Shattered Moonlight, Broken Luna Chapter 02

Shattered Moonlight, Broken Luna Chapter 02

What kind of look was that?

Contempt, disgust, hatred, and something else buried deep, a trace of cold disdain.

Not reaching for the glass, he just let me stand there holding it. My wrist ached from holding the tray too long. It trembled slightly.

“Chloe?” He finally spoke, his voice low and rough. “I heard you dropped out of college before you graduated. What, that inherited rogue guy got bored and tossed you away? So you ended up here as a waitress?”

The room went silent in an instant. Everyone waited for the show.

Ella covered her mouth in mock shock, eyes wide as she looked me over. “My Goddess, it really is you, Chloe. How… how are you dressed like this?”

“If you needed money, you should have told me,” she added sweetly. “Back then you left Damien for cash, but we are still old classmates. I could have gotten you a cleaning job at least.”

She bit down on “left Damien for cash,” savoring every syllable. Snickers and whispers rippled through the room.

“She deserves it. Alpha Damien treated her so well.”

“This is karma. Look at him now, worth billions. Look at her, carrying trays.”

I listened to every harsh word without changing expression. It sounded like they were talking about someone else.

Seven years. In seven years I had built iron walls around myself.

I had crawled through the darkest corners of this city, carried plates in greasy diners, hauled boxes in freezing warehouses, been doused with drinks by drunk customers, and had landlords curse me as trash to my face.

My pride had already been smashed to dust on that night of pouring rain.

“Your wine, Alpha.” I repeated, my tone flat.

Damien stared into my eyes, as if he wanted to see regret there, or shame, or tears. But he was disappointed. He found nothing. There was only endless numbness and exhaustion.

This indifference seemed to anger him. He raised his hand without warning and slapped the glass from my fingers.

“This wine is terrible. My stomach couldn’t have it.” He pulled a napkin and wiped his hands, his gaze like ice. “Change it. Get something with age, like the one from seven years ago.”

He was humiliating me.

Seven years ago, he had still been a broke student. To give me a birthday, he had saved for three months to buy one cheap bottle of red.

We sat on the grass of the school field, passing it back and forth, faces flushed, promising we would be together for the rest of our lives.

Now he used that memory as a knife, to remind me of the price of “betrayal.”

Ella laughed softly at his side, eager to play along. “Alpha, don’t be so hard on her. This bottle alone costs tens of thousands. You could sell her and still not make it back. Just apologize to Alpha, Chloe, and clean up the mess. We can consider it over.”

I crouched down, took out a cloth, and started wiping the wine from the carpet, inch by inch. A shard of glass slid into my fingertip, a sharp, drilling pain.

But I didn’t even frown. I only kept counting silently in my head.

The commission from this bottle was gone. I would probably have to compensate for the broken glassware too. So this shift was basically for nothing. Maybe I would even owe half a month’s wages.

That was my life now.

No romance, no poetry.

Just endless bills and debts that never stopped coming.

Love? That was a luxury only the rich could afford.

“I am sorry, Alpha Damien.” When I wiped away the last stain, I stood and kept my posture humble. “I will ask the manager to bring out our best bottle.”

Damien glanced at the blood beading on my finger. His pupils tightened for a second, then his face smoothed back into indifference.

“Get out,” he demanded.