The Sickened Luna's Last Chance - Chapter 67: Chapter 67

Sophia & Ella
Sophia
Sophia stepped into Alex’s study just as some brunette maid came rushing out, practically bowling her over in her haste to escape. The girl’s face was flushed, and her little bosom was heaving.
“Careful there,” Sophia said, but the maid was already halfway down the hall and didn’t even bother to apologize.
How rude.
Sophia smoothed down her dress and entered the study, where Alexander was standing by his desk looking somewhat bewildered. She’d come here to make amends—their last few conversations hadn’t exactly gone well, and she was tired of being on the outs with him.
“Alex,” she said, holding up a small wrapped box, “I brought you something. A peace offering.”
He looked up, and she could see the weariness in his green eyes. “Sophia. What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to apologize for the other night. I know I was… difficult.” She set the box on his desk. “It’s that expensive whiskey you like. The one from overseas.”
Alex glanced at the gift but didn’t reach for it. “That’s thoughtful of you.”
“What was all that about?” Sophia asked, nodding toward the door. “Your maid looked like she’d seen a ghost.”
Alex ran a hand through his red hair, and for a moment, something that might have been amusement flickered across his face. “I think she might have a crush on me,” he said, sinking into his chair.”
The words stabbed Sophia directly in the heart. “What?”
“She asked me some very personal questions about my marriage. Whether I was happy, that sort of thing.” Alex shook his head. “Very inappropriate for staff.”
“Indeed.” Sophia forced herself to smile even though she felt a storm of rage building beneath her skin. Another woman was interested in Alex? Another threat to deal with? “How… awkward for you.”
“Yeah.” Alex finally picked up the whiskey. “Thank you for this. It was unnecessary, but I appreciate the gesture.”
“Of course.” Sophia took a step back. “Well, I should let you get back to your work.”
It didn’t take Sophia long to find her. The girl was on her hands and knees in the main foyer, scrubbing the marble flood.
And fuck, she was gorgeous. Even in a plain maid’s uniform with her hair tied back, she had the kind of beauty that made other women want to commit murder.
Long legs, tiny waist, perfect face. She looked like she could be Sophia’s younger sister, if Sophia had been blessed with slightly better genes.
This was a problem.
Sophia had spent months—no, years—trying to drive a wedge between Alex and Ella. She’d destroyed that hideous old locket at the charity auction, spread rumors about their marriage, physically assaulted Ella, had done everything she could think of to make Alex see that his wife was weak and pathetic.
But nothing had worked. If anything, Alex seemed more protective of Ella lately.
And now there was someone new. Another beautiful woman in his house, asking personal questions about his love life. A woman who was young and grateful and probably eager to please Alex in ways that Ella never would be.
And most of all, she was here while Sophia had been banned from staying in the guest suite. With a pretty girl like this living in his house, not even the stoic Alpha Alex would be able to resist the temptation for long.
Sophia couldn’t let that happen.
She walked over to where the maid was scrubbing, noting how the girl’s uniform stretched across her perfect ass as she worked. The floor around her was spotless, gleaming under the chandelier light.
Too bad.
Sophia positioned herself next to a large potted plant that sat on a marble pedestal beside the staircase.
With one swift movement, Sophia drew her foot back and kicked the pot as hard as she could.
It toppled off the pedestal and crashed to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. Dirt and ceramic shards scattered across the marble, along with the plant’s broken stems and scattered petals.
The maid looked up in shock.
“Oops,” Sophia said.
…
Ella
I found Lilith in the kitchen, kneading bread dough. She looked up when I entered, her face softening when she saw me standing there in my nightgown with my robe open in the front.
“Sit down, dear. You’ll make yourself even sicker standing there. How are you feeling?”
“Like shit,” I said honestly, sinking into one of the chairs at the kitchen table.
Lilith wiped her hands on her apron and came over to sit beside me. She seemed to produce a cup of steaming tea and one of those dry but tasty little biscuits for dipping out of nowhere, but I took it gratefully. “I heard about what happened. I’m so sorry about your mother’s music box.”
The words made my chest tighten all over again. I’d been trying not to think about it, but now the image of those broken pieces scattered across the floor came rushing back.
“It was the only thing I had of hers,” I said quietly. “The only thing that connected me to her.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Lilith reached over and pulled me into her arms, and I let her. I buried my face in her shoulder and finally let the tears come.
“I never even got to meet her,” I sobbed. “She died when I was just a baby. And that music box… it was the only piece of her I had left. The only thing that was really hers.”
“I know, I know.” Lilith stroked my hair, making soothing sounds. “It’s not fair. None of this is fair.”
I cried until my chest ached and my eyes burned. Lilith just held me, not trying to offer empty platitudes or tell me everything would be okay. She just let me grieve.
When the tears finally stopped, I pulled back and wiped my face with my sleeve. “I’m sorry. I’m such a mess.”
“You have every right to be upset,” Lilith said firmly. “That girl had no business touching your things.”
“It’s not just the music box,” I admitted. “I keep thinking about your locket too. The one Sophia destroyed at the auction. That was your family’s heirloom, and it got broken because of me.”
Lilith’s expression twisted painfully, but she cupped my face with one hand and said softly, “Ella, that locket was just a thing. Yes, it had sentimental value, but things can be replaced. You can’t.”
“But it meant so much to you. It belonged to your grandmother, your mother…” I felt fresh tears threatening to spill over even though I felt like I had none left. “And now it’s gone because you were kind to me.”
“Stop that. That locket served its purpose. It made you feel loved, and that’s all I ever wanted. Don’t you dare feel guilty about what happened.”
But I did feel guilty. Horribly, crushingly guilty. “I want to make it up to you somehow.”
“There’s nothing to make up for.”
“Please. Let me do something.” An idea was forming in my mind. “This weekend. Let me take you out, just the two of us. Somewhere nice. We could go shopping, have lunch, get our nails done. Whatever you want.”
Lilith smiled, the first real smile I’d seen from her in weeks. “That sounds lovely, dear. But you don’t have to—”
“I want to. You’ve done so much for me, been such a mother to me when I never had one. Please let me do this.”
At the mention of the word mother, Lilith’s eyes misted over. But she nodded. “Alright. If it would make you happy.”
“It would.”
We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching the late afternoon light stream through the kitchen windows. I was starting to feel marginally like myself again when a loud crash echoed from somewhere in the house, followed by raised voices.
Lilith and I looked at each other.
“What was that?” I asked.
Another crash came, and then more shouting. Female voices, two of them from the sounds of things. Was that… Sophia I heard?
“We should check,” Lilith said, standing.
I followed her out of the kitchen and toward the main foyer, where the commotion seemed to be coming from. As we got closer, I could see that one of them was definitely Sophia, and the other was… Sarah. The maid.
“You bitch!” Sophia cried, hurling a vase at the maid. “You don’t belong here!”