The True Luna's Forbidden Temptation - Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Analise.
I walk out of the dining room. I feel Lorraine trailing behind me. I stop at the foot of the staircase, then I turn around to face Lorraine. Now, I am once again face to face with the woman who made my teenage life a living hell. But this time, it’s different. She is looking at me with eyes that claim to understand. The chandelier catches on her perfect makeup, illuminating a face that's familiar and foreign at the same time.
"I know you don’t trust me, Analise,” she says, her voice softer now than in the dining room. "You’re thinking that I’m still the same Lorraine who tormented you when we were growing up.”
"Aren't you?" I cross my arms, creating what little barrier I can between us.
She shakes her head slowly. "I've changed, Analise. Time does that to people.” Her hand touches her still-flat stomach protectively. “And being pregnant has given me a new perspective.”
"How convenient," I mutter. "You show up to my doorstep, claiming to be related to my husband, and now, you’re claiming that you’re a changed woman? Ha! Since when?”
She winces at my tone. "I know it seems that way. But becoming a mother changes you. Makes you think about the kind of person you want to be for your child." She pauses, looks down at her hand still resting on her abdomen. "I don't want my baby to know the person I was before."
The tone of her voice almost makes me want to believe her. Almost. But I've seen her perform before—crying on command is one of Lorraine’s practiced talents.
"Why here?" I ask, cutting to the chase. "Why my house, my husband? There must be dozens of other options for someone of your... status."
She glances toward the stairs, making sure we're still alone. "I found out recently that Tyler is my cousin. It was pure coincidence, I swear. We met at that charity event, got talking about family trees, and realized the connection." She takes a small step closer. "When he learned about my pregnancy and my situation with Father, he didn't hesitate to offer help."
"Your situation with Father," I repeat flatly.
"You know how he is," she says, her voice dropping. "If he discovers I'm pregnant out of wedlock, with no father in the picture... You, of all people, should understand. You were banished for less."
The mention of my banishment stings more than I want to admit. "I was banished because I refused to marry the man he chose for me."
"And I'll be banished for having a child without a husband," she counters. "Father hasn't changed, Analise. If anything, he's become more rigid, more controlling."
I study her face, searching for the lies I expect to find. But instead, I see something that unsettles me even more—a flicker of genuine fear.
"Why should I believe anything you say?" I ask. "You've never given me a reason to trust you."
"I know," she admits, and for a moment she looks away, showing what might be shame. "I was cruel to you growing up. But the truth is, I was just jealous.”
I raise a brow at her. “You? Jealous?”
“You were the real daughter. I know that he would never love me the way he loved you. And my mother fed this jealousy in me, always comparing us, pushing me to be better than you in everything. And then there’s…” she pauses. “There’s Sebastian, with his cold, devil-may-care attitude. He never paid attention to me. He always called me spoiled and pompous, so he never treated me the way he treated you.”
“How did Sebastian treat me? He was cold to me, too.”
She scoffs. “Oh my god, Analise. How clueless are you?” she asks, looking at me as I’m the densest person on Earth. “Sebastian always watches you. Not only that, he watches over you, like he’s waiting for someone to shoot you, so he could jump in and take that bullet for you. And that made me envious because I’m his real sister. I’m his flesh and blood, and yet, he treats you like a crystal ball. I never understood why he cared about you the way never did with me.”
Is it true? But over the years, Lorraine has always told me to stop fantasizing that Sebastian would ever care about me. Was she just lying all those years? Or is she lying to me now?
"I'm sorry. I just... I'm not that person anymore, Analise. I've grown up. I've learned what matters." She reaches out as if to touch my arm, then thinks better of it. "I promise you, I haven't told Tyler who you really are. And I won't."
My breath catches. "He doesn't know who I am. Or… who I was.”
"I gathered that much from dinner," she says with a slight nod. "Your secret is safe with me. I just hope... I hope we can get along. We're family again now, whether we like it or not."
I want to tell her we were never family, not in any way that mattered. But before I can respond, footsteps sound from the corridor. Tyler appears behind her, his brow furrowed with concern.
"Everything okay up here?" he asks, but his eyes are fixed on Lorraine, not me. "You've been gone a while."
"We're fine," Lorraine says with a reassuring smile. "Just having some girl talk."
Tyler moves to her side with alarming speed. "You shouldn't be standing for so long," he says, taking her elbow with gentle firmness. "The doctor said you need to take it easy, rp to my room and close the bedroom door bemember?"
I watch with a twist in my chest, as my husband fusses over my stepsister. His eyes, which have been cold to me in months, now shine with affection and protectiveness for Lorraine.
My hand instinctively touches my abdomen, like I want to cradle the unborn child growing inside it.
"Let's get you back to dinner," he continues, already guiding her toward the stairs. "You need nourishment. The baby needs it."
Lorraine allows herself to be led, but glances back at me over her shoulder. "We'll talk more later," she says softly. Then, with the perfect timing of an actress who knows her cue: "Thank you for understanding, Analise. It means a lot."
Tyler continues to guide her, not even sparing a single glance at me. He supports her elbow as if he’s scared that might shatter without his assistance.
I stand frozen by the staircase as I watch Tyler disappear with Lorraine. I feel a twist in my stomach.
Have I just witnessed a masterful performance, or did Lorraine really change?
And why is it that Tyler cannot be bothered to pick me up from the hospital but he treats Lorraine with such tender care?
I go up to my room and close the bedroom door behind me. I sink onto the edge of the bed, my body heavy with exhaustion.
What are the chances? What are the astronomical, impossible chances that my husband would be related to my stepsister? The sister who tormented me, who now occupies the position at my mother's company that should have been mine?
"Coincidence," I whisper, testing the word in the quiet room. It feels wrong on my tongue, too flimsy to hold the weight of what's happening.
I've spent my adult life running from my past, building a new identity so thoroughly that even my husband doesn't know who I really am. Yet somehow, that past has walked through my front door and is now sitting at my dining table, being fussed over by my mother-in-law.
First, it was Sebastian. And now, Lorraine? What is the universe trying to tell me?
I recall the things that Lorraine said to me downstairs. Could Lorraine be telling the truth? Has she really changed? The woman who cut up my prom dress the night before the dance, who spread rumors about me sleeping with my chemistry teacher, who whispered in my father's ear that I was sneaking out to meet boys when I was really just trying to escape the suffocating atmosphere of that house for a few precious hours.
People can change. I've changed. The spoiled, naive girl who left my father's house with nothing but the clothes on her back is gone. In her place stands a woman who built herself from scratch, who carved out a career with talent and determination, who survived.
But Lorraine?
Her eyes still hold that calculating gleam. The way she spoke about her pregnancy, her hand placed just so on her stomach, her voice modulated to the perfect pitch of vulnerability—it all felt too practiced, too perfect.
And yet, there was something in the way she spoke about our father. The fear in her eyes seemed genuine. If anyone knows how terrifying Peter McGregor's wrath can be, it's me. I think it is possible that she ran away because she is scared that my Father will disown her the way he disowned me. She’s right. He has disowned me for less than the sin she’s committed.
The image of Tyler taking Lorraine's elbow replays in my mind. The gentle way he steadied her, the concern etched into his face, the way his body curved protectively toward hers. "You need nourishment. The baby needs it." His voice soft, caring. When was the last time he spoke to me like that?
Is he like that to Lorraine because she's pregnant?
My hand moves to my own stomach, to the secret I still haven't shared. Would Tyler's behavior toward me change if he knew? Would he suddenly remember how to be the man I married—attentive, caring, present?
Or is it something else? Something worse. Has he simply grown tired of me, of us? Has the passion that once burned between us died so completely that he can't even summon basic concern when I collapse?
And now Lorraine is here. In our home. Sleeping in my design studio. Eating at our table. Being treated by my husband with a tenderness I've been starved for.
Tears burn behind my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I've cried enough today. I'm tired of being the woman who breaks down, who bends, who accommodates everyone else's needs while swallowing her own pain.
The sound of laughter drifts up from below—Vivian's sharp cackle, Tanya's high-pitched giggle, and beneath them, the low rumble of Tyler's voice. All of them entertaining Lorraine, making her feel welcome while I hide in my bedroom like an unwanted pet.
I sit back on the bed, suddenly aware of how alone I am in this house full of people. Alone except for the tiny life growing inside me. A life that deserves better than a father who will only show love when it's convenient, a grandmother who will treat it as second-class if it doesn't meet her standards.
"We'll be okay," I whisper, one hand resting on my belly. "Whatever happens, I'll make sure of it."
I don't know if I believe Lorraine has changed. I don't know if I can trust anything she says. But I know this: the woman who left her father's house with nothing and survived is still inside me. And she's stronger than ever.
I lie back on the bed. Let them enjoy their dinner. Let them play happy family. I need to rest, to think, to plan. Because something isn't right about any of this—Lorraine's sudden appearance, Tyler's connection to her, the timing of it all.