No Longer His Luna

Chapter 3 No More Giving In

Noah pushed several property documents toward me and handed me a pen. "Sign here, and they'll become marital property belonging to both of us."

I took the pen, but couldn't bring it to the paper. For the last two years, every gift I accepted from Lucas came with the same question: "What more do you want from me?" My hand drew back instinctively.

"Noah, I can't accept this right now."

He glanced at my rigid shoulders, leaned back to give me space, and put the documents away in a drawer. "All right. Let's eat first."

He pushed a bowl of soup toward me. I sat there holding the pen for a moment, but he'd already begun eating. Even his scent was calm, as though nothing had happened.

"About the registration... would next Wednesday be all right?" I asked softly.

He looked up at me with a smile and circled the date on the calendar. "Only one week to go, then, wife."

I blushed. He'd liked me once, but after I chose Lucas, he never crossed the line again.

"We'll marry first, and you can fall for me slowly." He brushed the back of my hand. "Ivy, I can wait."

That night, I lay in the new house with the word wife echoing in my mind. It was a long time before I fell asleep.

The next morning, breakfast waited for me beside a note:

I need to finish the board meeting I walked out of yesterday. Eat before you go. —Noah

I held it for a long while before going to the Hale Group to pack my things.

The elevator doors opened to reveal Lucas and Chloe standing side by side. He was still wearing yesterday's clothes. He hadn't even gone home.

"Perfect timing," he said. "Chloe will be my executive assistant from now on. Hand your work over to her and concentrate on preparing for the wedding."

I looked at her hand looped around his arm. He didn't know I'd come to resign.

As we crossed the office floor, I watched people scramble to minimize their chat windows. Only one line remained visible: "The seventh time, and the bride still hasn't given up."

I tightened my grip on the edge of the cardboard box as I watched them eagerly pull out Chloe's chair.

Lucas personally explained her position and announced that all projects requiring his special approval would go through her first. "Ivy has been with me for 10 years and knows the process. Work hard these next couple of days and teach Chloe everything you can."

Chloe took my hand and leaned close, lowering her voice. "If I were you, I'd be too ashamed to come back."

I pulled my hand free and began placing the things from my desk into the box. Lucas called me into his office.

The moment the door closed, he wrapped an arm around my waist and bent to kiss me. His familiar scent was mixed with Chloe's perfume—even his collar carried it. I had once slept peacefully against him. Now I held my breath and turned my face away.

He stopped, bracing one arm against the door. "Aren't you finished with this tantrum yet? You even dared hang up on me. Ivy, have I spoiled you too much?"

"Let me go."

"Only you get this treatment. Do you think I'd waste time coaxing anyone else?"

I pushed hard against his chest. The door suddenly opened.

Chloe stood there, and he released me at once, as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't. "Did I come at a bad time?" she asked with a smile.

Lucas cleared his throat, picked up the shopping bag on the sofa, and offered it to me. Before he could speak, Chloe cut in. "I loved the new handbag so much that Lucas gave it to me. I picked out one of mine for you instead. I hope you don't mind."

The leather was scratched, and the paint had worn off the metal clasp. This was the compensation he had promised me. The new bag belonged to her. I was expected to feel grateful even for something she had used and discarded.

I put the bag back. "I don't need it."

Lucas's expression darkened. "She chose it especially for you."

I hesitated, then pulled my hand back.

"I don't want the handbag. Or the opera tickets."

"You've waited so long—"

"I waited too long. Now I don't want them anymore."

Lucas pressed his lips into a thin line. "All we did was move the wedding to next week. It's not as though I refuse to marry you. Is all this really necessary?"

"Then let's not have it at all."