Luna Who Broke the Line Chapter 04
I dragged my luggage to the café where I’d been working part–time. The owner, a kind Beta woman, cleared out the storage room in the back and let me sleep there for a while.
The room was tiny. A folding cot. A single lamp. But it was mine. My own space. No one could take it from me.
Before, Talia had once said she wanted a dedicated music room, and I’d been moved to the balcony.
Fourteen years. Summers scorching. Winters leaking cold air. No privacy at all.
On my second day of work, a familiar face appeared.
Gideon stood there holding a bouquet of sunflowers. My favorite.
“Freya. I shouldn’t have kept it from you. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
I didn’t take the flowers. I just looked at him.
“When did it change? With Talia?”
I still remembered the first time he’d seen Talia’s
cruelty toward me. He’d been so furious he wanted to confront her himself.
He’d said, “Freya, even if the whole world says you’re not the Graysons‘ real daughter, in my heart she
doesn’t even come close to you.”
The girl he’d once found despicable was now the
fragile thing he’d drop everything to protect.
Gideon’s expression flickered. He remembered the turning point too.
“Sophomore year. That flash flood. You remember?”
I remembered. The worst storm in Blackthorn territory in a decade.
I’d taken cold medicine the night before. When I woke, the balcony was already flooding. The whole family
had vanished without me.
I’d climbed onto the roof with the cactus Gideon had
given me. Called his number over and over. The signal held. He never picked up.
Later, he told me his phone had fallen in the water. That he’d gone the wrong direction. That was why he
hadn’t reached me in time.
I’d believed him. I’d even been grateful he hadn’t
come. The rescue team said another minute and the flood would’ve swept me away. Better he’d stayed safe.
Now he lowered his voice.
“Talia’s favorite doll got lost during the evacuation.
She was crying so hard. I thought I’d help her find it first, then come for you. Freya, I didn’t abandon you. I swear.‘
I stared at him.
In a life–or–death moment, Talia’s doll had mattered
more than my survival.
He’d kept his promise after all. Just not to me.
I asked my second question.
“Why?”
Why had he known the truth and never told me?
Why was I the one who’d been lied to and thrown away,
yet Talia was the one he pitied?
Gideon hesitated a long time. Then he answered.
“Because you’re strong.”
“Talia’s different. She acts tough, but inside she’s
fragile. Compared to you, she’s the one who needs looking after.”
Something stabbed through my chest.
My strength was the reason I’d been given up.
But I was strong because I’d never had anyone else to lean on.
I looked down at the sunflowers. My voice was calm.
“Leave.”
“Pretend we never knew each other.”
Gideon looked blindsided. He blocked the doorway, refusing to move.
“Freya. Do you have to be this heartless?”
I tossed the sunflowers into the trash.
“You let go first. Not me.
I pulled down the café’s metal shutter without hesitation.
Outside, Gideon’s voice came through the door.
Furious. Desperate.
“Freya. You’re so damn stubborn. No one’s ever gonna love you.”
That’s fine.
I’ll love myself.
In the weeks after, I threw myself into work. Picked up every shift I could.
By the time the semester was about to start, I’d saved enough for my first term.
Three days before orientation, I bought an Amtrak ticket to Silver Coast territory.
In the station waiting hall, Gideon’s message came through:
[Freya, stop this. I must have changed your enrollment
to Blackthorn Community College too. Once classes
start, we can still take care of Talia together.]
Right after, my parents and Callum messaged:
[Talia’s celebration dinner is tomorrow. Blackthorn Grand Hotel. Come.]
[Whatever your scores are, you’re still our daughter. You carry Grayson blood.]
I read them all. Deleted every one.
Then I blocked every number.
Picked up my suitcase. Walked toward the platform.
The Freya Grayson who used to beg for scraps of love was dead.
From now on, I’d take nothing handed down. No pity.
No leftovers.