My Revenge, His Contract

Luna’s POV Something was off the second I stepped into the house that I shared with my long-term boyfriend, Noel. I felt my chest tighten and my heartbeat grow faster. The scent of a perfume that I neither used nor owned lingered in the air. I closed the door quietly behind me, frowning as my mind raced with different scenarios. The living room looked exactly how it should—the cushions in place, the coffee table clear. Nothing was out of place. But then, I saw something that made me suspicious. Noel’s trainers were placed at the bottom of the stairs instead of on the shoe rack where he would always put them, without fail. He hated shoes trailing across the newly laid marble flooring we had recently had put down. I stood on the welcome mat, paralysed, my car keys tightly clasped in the palm of my hand. The big clock at the top of the swirling staircase beckoned me, as if it could tell me a thousand stories that I refused to consider could ever be my reality. Noel was not supposed to be home, but why was he? He hadn't checked in to let me know he was home or even tried to call me. Pulling out my phone, I checked for his location. It was off. It was never off. "What the hell is going on?" I murmured under my breath. And there it came, the sound of laughter. It filled the air, almost choking me. It came from upstairs. My pulse pounded so loudly in my ears that the sound of the clock ticking at the top of the stairs beckoned me. Coming from upstairs. I felt sick. Noel was home—and he was not alone. Slowly, I forced myself up the stairs. I was so careful not to make a sound. I dared not even breathe. It sounded like someone was in my bedroom, But who? This time, my heart skipped a beat, and my legs felt like they would give way at any moment. I gripped the stair rail and forced myself to breathe, to remain calm. I told myself it could be anything, but my heart was now beating so fast, and a horrible cold feeling crept up and down my spine. I reached the doorway. It wasn’t closed properly, still open enough for me to see my best friend, Mira, perched on the edge of my king-size bed. The covers were all messed up, a pillow discarded on the floor. She sat there with her legs bare, her hair down, her cheeks flushed. But the fact that she was wearing Noel’s white T-shirt—the one I’d bought him for his recent birthday—was what caught my attention the most. Then I spotted something on the bedside table, a ring. A diamond ring. Mira was putting it on her finger and admiring it as if it were all hers. An engagement ring. What the hell was this? “We need to be so careful, Mira,” Noel said softly as he pulled on his jeans. Neither of them had noticed I was there behind the door, listening to their conversation—listening as their dirty little secret was unravelled. “I don’t want to hurt her,” I heard him say. I almost scoffed out loud. Didn’t want to hurt me? Yet here he was, clearly f*****g my so-called best friend—the girl who had been like a sister to me since we were kids. In that moment, Mira pulled herself up from the bed and walked over to Noel. My Noel. To my boyfriend. The love of my life. The man who, only a few hours ago, had called me to tell me he loved me and couldn't wait to see me after work. I watched as she threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek, burying her face into his chest. I watched how he wrapped his arms around her, melting into her the same way he always did with me. His hand ran through her hair, the way it always had with me. I tasted the bitterness of tears as they streamed down my cheeks, blurring my vision. I wanted to go in there and rip them both apart, limb by limb. I wanted to scream out loud. But I was frozen, rooted to the spot. “Oh, Noel. She doesn’t deserve you. I wish you would dump her and be with me. How can I sit across the table and listen to her drone on about how perfect her life is when this should all have been mine? Luna always took what I wanted, even when we were kids; she always had to have it all.” Mira pulled back to look him in the eyes. The way she pouted like a spoilt brat made my breath hitch. How well did I really know my best friend? She really thought so lowly of me? Wow. Some friend she was. How could the two people who meant the world to me hurt me like this? How the hell did I never notice anything up until now? My head spun as the world I knew crumbled at my feet. I gripped the doorframe for support as the floorboard beneath me creaked loudly. Dammit. They both pulled apart, looking directly at the door. “s**t!” Noel exclaimed. He had heard it. He knew I was there—that I had seen them together. “She won’t be back yet. It was probably nothing,” Mira dismissed his concern, starting to kiss down his bare chest. “No, Mira. Not now,” Noel said, pushing her away. "I told you that we needed to be bloody well careful, didn't I?" Noel hissed. I gasped out loud before I could stop myself and stepped back. "Is she here?" Mira whispered. I could sense the smugness in her tone; she didn't care that I would be hurt over this. Noel looked up again, his eyes full of regret, but that was not going to fix any of this. “Luna? Wait!” I heard him shout after me, the panic in his voice clear as day, but I didn’t let him finish. I turned and walked away without looking back.