Chapter 35 The Morning After

Chapter 35 The Morning After
Luna's POV

I woke up to find Theo already awake, sitting in the chair by the window and staring out at the city below with an expression too serious for a ten-year-old.

The morning light made his bruises look worse, purple and yellow spreading across his cheek.
I sat down in the chair beside him without saying anything, just being there in case he wanted to talk.

We sat in silence for a while, watching cars move through the streets far below and people going about their normal lives like the world hadn't just tilted sideways.

"Mom?" Theo's voice was small.
"Yeah, baby?"

"Is Sarah going to jail?"

The question made my chest tight. "I don't know yet. There's an investigation happening and these things take time."

"But she hurt me on purpose."

"I know."

"So shouldn't she go to jail?"

"Sometimes justice takes longer than it should," I said carefully. "The people investigating need to gather evidence and talk to witnesses and make sure they understand exactly what happened."

He nodded like he understood but his expression stayed troubled. "I knew she didn't really like me."

The words hit me harder than I expected. "What do you mean?"

"Sarah. She was nice sometimes but it always felt fake. Like she was pretending." He pulled his knees up to his chest. "But I pretended too. I pretended I liked her more than you because I wanted a mom who wasn't always busy or sad."

My throat closed up. "Theo –"

"You were so sad after you and Dad split up. Even when you tried to hide it, I could tell." His voice got quieter. "And then you left and Dad said it was because you didn't want us anymore. Sarah wasn't sad. She played with me and taught me fighting moves and didn't look like she was about to cry all the time."

I sat there absorbing the weight of what he was telling me, understanding how much my grief over losing Marcus had bled into everything.

How my son had seen me broken and thought it was his fault somehow.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"For what?"

"For letting you see me that broken. For not being strong enough to hide how much I was hurting." I turned to face him fully. "You were just a kid and you needed stability and I gave you sadness instead."

"You were sad because of Dad."

"I was. But I shouldn't have let you carry that weight with me." I reached over and took his good hand. "You deserved better than a mom who was falling apart."

"But you're not falling apart now."

"No. I'm not."

"Because of him?" Theo gestured vaguely toward where Damien's floor would be. "The Lycan King?"

"Because I learned how to put myself back together," I said. "Damien helped. But the work was mine."

Theo thought about that for a moment then leaned against my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around him carefully, avoiding his injured side.
We sat like that until there was a knock on the door.

Damien came in carrying a tray with breakfast for both of us, setting it on the small table without making a big deal about it.

"Thought you might be hungry," he said simply.
Theo eyed the food. "Is that bacon?"

"And eggs and toast and orange juice." Damien gestured to the tray. "Help yourself."

I expected Theo to be shy or uncomfortable around Damien but instead he just got up and started eating like it was normal to have a two-hundred-year-old Lycan King bringing him breakfast.

Damien didn't talk down to him or try too hard.
.
He just treated Theo with the same straightforward respect he showed everyone, asking about his arm and if he'd slept okay and if he needed anything for the pain.

It was surprisingly easy watching them interact.
After Theo finished eating, he asked if he could watch TV in his room. I said yes and he left with a piece of toast still in his hand.

I checked my phone while I ate and found an email from my assistant that made my stomach drop.

Three more investors had pulled out overnight.
The financial damage from the digital attack was spreading faster than I'd realized. Without those investors, finishing the film would be almost impossible even with Damien's backing.

My assistant had included screenshots from industry gossip forums and the posts were brutal.

Luna Reeves can't keep her personal life together, why would anyone trust her with millions in production money?

Heard the Lycan King is only backing her because they're sleeping together. Project is doomed.

She abandoned her kid for five years and now she's surprised he doesn't want her? Maybe focus on being a mother instead of playing director.

Each comment felt like a knife but together they painted a picture that would destroy my career.
Unstable. Unprofessional. Distracted by personal drama.

I set down my phone and looked at Damien who was watching me with concern.

"More investors?" he asked.

"Three more. And the forums are tearing me apart." I rubbed my face. "My assistant says two more companies are considering pulling their contracts."

"I can cover the budget –"

"That's not the point." I stood up and started pacing. "The point is my reputation is being destroyed. No one will want to work with me after this. Directors live and die by their reputation and mine is being shredded in real time."

Damien was quiet for a moment. "Vivienne."

"Obviously Vivienne." I stopped pacing. "She's not just attacking me personally. She's systematically taking apart my career piece by piece."

"And your relationship with Theo."

"And that too." The full scope of it hit me all at once. "She's destroying everything. My work, my family, my independence, all of it simultaneously."

"Which is why the meeting invitation was so importa
nt to her," Damien said quietly. "She wanted to watch you realize how thoroughly you're being dismantled.”