The True Luna's Forbidden Temptation - Chapter 31: Chapter 31
You are reading The True Luna's Forbidden Temptation, Chapter 31: Chapter 31. Read more chapters of The True Luna's Forbidden Temptation.
ANALISE.
My heart pounds loudly, I can almost hear it in the deafending silence. I’m afraid that he will hang up on me, laugh at me while he says ‘I told you so.’
The hospital room seems to shrink around me, the walls closing in, slowly suffocating me.
Then I hear a deep intake of breath before he says, “Analise.” It’s a statement, not a greeting. “Have you finally come to your senses?”
That question. I realize that I was hoping he’d ask that, but I wasn’t expecting he would. And now, hearing him say the words, I feel like a ton of load has been lifted from my chest.
Something inside me breaks loose—a dam I didn't know I'd built—and suddenly I'm crying, ugly, heaving sobs that tear through my chest and echo in the sterile hospital room. I can't remember the last time I cried in front of my father, even over the phone. I was always careful to be composed in his presence, to hide any weakness he might exploit or dismiss.
"I'm sorry, Papa," I manage between gasps for air. "I was wrong. You were right about Tyler." The admission tastes bitter on my tongue. "He was a good man, I swear he was, but I don't know why he changed. Now, that we have made something of our lives, he changed. Maybe it’s the money. He’s a completely different man now.”
My father laughs humorlessly. “Money does not change people, Analise. It only unmasks them. Remember that.”
I wipe at my tears with the back of my hand, leaving damp trails across my cheeks. "So, this is the real Tyler all along?”
"Now you see Tyler’s true scales," he explains. "You were good for him back then because you were fueling his ambitions. Didn't he use your designs to make something of himself?"
My heart rate increases as my father’s hit me with devastating precision. It seems that all these years, he’s been keeping tabs on me.
“My university thesis, the Moonstruck collection—it was my first masterpiece. I got an award for it when I graduated with distinction. But he sold it to SB Capitals to secure their funding. I agreed because I thought it would help him. And because I thought they would actually create it, make it a reality. But they just took the rights from me, and that design never even saw the light of day. And Tyler didn’t even fight for it.”
"And after that? Did he ever create anything on his own? Or did he rely on your talent, your vision, to build his empire?"
I close my eyes, memories flooding my mind like video clips in fast forward. I see myself sketching late at nights, endlessly revising until I develop the iconic pieces that made TL Glam the company that it is today. Every successful line that TL Glam ever launched came from my hands, my imagination.
"He made millions off my work," I admit, the realization burns in my throat.
"Lewis is what he is now because of you," my father states, no triumph in his voice, only cold certainty. "You made him, Analise. Without you, there would be no TL Glam Studio. Lewis would be still be behind a bar, making cocktails for drunk patrons.”
My body feels hollow, emptied not just of the child I've lost but of the dreams I built around a man who never deserved them.
"I want a divorce," I say, the words surprisingly firm on my lips.
"Good," my father replies, and there's a warmth in his voice I haven't heard in years. "That's good, Analise."
A question that's haunted me for years rises to the surface. "Why did you disown me, Dad? Was it really just because I refused to marry the man you chose? Because I chose Tyler instead?"
His sigh is heavy, weighted with things unsaid. "No, child. That's not why I cut you off. The truth is more... complex."
“With you, it always is,” I murmur.
"I knew this would happen," he finally continues. "Not the specifics, but I knew a man like Lewis—hungry, ambitious, with nothing to his name—would see what you represented. Access. Opportunity. I didn't disinherit you to force you to leave him or to come home to me. I removed our connection because I predicted he would use you, then discard you once he got what he wanted."
I shake my head in disbelief. "You couldn't have known that."
"I've been in business for forty years, Analise. I know predators when I see them. I didn't want him to get his hands on the McGregor empire. And more importantly, I didn't want you to spend years wondering if he really loved you or just your money."
"So you made the choice for me," I say.
"I made sure that when the divorce inevitably came, Lewis would have no claim on your inheritance. I have every intention of restoring it and giving it to you once you divorce him. I disinherited you to protect what is rightfully yours."
Twisted. That’s how I can describe my father’s way of protecting me. All these years, I thought he only cared about getting it his way. But for him, he’s only looking out for me, protecting what’s mine by birth.
"You'll always be my daughter, Analise," he says softly. "I could never forget that. You and Sebastian—you're the two people who matter most to me in this world."
At the mention of my stepbrother, a different kind of pain lances through my chest. "Sebastian," I repeat. "Have you seen him? Do you know where he is?"
My father laughs, that deep, husky laugh that I miss hearing.
"Sebastian visits me at least twice a year," he admits. "We never lost touch."
‘Sebastian still saw my father regularly?’
So, does that mean, he only disappeared from MY life?
"You'll be proud of your brother," my father continues. "He's the CEO of Blackwood Corp now. Managing it brilliantly. The company has doubled in value under his leadership." The pride in my father’s voice is unmistakable. After all these years, he still sees Sebastian as his own.
"What about Lorraine? Why is she the CEO of Luxe Emerald? That’s my mother’s company!”
"Luxe Emerald has always been yours, Analise. It still is," he says, surprising me. "I never meant to give it to Lorraine. I made her CEO to wake you up, to force your hand. I figured that if you were afraid of losing your mother's legacy, you might finally leave Tyler."
I think of Lorraine's smug face on that LED screen, the announcement of her appointment that sent me spiraling into collapse. "You were using her to manipulate me? Does she know that?"
"Lorraine doesn't know anything about designing or selling jewelry," he scoffs. "She's been making a mess of things for months. The board has been pressing me to replace her. As soon as you return home, she'll be given a position at McGregor Group—something suited to her actual abilities."
"And what about me?" I ask, hardly daring to hope. "What would my position be?"
"Chairwoman of Luxe Emerald, of course. And a major shareholder in McGregor Group." His voice softens again. "Just come home, Analise. Everything that was meant to be yours will be restored as soon as your divorce with Lewis is finalized. I promise."
The offer hangs between us like a lifeline thrown to a drowning woman. I lost my baby. I've already lost Tyler's love—if I ever truly had it. I cannot lose Luxe Emerald too, the legacy my mother built with her own hands, the company she whispered would be mine someday as she tucked me into bed.
My father is the only family I have left. I cannot lose him—not for someone who clearly cares more about his long-lost cousin than me.
Speaking of that, I wonder if my father knew that Lorraine is pregnant, and that she’s related to the man he loathes so much.
“Okay, Dad,” I say with sheer determination. “I will divorce Tyler as soon as possible, and I will fix my life. I will come home.”
I can almost hear my father's smile through the phone. "Good. I'll have your old room prepared. And I'll have you restored as a McGregor as soon as your divorce is finalized. Everything will be back as they should be.”
After we say our goodbyes, I stare at the phone in my hand for a long moment, amazed at how much my life has changed within a span of twenty-four hours. I lost my baby, I decided to leave Tyler, and I reconciled with my father.
I scroll through my contacts until I find my lawyer’s name. Catherine May, the fiercest divorce attorney in the city, a woman who leaves shattered prenups and weeping spouses in her wake. We met at a gallery opening years ago and kept in touch. I never thought I'd need her services.
She answers on the second ring. "Analise? This is a surprise."
"I need you to work on my divorce papers," I say without preamble. "Now. Today."
There's a pause, the sound of papers shuffling. "I see. And how do you want to settle? What are you looking for in terms of assets, alimony, property division?"
"Nothing," I say, the word strangely liberating. "I want nothing from my husband—I mean, my ex-husband. I'm also resigning from my position in his company.”
Another pause, longer this time. "Analise, that's... unusual. Most of my clients want to take their spouses for everything they can get. Are you sure about this? Your designs built that company. You're entitled to a significant settlement."
"I'm sure," I reply, newfound determination hardening my voice. "I want nothing from him. But I need you to make absolutely certain that he cannot get anything from me. Not now, not ever."
This is important. Because after I divorce Tyler, I’m going to back to being Analise Lander McGregor—and I have just become a bigger fish than any woman he can ever get his hands on. I want to make sure he wouldn’t be able to extort anything from me.
"I understand," Catherine says, her tone shifting to pure business. "I'll draft the papers right away.”
My heart pounds loudly, I can almost hear it in the deafending silence. I’m afraid that he will hang up on me, laugh at me while he says ‘I told you so.’
The hospital room seems to shrink around me, the walls closing in, slowly suffocating me.
Then I hear a deep intake of breath before he says, “Analise.” It’s a statement, not a greeting. “Have you finally come to your senses?”
That question. I realize that I was hoping he’d ask that, but I wasn’t expecting he would. And now, hearing him say the words, I feel like a ton of load has been lifted from my chest.
Something inside me breaks loose—a dam I didn't know I'd built—and suddenly I'm crying, ugly, heaving sobs that tear through my chest and echo in the sterile hospital room. I can't remember the last time I cried in front of my father, even over the phone. I was always careful to be composed in his presence, to hide any weakness he might exploit or dismiss.
"I'm sorry, Papa," I manage between gasps for air. "I was wrong. You were right about Tyler." The admission tastes bitter on my tongue. "He was a good man, I swear he was, but I don't know why he changed. Now, that we have made something of our lives, he changed. Maybe it’s the money. He’s a completely different man now.”
My father laughs humorlessly. “Money does not change people, Analise. It only unmasks them. Remember that.”
I wipe at my tears with the back of my hand, leaving damp trails across my cheeks. "So, this is the real Tyler all along?”
"Now you see Tyler’s true scales," he explains. "You were good for him back then because you were fueling his ambitions. Didn't he use your designs to make something of himself?"
My heart rate increases as my father’s hit me with devastating precision. It seems that all these years, he’s been keeping tabs on me.
“My university thesis, the Moonstruck collection—it was my first masterpiece. I got an award for it when I graduated with distinction. But he sold it to SB Capitals to secure their funding. I agreed because I thought it would help him. And because I thought they would actually create it, make it a reality. But they just took the rights from me, and that design never even saw the light of day. And Tyler didn’t even fight for it.”
"And after that? Did he ever create anything on his own? Or did he rely on your talent, your vision, to build his empire?"
I close my eyes, memories flooding my mind like video clips in fast forward. I see myself sketching late at nights, endlessly revising until I develop the iconic pieces that made TL Glam the company that it is today. Every successful line that TL Glam ever launched came from my hands, my imagination.
"He made millions off my work," I admit, the realization burns in my throat.
"Lewis is what he is now because of you," my father states, no triumph in his voice, only cold certainty. "You made him, Analise. Without you, there would be no TL Glam Studio. Lewis would be still be behind a bar, making cocktails for drunk patrons.”
My body feels hollow, emptied not just of the child I've lost but of the dreams I built around a man who never deserved them.
"I want a divorce," I say, the words surprisingly firm on my lips.
"Good," my father replies, and there's a warmth in his voice I haven't heard in years. "That's good, Analise."
A question that's haunted me for years rises to the surface. "Why did you disown me, Dad? Was it really just because I refused to marry the man you chose? Because I chose Tyler instead?"
His sigh is heavy, weighted with things unsaid. "No, child. That's not why I cut you off. The truth is more... complex."
“With you, it always is,” I murmur.
"I knew this would happen," he finally continues. "Not the specifics, but I knew a man like Lewis—hungry, ambitious, with nothing to his name—would see what you represented. Access. Opportunity. I didn't disinherit you to force you to leave him or to come home to me. I removed our connection because I predicted he would use you, then discard you once he got what he wanted."
I shake my head in disbelief. "You couldn't have known that."
"I've been in business for forty years, Analise. I know predators when I see them. I didn't want him to get his hands on the McGregor empire. And more importantly, I didn't want you to spend years wondering if he really loved you or just your money."
"So you made the choice for me," I say.
"I made sure that when the divorce inevitably came, Lewis would have no claim on your inheritance. I have every intention of restoring it and giving it to you once you divorce him. I disinherited you to protect what is rightfully yours."
Twisted. That’s how I can describe my father’s way of protecting me. All these years, I thought he only cared about getting it his way. But for him, he’s only looking out for me, protecting what’s mine by birth.
"You'll always be my daughter, Analise," he says softly. "I could never forget that. You and Sebastian—you're the two people who matter most to me in this world."
At the mention of my stepbrother, a different kind of pain lances through my chest. "Sebastian," I repeat. "Have you seen him? Do you know where he is?"
My father laughs, that deep, husky laugh that I miss hearing.
"Sebastian visits me at least twice a year," he admits. "We never lost touch."
‘Sebastian still saw my father regularly?’
So, does that mean, he only disappeared from MY life?
"You'll be proud of your brother," my father continues. "He's the CEO of Blackwood Corp now. Managing it brilliantly. The company has doubled in value under his leadership." The pride in my father’s voice is unmistakable. After all these years, he still sees Sebastian as his own.
"What about Lorraine? Why is she the CEO of Luxe Emerald? That’s my mother’s company!”
"Luxe Emerald has always been yours, Analise. It still is," he says, surprising me. "I never meant to give it to Lorraine. I made her CEO to wake you up, to force your hand. I figured that if you were afraid of losing your mother's legacy, you might finally leave Tyler."
I think of Lorraine's smug face on that LED screen, the announcement of her appointment that sent me spiraling into collapse. "You were using her to manipulate me? Does she know that?"
"Lorraine doesn't know anything about designing or selling jewelry," he scoffs. "She's been making a mess of things for months. The board has been pressing me to replace her. As soon as you return home, she'll be given a position at McGregor Group—something suited to her actual abilities."
"And what about me?" I ask, hardly daring to hope. "What would my position be?"
"Chairwoman of Luxe Emerald, of course. And a major shareholder in McGregor Group." His voice softens again. "Just come home, Analise. Everything that was meant to be yours will be restored as soon as your divorce with Lewis is finalized. I promise."
The offer hangs between us like a lifeline thrown to a drowning woman. I lost my baby. I've already lost Tyler's love—if I ever truly had it. I cannot lose Luxe Emerald too, the legacy my mother built with her own hands, the company she whispered would be mine someday as she tucked me into bed.
My father is the only family I have left. I cannot lose him—not for someone who clearly cares more about his long-lost cousin than me.
Speaking of that, I wonder if my father knew that Lorraine is pregnant, and that she’s related to the man he loathes so much.
“Okay, Dad,” I say with sheer determination. “I will divorce Tyler as soon as possible, and I will fix my life. I will come home.”
I can almost hear my father's smile through the phone. "Good. I'll have your old room prepared. And I'll have you restored as a McGregor as soon as your divorce is finalized. Everything will be back as they should be.”
After we say our goodbyes, I stare at the phone in my hand for a long moment, amazed at how much my life has changed within a span of twenty-four hours. I lost my baby, I decided to leave Tyler, and I reconciled with my father.
I scroll through my contacts until I find my lawyer’s name. Catherine May, the fiercest divorce attorney in the city, a woman who leaves shattered prenups and weeping spouses in her wake. We met at a gallery opening years ago and kept in touch. I never thought I'd need her services.
She answers on the second ring. "Analise? This is a surprise."
"I need you to work on my divorce papers," I say without preamble. "Now. Today."
There's a pause, the sound of papers shuffling. "I see. And how do you want to settle? What are you looking for in terms of assets, alimony, property division?"
"Nothing," I say, the word strangely liberating. "I want nothing from my husband—I mean, my ex-husband. I'm also resigning from my position in his company.”
Another pause, longer this time. "Analise, that's... unusual. Most of my clients want to take their spouses for everything they can get. Are you sure about this? Your designs built that company. You're entitled to a significant settlement."
"I'm sure," I reply, newfound determination hardening my voice. "I want nothing from him. But I need you to make absolutely certain that he cannot get anything from me. Not now, not ever."
This is important. Because after I divorce Tyler, I’m going to back to being Analise Lander McGregor—and I have just become a bigger fish than any woman he can ever get his hands on. I want to make sure he wouldn’t be able to extort anything from me.
"I understand," Catherine says, her tone shifting to pure business. "I'll draft the papers right away.”
End of The True Luna's Forbidden Temptation Chapter 31. Continue reading Chapter 32 or return to The True Luna's Forbidden Temptation book page.