The True Luna's Forbidden Temptation - Chapter 57: Chapter 57

“Ye-yes,” Vivian stammers. “I understand.”
Sebastian’s fingers remain locked around Vivian’s wrist. The moonlight casts sharp shadows over his face, but I can clearly see his reflection. Fierce. Ruthless. Relentless. I don’t know how much of Vivian’s words he heard but he must have heard a lot because he is looking at Vivian and Tanya murderously right now.
I have never seen him like this before. Underneath the cold, controlled demeanor, something wild and dangerous simmers.
"Let me go," Vivian hisses, yanking at her arm. "Do you even have any idea who you’re crossing?”
Sebastian raises a brow at her. His gaze is cold and measuring—like he’s scrutinizing something underneath a microscope. “On the contrary, I know exactly who you are, Mrs. Lewis.”
“Your drunk stepfather raised you. You ran away from home when you were seventeen. Lied about your age so you can get a job at a strip club. You had Tyler when you were only twenty-two. But because of your job, his father denied parentage. You had to raise Tyler all on your own. In a way, Tyler was raised in a strip club. Wherever you work, he goes. And as for your daughter, you had her four years later. Because her father was a married man, he refused to acknowledge her, too. Living you to raise two children, all on your own.”
I swallow hard. I didn’t know Vivian had such a hard life. In a way, I admire her for being tough, for surviving and raising two children alone. But I would never have guessed that her life had been this challenging. Because she treats me like I’m not even worthy enough to breathe the same air as he does.
“Do you want me to continue?” I see Vivian’s face. It’s crimson red by now. It seems Sebastian’s information on her are all true.
“And the real question is—do you know who I am?"
He releases her with a subtle push that makes her stumble backward. Red marks show up across her wrist as she clutches it, torn between outrage and uncertainty.
Tanya’s eyes widen. Recognition strikes like lightning, burning through her earlier aggression and replacing it with something else: ambition.
She blinks rapidly, then offers a coy smile that turns my stomach. That look—I’ve seen it too many times. The moment she smells money, she transforms.
"You're Sebastian Blackwood," she breathes, voice dipping into what she probably thinks is sultry. Tossing her hair over one shoulder, she steps forward. "I can’t believe we’re finally meeting."
I bite back a laugh. Moments ago, she was sharpening claws to shred me. Now, she’s practically purring.
"Finally?" Sebastian echoes, one brow lifting.
Tanya’s smile grows. "I'm Tanya Lewis. Your sister Lorraine and I are best friends. Practically inseparable these past few months." She pauses, waiting for a flicker of recognition. When none comes, she barrels on. "She’s mentioned me, I’m sure. In fact"—her fingers brush the pendant at her throat—"Lorraine promised to set us up on a blind date. She said we’d be perfect together."
Sebastian’s expression doesn’t change, but something colder flickers in his eyes. "Did she now?"
"She absolutely did," Tanya chirps. "She’s always raving about her brilliant brother. She said we’d make such a power couple."
I watch his mouth curve into a smile I haven’t seen in years. It’s the one he wears just before verbally gutting someone—elegant, precise, lethal.
"I haven’t spoken to Lorraine in a long time. And if I do speak to her, I don’t think she’d waste that moment talking about you.”
The blood drains from Tanya’s face before rushing back in a blotchy, humiliated flush. "Maybe she wanted it to be a surprise?"
"Doubtful," he says, voice velvety with disbelief. "Perhaps you're overestimating your place in my sister’s life. A common mistake. Along with overestimating your appeal to men who have options."
Tanya’s mouth opens, then shuts again. For once, she’s speechless.
Vivian surges forward, voice sharp. "How dare you speak to my daughter that way!" She turns her fury toward me. "Why do you even care what happens to her? What is she to you?"
Sebastian steps beside me, his shoulder nearly brushing mine. The heat of him grounds me, a silent message: I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.
"I care," he says calmly, "because I’ve watched you and your family torment her for years."
Vivian blinks. "Watched us?"
"Every dinner where you make her feel small. Every party where she’s introduced as ‘just the designer.’ Every time your son takes credit for her work while you smile. I’ve seen it all."
"That’s ridiculous," Vivian snaps. "You don’t know anything about us!"
"Oh, but I do," Sebastian says, voice soft and dangerous. "I know exactly who you are. You leverage your son’s marriage to boost your social standing while treating his wife like a disposable accessory."
Tanya finds her voice. "You're insane. Why would someone like you even care about someone like her?"
Sebastian’s next words come like a thunderclap.
"Allow me to introduce you properly," he says, resting his hand gently on the small of my back. His touch sends a current through my body, sharp and undeniable. "Meet Analise Emerald Lander McGregor.” He turns to me, giving me a meaningful stare. “My… Stepsister.”
The words echo in the air like a bomb has gone off.
"Step…sister?" Vivian whispers.
Sebastian nods. "My mother married her father, Peter McGregor, when we were teenagers." His hand stays on my back, warm and steady. "Analise is Peter’s biological daughter. Heiress to the McGregor fortune, and to her mother’s company—Luxe Emerald."
Vivian’s skin turns a sickly white. She looks like she might faint.
"That’s… that’s not possible."
"How would you know?" Sebastian asks coolly. "Did you never wonder why her designs seem so instinctive, so... market-perfect? She was being groomed to take over Luxe Emerald from the moment she became a teenager. And she got her mother’s natural skill for designing.”
Tanya’s head whips between us, panic creeping into her wide eyes. "If she’s really who you say she is… then why would she—"
"Marry your brother?" Sebastian finishes for her. "Love, perhaps? Unfortunately, love can make even the smartest person stupid.”
The weight in his voice makes me glance up at him, heart twisting. But his focus is already back on them.
"For years, you treat her like garbage. And all along, she has more power in her pinky than your entire family combined. If it weren’t so vile, I might actually find it amusing."
Vivian visibly shrinks. Gone is the confident matriarch. In her place stands a woman unraveling, watching her carefully constructed world slip out from under her.
"We didn’t know," she whispers. "How could we have known?"
"You don’t need to know," Sebastian says, tone hardening. "You could have chosen basic human decency. But clearly, that is too much to ask."
Tanya, always quick to pivot, attempts a clumsy salvage.
"Well—this changes everything," she says with a forced laugh. "We should have dinner! Reconnect. Clear the air. Start fresh."
Sebastian laughs—a sharp, humorless sound. "There won’t be any fresh starts. Not after what you’ve done."
He steps closer. Both women flinch.
"I’ll say this once. If either of you ever harass Analise again—if you so much as look at her the wrong way—I will personally make sure you regret it for the rest of your lives."
His voice is low and calm, but every syllable carries weight. The air feels charged—heavy with a threat that’s all the more terrifying because he doesn’t need to raise his voice to make it real.
"Are you threatening us?" Vivian whispers.
"I’m making you a promise," Sebastian says. "One I will have no trouble keeping."
A chill races down my spine. He’s not bluffing. He means every word.
Vivian grabs Tanya’s arm. "We’re leaving," she mutters, her voice brittle. "This conversation is over."
"Yes," Sebastian says simply. "It is."
They leave without another word, practically tripping over each other as they flee through the balcony doors.
In a matter of minutes, the women who once ruled every room with scorn are reduced to silence—retreating like cowards from a war they hadn’t even known they’d lost.