Chapter 19
Lumi
The sound of the clapping was slow and an. It cut right through the quiet air.
I scrambled to pull away from Ren, my boots sliding on the wet grass as I forced so space between us.
Ren didn’t let go of right away. His big arm stayed right near my waist, and his broad shoulders shifted instantly to block .
I turned my head slowly, my chest moving fast as I tried to breathe.
Standing just a few feet away on the dirt path was Callum.
He looked exactly like he always did... wearing an expensive dark coat, his hair perfectly in place, and that sa old rich, arrogant look on his face. But he wasn’t alone.
Standing right next to him, wrapped in a thick cream coat, was Sienna. And holding tightly to her hand, wearing a bright blue winter jacket, was Theo.
"Mama!" The high, happy little voice hit like a punch to the chest.
Theo’s face lit up the exact second his big brown eyes saw . He twisted his little body, trying to pull his hand away from Sienna to run to .
"Mama, look! It’s Mama!"
My heart broke into a million pieces right there on the grass. Hearing his voice completely destroyed the strength I had spent days trying to build.
"Theo," I whispered.
I took a fast, desperate step forward, my arms reaching out to catch my boy. I just wanted to hold him. I wanted to tear him away from the bad people standing on both sides of him.
But before my foot could even hit the ground, a heavy, warm hand grabbed my wrist tightly.
"Lumi. Stay," Ren’s deep voice muttered behind .
He wasn’t trying to boss around, he was trying to keep safe. I looked back at him, my eyes blurry with tears I didn’t want to drop.
Ren was staring straight at Callum and Sienna, his dark eyes narrow and angry, the muscles in his jaw moving tightly. Slowly, he gave a tiny shake of his head.
Don’t show them, his quiet look told . Don’t let them see how much this hurts.
He was right. If I broke down right here, if I scread and cried and begged for my son in the middle of a public park, I would be giving Callum exactly what he wanted.
Showing them that Theo was my weakest spot would only make them want to use him to hurt more.
I forced a hard breath down my throat, clamping my fingers into tight fists at my sides. I nodded once to let Ren know I was okay. I stood my ground and refused to move.
Seeing that he couldn’t run to , Theo’s happy face fell. His little bottom lip started to shake, and a second later, he started crying loudly. "Mama! I want Mama!"
Sienna didn’t even look at the crying child. Instead, she was staring at with a an, happy smile.
She bent down, picked Theo up in her arms, and turned him away from . She whispered fake, quiet words into his ear as he buried his face in her neck, his little shoulders shaking.
I should turn around and leave but I couldn’t, I wanted to see Theo a little while. I’ve missed him so fucking much and it hurts.
"So," Callum said, a disgusting smile spreading across his face as he took a slow step closer.
He didn’t know who Ren was because they’ve never t, but the huge size of the man standing next to was already making him look angry and jealous.
Callum was used to being the center of my life. Seeing flushed, out of breath, and standing right next to a massive stranger was clearly hurting his pride.
He looked at Ren, looking at the tattoos on Ren’s neck and the white cloth wrapped tightly around his right hand, before looking back at .
"This is why you don’t want to make our family work out, right? This is why you left your child and ran off to London."
Callum took another step, his eyes flashing with a petty, an anger.
"Look at you, Lumi. Running away from your life, acting like a kid, throwing yourself at so low-life street guy just to get back at .
It’s pathetic. Your attitude has always been a problem, selfish, dramatic, completely unable to handle real life. No wonder you couldn’t keep your own ho together."
Ren’s whole body went completely stiff. I could feel the explosive anger rolling off him, and he made a sudden, sharp move forward to step into Callum’s space.
But I caught his arm. My fingers dug tightly into his jacket, holding him back with everything I had.
He glanced down at , his eyes dark and wild with fury, but I gave him a firm look. I wasn’t going to let him get into a legal ss for . Not yet.
This wasn’t how I wanted my perfect life to show in the open but right now I didn’t know what embarrassnt looked like.
He caused it, he cheated on for years so why will I be the one to be embarrassed and cover his sha.
He should be embarrassed.
Seeing Ren hold back only made Sienna bolder. She stepped forward, her face turning ugly and an as she looked between and Ren.
"You really have hit rock bottom, Lumi," She hissed, her voice full of hatred.
"Brought your little bodyguard to fight your battles? I always knew you were weak, but this is embarrassing.
Callum with the love he had for you, pitied you and accepted to remain your husband even if he had no reason to." She turned towards Callum with a look of awe.
I couldn’t help but think that she’d ran made. I’m sure she wasn’t okay, sothing was wrong sowhere but I didn’t say anything, I wanted her to disgraced herself completely.
"But what did you do? You let this tattooed piece of trash stand here with you. I guess you’ve always loved trash. It makes sense why you’re so comfortable hanging around a worthless, violent dog like him."
The mont she said those words about Ren, sothing inside broke.
I didn’t think. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t even realize what I was doing.
I was a person who spent my whole life trying to avoid fights, taking insults, and hiding my own pain just to keep people happy.
But hearing her speak about Ren with such total disrespect, hearing her try to drag the one person who had been a safe, strong shield for through the mud, started a wild, hot fire in my chest.
Before I even knew my arm was moving, I stepped past Ren and swung my hand.
Smack
My palm hit Sienna’s face so hard the noise echoed. The force of the slap jerked her head to the side, making her stumble back a couple of steps.
Theo let out a scared cry, and Sienna’s hand went straight to her stinging cheek, her mouth open in pure shock.
I stepped closer to her, my breath coming fast, my chest shaking with a dark, heavy anger I had never felt in my entire life.
"Talk to ," I whispered, my voice shaking but sharp enough to hurt.
"Insult . Lie to .
Do whatever you want to , Sienna. Say anything you want to say to and I’ll turn blind eyes and deaf ears.
But if you say Ren’s na again, if you say one more word about him, I will make sure you rot. Do you understand ? I will ruin you."
Sienna stared at , her chest moving up and down, completely unable to speak.
Behind her, Callum was looking at like I was a totally different person. The shock on both of their faces was huge.
In all the years they had known , I had never raised my voice, let alone hit anyone. I was the quiet, sweet Lumi who cried in corners and took the bla for everything.
Now, for the first ti ever, I had fought back with pure fury, and I had done it because of another man.
And I’ll do it again for that man.
"You love him," Callum said, his voice full of disbelief and an ugly, burning jealousy as he stared at . "You actually love him. That’s why you’re doing this."
I didn’t blink, not tried to correct him. I didn’t look at Ren to see what he thought, even though I could feel his heavy gaze burning into the side of my face.
I kept my eyes locked on the man I had wasted years of my life trying to please.
"I have every right to love whoever I want, Callum," I said, my voice turning cold and hard.
"The only thing keeping us together is a piece of paper, and believe , I am going to make sure every single bond between us is completely broken. You have no power over anymore."
Callum’s face twisted into sothing truly scary. The nice, polite act he usually put on completely fell away, leaving behind the an, insecure creature he really was. He took a hard step toward , his eyes full of pure hatred.
"You’re a slut," he spat, the word coming out of his mouth like poison. "I’ve always known you were one. You’re a disgusting, unfaithful slut." He let out a loud, an laugh that made my stomach turn.
"I’m sure you’ve been sleeping around for years. Even when we were married, even when you were supposedly playing the perfect, loyal wife. You were probably sleeping with anyone who looked your way. And honestly? It makes perfect sense now." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping into a cruel whisper.
"Maybe that’s why the moon goddess made your wolf completely useless. Maybe that’s why she made you broken.
She knew what you were, Lumi. She knew you were a worthless failure, and that’s why she didn’t give you a child. You were never fit to be a mother, and you never will be." My blood froze completely.
The world around lost all its sound. The pale sunlight, the green trees, the noise of the city...everything turned into a dark, quiet gray.
The words hit so hard it felt like my bone were punched, tearing straight into the deepest, most painful wound in my soul.
My useless wolf. My empty body. The years of quiet, heartbreaking pain of wondering why I wasn’t good enough, why my body couldn’t do what every other woman’s could.
He had taken my deepest pain, the sha I hid even from myself, and used it to crush right in front of the man who had just tried to protect .
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t speak. I just stood there, completely stuck, as the cold weight of his an words took the air right out of my lungs.
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