74 | checkmate

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A sigh leaves my lips when Mrs. Rogers finally steps out of my office with the last documents I needed to sign today. It means that work is done, and I can finally take Luna out for late afternoon snacks.

I glance at my watch. 4.30 pm. Just in time. She should have been here already.

I lean back on my chair, dialing Luna's number. She doesn't pick up, so I text her and shoot some emails to my stakeholders while waiting for her to arrive in my office.

Half an hour passes, but Luna still hasn't arrived. I call my driver who's supposed to pick her up at the mall, but he tells me that she still hasn't come down to the lobby yet.

Luna usually tells me when her plan changes or if she's going to be late, so this is very unlikely of her. Without waiting any longer, I text Nevaeh.

Me: I'm still waiting for Luna in my office. Is she still with you?

Her answer pops up not long after.

Heaven: No, she left around 2 hours ago. I'm strolling around the mall with Sienna now, just the two of us.

Heaven: Have you tried calling her? Is she okay?

I decide to not elaborate because I don't want to make Nevaeh worried.

Me: I'll call her again.

After hearing the voicemail again, I curse. My heart starts to become restless. Where is Luna?

The driver hasn't even seen her. Where did she go? Did something happen to her?

I hate it when Luna makes me worried like this. Should I just call Max? Maybe he knows.

Or...

I dial Ashton's number instead. He's in my home office right now. He picks up after the second ring.

"Is Luna there?" I ask urgently.

"Yes, she's here," Ashton says lazily, as if it's something I should have known earlier.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me that she was there?" I hiss, feeling like I want to topple my desk.

Ashton doesn't respond for a few seconds, but then he chuckles. "Well, I thought you knew about that? I mean, you had plans with her. She should have told you."

That's the problem.

She changed plans without telling me. We were supposed to meet in my office.

This makes me alert. She can't possibly know...

"I'm going there." With that said, I end the call.

I stand up from my chair and stride toward the door. I have a bad feeling about this, a really bad one.

No, there's no way that Luna has figured it out.


I storm into my penthouse once Ian opens the door for me.

"Where's Luna?" I urge.

Ian totters behind me, trying to keep up with my pace. "She's in the living room."

I halt, turning around to face him. I should have told Ashton and Ian that Luna wasn't supposed to come here without me. This is my fault. I had no idea that she wouldn't stick to our plan.

"Did she wander around the house?" I ask, hoping that she didn't. "Did she go there?"

Ian raises his eyebrows.

"Did she go to Nevaeh's room?" I demand an answer, starting to lose my patience.

"Yes. It was locked," Ian says.

I sigh in relief. That's right. Nevaeh has locked her room, so there's nothing to worry about. Luna wouldn't find anything suspicious.

"And she asked for the spare key," Ian adds, which makes my heart almost stop.

My eyes widen. I can't believe my ears. "She what?"

"She asked for the spare key," Ian repeats, making my blood boil.

This old man in front of me looks guilty, but he can only sigh and throw me a look of sympathy.

"And you gave her?" My voice is dangerously low, but Ian doesn't look threatened at all. It makes me feel dumb.

"She told me to," Ian answers simply, and I want to lash out. "Aiden." He sighs again, as though he's talking to the kid version of me. "It's Luna. What did you expect me to do?"

I walk away and curse. For fuck's sake. How could I forget?

It has always been like this. There is an unwritten rule in the Klein household. No one inside the castle can refuse Princess Luna's request. Everybody bows to Princess Luna.

Strangely, we don't have any problem with that. Including me. Especially me.

My legs stop the moment I spot Luna in the living room. She's sitting on the couch, staring blankly ahead at nothing in particular.

I swallow, knowing that she must have felt my presence. "Luna--"

"You know, I was wandering around your house," she starts, causing my heart to beat faster. "And then, I found a room. It was locked. All the other rooms weren't locked, not even your art room and that's why I still could send some of your old paintings for you to keep in there. But then, this particular room...was indeed locked. It was really, really strange."

I hold my breath, preparing for the checkmate.

I never thought that my sister could make me feel this nervous about something.

It's like she's interrogating me for doing something really, really bad.

Hold on. It really is that bad.

"I opened it, and it looked like a girl's room," she says, still staring blankly ahead. Her brows furrow in confusion. "It smelled like a girl. It had girls' stuff everywhere. And then...I saw something."

Excruciating silence fills the air, and I feel like I'm waiting for a death sentence.

"There's a photo frame." Luna takes a deep breath, as though she can't believe the next words she's going to say. "I saw a family photo. I saw..." she pauses before opening her mouth again, "I think I saw Nevaeh's photo."

I step closer to her while she finally turns her head toward me.

"Aiden." Disbelief skates all over her face. "What is going on?"

"Have you told Max about this?" I ask carefully.

To my relief, she shakes her head, signaling no.

"I can explain," I say.


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