Evelyn had really forgotten, that Evelyn had become a fool living with the man who killed her mother.

She hadn't expected her to be clear-headed, every word hitting exactly where it hurt—

Damon had changed.

"Seen enough, Chloe?"

Chloe went rigid.

"Weren't you so sure that as long as your bond paper was intact, you'd always have the upper hand?" Evelyn looked up at her. "Take another look. Who won?"

"You... you really didn't lose your memory!"

"Shh." Evelyn lifted a finger to her lips. "Chloe, sweetie, try a strawberry. They're very sweet."

Envy and fear washed away every last piece of Chloe's caution.

She jerked back a step.

Her body "accidentally" hit the coffee table, and her elbow swept into a vase—

"Ah!"

With the sound of shattering crystal, she dropped onto the shards with a shriek.

Blood spread across the floor.

She clamped a hand over her calf and lifted tear-filled eyes, right into Damon's as he rushed in at the sound.

"Damon..."

Like a startled doe, she shot a timid, loaded glance at Evelyn, who hadn't moved.

Damon's brow drew in.

Done.

Chloe smiled inside.

Damon's sympathy — she knew exactly how to pull it. It was what had kept her kept and comfortable all these years.

Damon looked down at the blood on her calf, then lifted his eyes to Evelyn.

He wanted her explanation.

Evelyn just said, face a little pale, "Damon... Chloe stood up suddenly and knocked over the vase. It startled me."

That simple sentence. A few seconds of silence.

Damon thought about the way Evelyn had always been. If she thought Chloe was his "distant relative," she'd have been busy being a good host. She wouldn't have pushed anyone.

Chloe showing up out of the blue today had already put him off.

Evelyn's amnesia and her dependence on him had only made his protective instinct and his need to make it up to her stronger.

He gave Evelyn's hand a light pat. "Were you startled? It's over now."

Then he looked at Chloe, and his voice was cold in a way it had never been with her before: "Get up."

He didn't watch her act any further. He told the housekeeper, "Get her bandaged up and have the driver take her home when it's done."

"Damon?"

Chloe stared at him, unable to believe what she was seeing.

He hadn't asked a single question. He'd believed Evelyn without a shred of doubt.

Envy tore her mask right off.

"Damon! Are you blind?"

She pointed at Evelyn. "She's acting! She never forgot anything!"

"She remembers every bit! How her mother died, how she lost the baby, she remembers all of it!"