Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 268

Chapter 268

Joseph thanked Malcolm and promised to be in touch before they both hung up.

Joseph could not contain his joy. He wore his T-shirt and decided to deliver the good news to Ethan immediately. Ethan needed to hear it. Levi needed to hear it. Meadow needed to hear it. Even if everything else was falling apart, this one thing had finally shifted

in their favour.

He was happy until he exited his room and found a drunk Cynthia in the corridor.

His joy died instantly.

just Cynthia had made it a duty to parade the corridor of Ethan’s wing like a ghost that refused to stay buried. Why could she remain in the main wing where she had allocated a room to herself? Why did she need to slither through their family space every chance she got, smelling of alcohol and desperation? Joseph’s hand tightened by his side as he tried to ignore her and walk past.

She made it impossible.

Before he could pass, Cynthia moved into his path and pinned him against the wall. Her robe was black silk, loose and carelessly tied. She opened it to expose her lace underwear, pressing close enough for him to smell the whisky on her breath.

“I am lonely,” Cynthia whispered in his ear.

Joseph shoved her off him hard enough for her back to hit the wall. He added force to it and did not feel sorry. There was no point treating a treacherous bitch like a lady. He had been happy until he saw her, and that alone made him angrier than he already was. She had a gift for walking into peace and ruining it.

“I will do much better than Ashley, Joseph. I taught her many things but not all. I am not asking you to commit; I am just asking you to have a taste of me,” Cynthia teased.

Joseph laughed but did not say a word. He started walking away.

Cynthia chased him and tried her luck again.

“I am not your enemy, Joseph. I am just a girl in a bad situation trying to survive. Why can’t anyone see that I am also in the same predicament?” she asked.

Joseph laughed again.

The alcohol in her system was doing wonders. Cynthia was showing cracks she usually painted over. The loneliness. The fear. The need to be wanted by someone, anyone, because her borrowed title had not warmed her bed or quieted the emptiness Sebastien left

behind.

“You should get the love you want from your lackeys, Cynthia. I wouldn’t touch you even if you were the last female alive,” Joseph

told her with a smile.

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Chapter 268

Even though she was drunk, Cynthia knew he meant it, and that made her mad. Her eyes flashed, shame twisting into anger because

anger was easier to carry.

“I will make all your lives miserable. You know you are all here based on charity and nothing else,” Cynthia shot back.

Joseph laughed at her.

“We will gladly leave if you release our people that you locked up and let us go. You can keep the mansion and the pack. Ethan is

happy, and so am I. That is all that matters,” Joseph told her.

Cynthia’s mouth closed.

She knew she dared not let them leave the building. It was her boss’s order. They had to remain in the mansion under her supervision. The McClouds were not prisoners in name, but they were prisoners in truth. Joseph had exposed that with one galm

sentence, and it humiliated her.

She felt so ashamed that she covered her robe and walked away.

While she walked, she thought of Sebastien and how he used to treat her. Not only the ugly parts. Not only the punishments and insults. She thought of the way he used to know her moods, the way he could read the exact kind of loneliness sitting inside her before she even said a word. She thought of how he used to hold her after bad days, how he used to kiss her before she ruined that too. She began to realise she had made a terrible mistake, but she was in too deep now, and fixing it felt nearly impossible.

Cynthia returned to her room and gulped down some fine malt whisky, giving herself the courage to call Sebastien.

The phone rang many times, but he did not pick up.

Instead of leaving it alone, she decided to continue calling him. She redialled every time a session ended. Again and again. Each unanswered call made her more desperate, more angry, more ashamed. She called over thirty times before Sebastien finally picked up out of irritation because he knew she would not stop.

“What do you want, Cynthia?” Sebastien asked with a cold voice.

Cynthia began to cry at once. The coldness in his tone hurt more than she expected. He used to be angry. Anger meant there was still something alive between them. This was worse. This sounded like distance.

“I am scared, Sebastien. I am lonely, and I miss you,” she said.

Sebastien began to laugh.

“I thought you had upgraded. Alpha isn’t fulfilling your needs?” he asked, disgusted.

Cynthia was silent.

The question landed exactly where it was meant to. She had left him emotionally long before he walked out of that hotel room. She had reached for the mysterious Alpha because she thought he was the better prize. Now she had a room, a title, warriors, and no

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Chapter 268

one to hold her when the silence became too loud.

“I meant what I said when I left you, Cynthia,” Sebastien told her.

She wiped away her tears and tried to compose herself.

“I want to visit you and explaint myself. It isn’t what you think. You did not give me the room to explain. You just cut me off. I had no choice where he was concerned, but you wouldn’t listen. I can’t do this alone, Sebastien. The people here are hostile, and Medley

is scared. I need you,” Cynthia said in tears.

Sebastien knew exactly why she was calling.

“No, you need someone to punish and fuck you as usual. You have called the wrong person, Cynthia. Find a psycho that can deliver. I have moved on and am trying to get my life back on track. It will be best if you do not call me, Cynthia,” he warned her. /

Tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

“How can you replace me that quickly, Sebastien?” she asked, shocked and hurt by his words.

But he did not care.

The truth was that he had moved on. Their seven-year toxic relationship had almost destroyed him, and it was time for him to move on to something more promising and serious. Cynthia had been his addiction, not his peace. He knew that now. Maybe he had known it for a long time but had not wanted to accept it.

“You shouldn’t call me again, Cynthia,” Sebastien said.

He hung up before she could speak.

Cynthia threw her phone at the wall, sick and tired of everything. The sound of it hitting the wall barely satisfied her. When she said she wanted power, this was not what she had wanted. She wanted a man who would love her and take care of her needs. She wanted status, yes, but she also wanted warmth. She wanted to be wanted. She wanted to be chosen and protected, not used like a disposable piece in a game she did not understand.

She looked at the room she was in and laughed at herself.

Suddenly, she realised she was truly alone.

So she decided to get out and get some love elsewhere. No one could replace Sebastien, but anything would do right now to numb

her pain and fear.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna