The Last Moon (Book One: He Could Be The One)

I: Scars All Over Me

Chapter One : Scars All Over Me

Somewhere in this dark galaxy, on a small planet named Earth. On a small land named New York City. A voice that stood out from the rest sang. As its phenomenal melody intertwined with the air making it sweeter with each passing second.

And that's exactly from where this tale starts from.

A tale of a love which burned so bright that it's flames even surpassed the sun.

A tale of the broken and hurt.

A tale of two crazy star-crossed lovers possessing the names, James and Inez.

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"Which was the path?

Where should I have been standing.

Somehow those thoughts didn't haunt me now,

Now that I was here.

Everyone now tells me what I could've done then.

And, the only thing I could do was laugh inside

As chaos break into my mind because of their hypocrisy.

Making me smile.

Making me feel as if I belonged."

"The chaos happening in your mind feels good to you? I thought that they were only good at causing headaches."

A voice interjected, interrupting my singing. I turned around, as I saw my newly married husband standing near the balcony door with two coffee mugs in his hands. He slowly walked over to me, handing me one of those mugs.

"When you die, you feel peace. Nothing to trouble you. You don't need to worry about anything or anyone. But while you are alive. Who is this? Who is that? Where did my stuff go? How did this happen? The chaos. You feel the chaos, the pain, the insecurities because that's what makes you alive. If they were never there, we all would be living in some weird stimulation, always forcing a smile on our faces. And there's nothing harder than to fake a smile when all you want is to cry." I said, with a small smile on my face, looking down at the black coffee in the brown mug.

He hummed. As I lifted my head only to see him looking at the night sky. "Well… Your terms are not exactly wrong so I'll agree." He said almost suddenly, sipping on his coffee.

It is surprising to see someone actually agree with my way of thinking.

Turning around, I looked at the stars as I said, "There's no reason to disagree."

"There is." There it is, the refute. I was used to this. People calling me wrong at every turn of my life, that is.

"Hmm?"

"While we are alive, we not only feel chaos but also happiness. The happiness which is brought by the smile of your loved ones or an unknown child focusing on his ice cream which he had not eaten in a month because of his mother's reprimands. It can also be your success. And, it can also be a breakup from a long toxic relationship which made it unable for you to breathe. " He said as I felt him shifting his gaze from the sky back to me.

I turned around to see him, looking at me with a small smile on his face. I hummed, returning his smile to him. "I never denied the existence of happiness."

"You are quite unique, Mrs Inez James Agustine." I couldn't have known if his smile was genuine or not. But as I looked straight into his eyes, there was a sarcastic smile on my face, finally giving him a piece of my mind, "The King Of Stock Market. A person who is far more cunning than a fox, can even make a huge business empire fall overnight. Has girls at his beck and call. A person like you bought a wife from a bankrupt person? Don't you think you are just quite as unique, Mr. Agustine?"

Go! Go, Inez! My subconsciousness motivated me further.

"Indeed. I am the perfect angel, who saved a bankrupt man. Paying his debts of millions. And, asking for what in return? Just his beautiful, smart daughter as my wife. A wife as excellent as your. And what else did it cost me? Oh! I remember an investment of a few millions. It's a very cheap deal. I'd say." He said, a smirk lingering on his face, as he took a strand of my hair and smelled it. His sparkling eyes never breaking contact with my enraged ones.

"Rosa 'Bonica. Such a sweet-smelling flower has but the thorns are no less. It describes you perfectly, Mrs Agustine. Don't you think?"

My lips twitched because of the anger I was holding in. This man was testing the depths of my waters.

"It's not only Rosa 'Bonica, Mr. Agustine. Sea Anemone. It stings you but only when you touch it. Therefore, I won't be an obstacle in your path and ask you why you married me. But I hope you can tell me why you made my father go bankrupt to marry me." I replied to him in the same tone in which he had spoken to me.

"Looks like Mrs Agustine is quite interested in my matters."

"Those matters involve me and the bankruptcy of the company which my father established with his sweat and blood. Therefore, it would be weird if I wasn't interested. Nothing else."

You are just a normal human while I learnt just enough of the worldly things in my mother's womb. My mother, Raine Forden, wasn't a weakling and neither am I. Trying to intimidate me with that tone? Better luck next time.

"Thinking something, Mrs. -?"

"Nothing. Just wondering, how can a busy person such as yourself, Mr Agustine, has the time to chit chat with me?" I asked, looking at him with an expressionless face.

"There's a difference between being busy and being a workaholic, Mrs Agustine. I am indeed a busy person. Right now, I am busy talking to my newly wedded wife. You see."

"I see," I said as I walked to the balcony table, putting down my mug of coffee. "You can talk to your wife but I am very tired so I'll sleep."

"Aren't you my wife?" He asked, as he walked towards me and stood in front of me, trapping me between his arms and the table. Keeping the mug just behind me as he used his index finger to lift my chin. "Mrs Inez James Agustine?"

"Mr Agustine, Inez Weisser is your wife, not Inez. Inez only belongs to me."

"But both of them are you."

"They are parts of me. With Inez Weisser being your lawfully wedded wife and Inez being a free bird who can never be caged." I said as I kept my hand on his chest and pushed him backwards. Creating just enough space for me to escape the claws of this cunning fox.

Escaping from his claws, I started walking towards the room but before entering I turned around to look at him once more. "Mr Agustine, I will only be your wife in name. I will fulfil all the duties of a wife except your personal needs. You can find someone else to help you out with those. And moreover, your family doesn't accept this marriage and I under no circumstances, will be dealing with the bullshit they'll be causing. " Finishing my little speech, I turned around but as soon as I stepped inside.

But how can my fighter husband go down without a fight? He said something which made me stop right in my tracks.

"Oh! So you wouldn't mind if your 'husband' would go around sleeping with other women?"

"I wouldn't. But I don't think my husband would be that characterless to go and find a woman to sleep with. Or would he? Shall we make a bet on his integrity, Mr Agustine?" I replied back to him with a smirk on my face. Satisfied with his defeated expression, I turned around and walked towards the bathroom to refresh myself.

Today was a long day. And tomorrow according to the customs, I have to go and check up on dad and others.

With that thought in my mind, I took off my clothes and turned on the shower as the cold water drops hit my skin one after the other, soothing all the burns of humiliation I received today at my wedding. Their mere words were ringing in my ears, refusing to fade away.

"Look at her! Nothing but a mere p********e and gold-digger who somehow managed to marry into The Agustine family. Even my daughter is better than her."

"Didn't you know her father went bankrupt so he 'sold' his daughter? Mr Agustine was kind enough to 'buy' her."

"Indeed kind and great of him for buying such a characterless girl and then giving her a status which cannot be looked down upon by marrying her."

"Hahaha! What a joke!"

"Such an attention-seeker!"

"Must have also blackmailed James. My poor James!"

"Such a cheap woman."

"Indeed."

Irritation. Frustration. They were two words that could perfectly describe how I was feeling right now. And in that pent up frustration and irritation inside me, I punched the glass panel in front of me, shattering it to pieces. The broken pieces of glass stabbed my hand, bruising them as they started bleeding.

"I AM NOT SOMEONE'S POSSESSION! I AM NOT A p********e! I AM NOT A GOLD DIGGER! NO! NO! N-" I screamed in the pain the old scars and new wounds were causing me, as I tried justifying myself to the walls of the bathroom. Hot tears made their way down my cheeks. I was slowly losing the strength in my knees.

And, just when I thought I was about to fall, a towel was wrapped around me as I was pulled in a warm embrace. Those magical hands covered my ears, stopping all those whispers at once.

Turning around, I looked at my husband with tears in my eyes. Those tears were the evidence of the pain I was feeling from those words.

"I don't know what happened to you because you never told me anything but I know you are hurting a lot because of whatever the hell it is. So don't you dare say you are fine." Saying that he picked me up in his strong arms as we exited the bathroom.

He slowly made me sit on the bed as he went to switch on the heater. I was shivering from the cold and the towel wasn't helping at all.

"Who knew you would be dumb enough to have a bath in cold water during winter when there's snow outside!? If you want to die, just go sleep outside! Dumb woman."

Crouching down, he started rubbing my feet to warm them up.

"Sorry. " I said, my teeth were clattering because of the cold.

"So, now, you know how to apologize. Let me get your clothes. Get in the blanket."

"You… You saw me na…naked. Who… Who… Who asked...asked you to barge in?"

"The shout was enough, for even a dumb person to understand that something is wrong." He said, irritated as he ran his fingers through his silky black hair.

"I… I am not du…dumb."

"Of course."

"Don't… Don… Don't be sarcastic…"

I guess he was too irritated to argue with me any further. Because the next thing he did was throwing my clothes beside me and pinning me down on the bed.

"DON'T. TEST. MY. PATIENCE."

Those were the words he said but even though it felt as if he was shouting because of his expression but I wasn't able to listen to anything except the word 'don't'. I could only catch the words from the movement of his lips.

And with that being the last word I heard from him, I faded into the pitch black darkness.