Switched Bride True Luna novel Chapter 96

Chapter 96

But when I got home I couldn’t sleep.

I told myself it was the late hour or the stack of reports waiting for my review, but that was a lie I didn’t bother believing

The truth was simpler: I couldn’t get Emily’s face out of my mind.

Not the polished version from the fundraiser, all high cheekbones and practiced charm. Not the public figure who knew how to make a microphone fall quiet with one line.

It was the version of her she gave to her ex. To Michael.

I had to force myself not to call up a background file on him. I already knew more than I wanted to: beta–born, childhood sweetheart, strategically groomed by her father as a future match

He’d been her whole world once. And then, he shattered it without second thought. I remembered look of betrayal and hurt of her face at that hotel.

Still, when I’d seen them speaking tonight, it hadn’t looked like animosity. It had looked like… a shared memory.

I paced the edge of the sitting room, the fire flickering low behind me. The house was quiet this late, and I tried to be quiet. My footsteps sounded loud even to my own ears, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

The glass in my hand was long empty. I hadn’t bothered pouring another. I didn’t need more reasons to lose control.

I wanted to knock on her door. Ask if she was awake. Ask if she was thinking about him. About us. About whatever it was we were doing.

But I didn’t.

Instead, I played out every version of that conversation in my head. In one, she smiled kindly and said I was overreacting. In another, she told me I had no right to ask.

And in the worst one, she told me she still loved him. Wanted to patch things up with him.

I ran a hand through my hair, growling low under my breath. What was wrong with me? This wasn’t supposed to matter. She wasn’t supposed to matter like this.

We started as a contract. A merger. I’d told myself from the beginning that emotion couldn’t touch it. That we could build something useful, powerful, and maybe even learn to like each other.

But then I started looking at her as more. She started to look at me like she saw something more too. Like maybe she could want me. And gods help me, I wanted her in return.

But tonight reminded me that wanting wasn’t the same as having And I didn’t know if I’d ever be the kind of man she’d give herself to completely.

A quiet ringing broke into my spiraling thoughts. It was my phone.

“Julian?” I answered.

“Apologies,” he said smoothly. “Didn’t realize you were still up. I expected to leave a message.”

“Clearly you did,” I muttered, “What is it?”

“An early version of next week’s media monitoring report. Something… interesting came up regarding public sentiment after tonight’s event.”

My phone pinged with an incoming email. I opened it and skimmed the attachment.

It was a side–by–side image of Emily and Michael in conversation. And me across the room, jaw clenched.

+25 BONUS

Chapter 96

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