Chapter 4 There was a time Luna loved mirrors

There was a time Luna loved mirrors.

When she was younger, they were like friends-silent companions that reflected her brightest moments. Back when her skin glowed with joy and her waist still curved like it used to. Back when she would catch Darius looking at her with a hunger in his eyes that made her feel like she was the center of the universe. Now, she couldn't stand the sight of herself. Every mirror in the house was either covered or turned to face the wall.

She wasn't ashamed of her weight. Not exactly. It wasn't the number that haunted her-it was the reason behind it.

She had given everything for her family. Her body had become a battlefield for pregnancies, sleepless nights, emotional starvation, and silent cries no one heard. While Darius slipped away into the arms of another woman, Luna fed her children, kept the household running, and tried to fill the cracks in a marriage that had been hollowed out by betrayal.

But she had reached her limit.

That morning, she stood before the bathroom mirror, one she had covered with a floral scarf months ago. Slowly, deliberately, she pulled the cloth away. For a moment, she couldn't breathe. The woman staring back at her didn't look like her. Puffy eyes. Deep lines carved from worry. Skin that had lost its glow. A figure bloated with stress and exhaustion.

But beyond that-deeper-there was something else.

Rage.

Not the kind that screamed and shattered things. No. This rage was quieter. Older. It had fermented over the years. It lived in her bones now.

And for the first time, Luna didn't turn away.

She met her own eyes in the mirror and whispered, "No more."

Later that afternoon, the doorbell rang. She had been folding laundry in the kids' room, her thoughts still reeling from the morning's confrontation with Eleanor. She opened the door to find Selene, Darius's ex-girlfriend-his first love-standing there.

Dressed in a crisp white blouse and expensive jeans, Selene looked exactly like the kind of woman Darius's family always adored-thin, polished, poised. She didn't wait to be invited in. She just stepped past Luna, her perfume trailing behind like a warning.

Luna didn't say a word. She shut the door and followed Selene into the living room.

"I didn't come here to fight," Selene said, sitting on the edge of the couch as if the cushions were too dirty to touch fully. "I came to clear the air."

Luna folded her arms. "You shouldn't be here."

"You're right. But Darius... he told me you've been making things difficult. That you've been unstable."

Luna's stomach twisted. The audacity. The gall.

"Unstable?" she echoed, her voice dangerously low.

Selene sighed, playing with the diamond bracelet on her wrist. "Look, I know you've been struggling. It's not easy being a mother. I get it. But you're not the woman he married anymore, Luna. You've changed."

Luna laughed bitterly. "You think I don't know that? You think I wanted to change into someone invisible? I didn't become like this because I gave up-I became like this because I was abandoned."

Selene stood slowly, her expression softening into something that almost resembled pity. "Sometimes... people fall out of love. You can't force him to stay in something that's not working."

Luna looked at her, and in that moment, she realized Selene wasn't just here to gloat or to pretend to offer kindness. She was here to make Luna surrender. To plant the seed of doubt that maybe, just maybe, Luna should let go.

But Luna wasn't letting go.

Not like this.

Not until the truth came out.

"You think you've won," Luna said quietly. "But you don't understand. You didn't take him from me. He ran to you because he couldn't face the wreckage he caused. And you welcomed him because you've always been waiting for me to fail."

Selene's jaw tightened, but she didn't deny it.

"Enjoy your victory," Luna continued. "But don't get too comfortable. I'm not the same woman you used to pity."

And with that, Luna walked away, leaving Selene standing in the middle of her living room.

That night, Darius didn't come home.

It wasn't a surprise, really. He barely came home anymore. When he did, he brought the stench of guilt and another woman's perfume on his collar. Luna used to cry herself to sleep on those nights. Not anymore.

Now she planned.

She stayed up until the early hours of the morning, sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of bitter coffee and an old leather notebook in front of her. Inside it were names. Dates. Bank accounts. Company transfers. She had kept quiet for too long, but Luna was not stupid. While Darius played the role of the charming businessman and Selene smiled in the background, Luna had quietly collected everything.

Her father had taught her well.

She had sacrificed her inheritance to marry Darius. But she never forgot what her family had built-or how to protect herself if she ever needed to. It was time to remember who she was.

The girl who once knew power. The woman who once walked into rooms and turned heads.

She was still there-buried, maybe. But not gone.

The next morning, Luna met with her lawyer.

She didn't tell anyone where she was going. She dressed simply but neatly. Black trousers, white blouse, no makeup. But her eyes were sharp. Her voice was clear.

"I'm ready to file for divorce," she said as she sat across the desk.

The lawyer blinked. "You're sure?"

Luna nodded. "I want custody. Full custody. And I want to expose what he's done."

There was a silence, then a slow smile from the lawyer.

"I think we can make that happen."

When Luna returned home, Darius was there-waiting.

He sat on the sofa like he owned the place, like nothing had changed. But the second he looked at her, he knew.

Something had changed.

"You look different," he muttered.

Luna placed her bag down gently. "No, Darius. I just stopped hiding."

He stood, arms crossed. "What's this about?"

She looked him straight in the eye. "I want a divorce."

His face didn't react right away. It was as if he couldn't quite believe she had said it. But then his expression twisted.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not," she said calmly. "You left this marriage long before I did. I'm just finishing what you started."

He scoffed. "You can't survive without me."

Luna smiled, and it wasn't sweet.

"Watch me."