Chapter 415

Chapter 408
Cassian’s POV
The cool night air on the balcony does nothing to settle the storm in my head. Joe’s parting words are on a loop, shredding my old, certain reality. Moonlight is Gemma. The equation is impossible, yet the proof is mounting, and I’ve been willfully blind to it.
I turn the facts over like jagged stones. My own failed scheme to unmask Moonlight-I was so sure it pointed to Zina.
But Gemma was there that day, a quiet, observant presence.
The deference Zina and Jace showed her at the police station wasn’t just friendship; it was the respect of acolytes to a master. And a memory rises to the surface, sharp and sudden, of the book I’d seen on her nightstand years ago.
The dense, incomprehensible tome on cryptographic protocols was filled with her precise, meticulous notes in thegmargins.
10:29
20 min left
< Chapter 408 And you don’t annotate a text you don’t understand. I pull out my phone, my fingers clumsy. I search for the book’s title. The results are sparse, reviews complaining about its brutal complexity and tough- to- understand language.. There is one comment that catches my eye: [This isn’t for hobbyists. I have a CS doctorate and this made my head spin. How is this even in print?] Another says: [Bought this as a challenge. Lasted three pages. Felt like my ‘A’ in high school calculus meant nothing.] The logic is inescapable, a trap closing around my former ignorance. Gemma, my wife… my ex-wife, is Moonlight. Just then, a heavy hand claps down on my shoulder, jolting me back to the present. Liam. “There you are. You’re brooding out here while your ex-wife is in there, dancing with another man.” He nods 2/8 10:29 20 min left < Chapter 408 toward the glittering ballroom. My gaze follows his. Through the glass doors, I see them. Gemma, a swirl of Van Gogh stars, is in Mikhail’s arms, moving to a slow song. A faint, genuine smile touches her lips as she says something to him. Something cold and possessive tightens in my chest. I take a step forward, instinct taking over. Liam’s grip on my shoulder firms. “Hold on. Before you go charging in, I need to ask you something.” His tone is uncharacteristically serious. “Make it quick.” My eyes haven’t left them. “Cassian.” He uses my full name, demanding my attention. “We’ve known each other a long time. I need you to be honest with me. What are you really feeling for Gemma right now?” The question is a bucket of cold water. I turn to him, frowning. “What are you talking about?” “I’m talking about your motivation.” Liam’s gaze is direct, ngomfortably so. “I know you. You’ve never had 10:29 19 min left < Chapter 408 anything you truly wanted slip through your fingers. Until her. Her leaving, filing for divorce-it was a blow to your pride. Is that what this is? A campaign to win back what you see as a lost possession?” He’s voicing a suspicion I’ve refused to examine. I’ve watched my own obsession, felt the burning need to close the distance she created. But labeling it as mere pride feels too shallow, yet somehow terrifyingly plausible. “If you don’t actually care for her-for her happiness, not just your own-then you need to walk away,” Liam continues, his voice low. “Don’t make this more painful than it already is.” Lately, watching my every move orbit around Gemma, he’s been worried. He wants to help, but he’s afraid the help would just be enabling a deeper cruelty. “As your friend, I have to say it. We were both awful to her for three years. I have my own regrets.” He looks genuinely remorseful. I’ve skimmed over this truth before, never letting it land. I only know that the sight of her with anyone else feels like a violation, fueling a desperate need to reclaim. 10:29 19 min left < Chapter 408 “What does it mean,” I hear myself ask, the words foreign, “to really care about someone?” Liam stares at me, dumbfounded. “Are you serious? After everything, you don’t know?” I don’t. I’m realizing I genuinely don’t. I grew accustomed to her presence, a constant in my curated life. Her absence left a silent, hollow space. But is that care, or just a habit disrupted? He looks at me with a mixture of pity and exasperation. After a long pause, he sighs. “Look at Owen with Reyna. He’s a fool, but his love is real. He’s content just to be near her, to see her smile, even if he’s not the reason for it.” The concept is alien. “Love isn’t just about possession,” Liam continues, as if explaining to a child. “It’s about wanting what’s best for them. Even if their happiness has nothing to do with you, you’re glad for it. That’s the real thing.” I watch him, this eternally single friend of mine, spouting philosophy. A cynical part of me rises. “How does a man 5/8 10:29 * 19 min left < Chapter 408 who’s never had a relationship know so much about this?” “Damn it, Cassian!” Liam’s face flushes with anger. “I’m trying to help you, and you’re insulting me?” I fall silent, his words churning inside me. My gaze drifts back to the dance floor. Gemma’s smile has faded into something softer, more private, as she listens to Mikhail. The possessive ache returns, sharper. “It’s not that I don’t want to let her go,” I say finally, the admission pulled from a deep, conflicted place. Liam, still irritated, straightens. “Are you sure?” I nod, the movement stiff. “Yes. I want her to be happy.” It’s the truth. It’s why I signed the papers. I couldn’t stand the sight of her misery, chained to me. Setting her free was the only unselfish thing I knew how to do. But the rest is true, too. “I don’t want to live the rest of my life without her.” So I’ve been trying to bridge the chasm, to learn the steps to a dance she already knows. I’ve always been slow in matters of the heart, perpetually gut of rhythm with her. Now, I’m scrambling to catch ung 19 min left < Chapter 408 to make her see me as someone worthy of a second chance. Liam studies me. “So, you’d be okay with her being with someone else? Truly happy with, say, Mikhail?” “No.” The answer is immediate, visceral, tearing from my throat. Liam throws his hands up in frustration. “Then what was all that philosophical crap you just spouted? You’re contradicting yourself!” I’m already moving, my focus locked on the dance floor. I throw the answer over my shoulder, the core of my conviction laid bare. “Because no other man deserves her.” I hear his sputtered, incredulous gasp behind me. “Sure, no one is worthy except for you! You’re unbelievable!” His outrage doesn’t affect me. Before I stride into the ballroom to claim my dance, I make a quick detour. I need to find Joe Wallace, there is a business card I need to see. 10:29 * 19 min left < The Don Tore Up Our Divorce ADMINADDADMIN Lucia Morh is a passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.