Athena’s POV
I froze mid-step. The soft crunch of my sandals on the gravel path stopped as the voice sliced through the garden’s calm. Emily.
Of course it was her. She’d been following me more and more. I turned to find her standing between two blooming rose bushes, blood-red silk gown clinging to her like war paint.
I didn’t respond. I simply stared.
She stepped forward, heels digging into the earth.
“Every time I see you walking these halls like you matter,” she sneered, “like you belong next to him… I want to scream.”
I clenched my fists. “Then scream, Emily. Might be the first honest sound you’ve made in this palace.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“No,” she snapped. “You’re ruining everything. I have worked for years—years—to be Luna. And you—some orphaned, scarred, mate-rejected nobody—you show up and threaten all of that?”
I stepped closer. “I didn’t ask for any of this. But you lied. You tried to trap him.”
Her nostrils flared. “You have no proof.”
“Maybe not yet,” I said. “But it’s coming.”
“You think he’ll believe you?”
“He doesn’t have to. The truth doesn’t need permission to be true.”
Her face contorted in rage.
“Leave now, or you won’t like what happens next.”
“Are you threatening me?” I asked quietly.
“I’m warning you,” she whispered. “You’re barely hanging on. A few more rumors, a few more whispers, and Varianth won’t need a reason to throw you out.”
“You’re shaking, Emily.”
Her jaw twitched.
“You’re scared,” I said. “Because no matter what you do, he looks at me like I matter. You feel it too, don’t you?”
Emily’s breath caught.
“I will not let you take him.”
“You never had him,” I replied.
She reached out and grabbed my arm. “You’re not worthy of him. You’re disgusting. Marked. Broken. You’re a mistake that should’ve been forgotten.”
I yanked my arm back. “Say whatever helps you sleep, Emily. But I’m not going anywhere. Specially now that I’m the one in charge.”
Her hands balled into fists.
“You don’t have the power to challenge me.”
“Maybe not. But the truth does. And it’s catching up to you.”