Crippled Luna's Farewell: Half A Life Without My Alpha's Deadly Deception

Sarah stiffened slightly, but her expression remained neutral.

Megan continued, oblivious to the tension her words created.

"She just opened her own company and apparently worked her entire team past two in the morning on their very first project." Leo let out a sharp scoff, his lips curling in a smirk.

"That project of hers? I heard about it. It's nothing impressive. If she had to keep her employees up that late, it only means she's incompetent." Megan chuckled, lowering her voice slightly as if sharing a secret. "Well, maybe she isn't the most capable, but she's certainly lucky. The project's progress has been slow, but Arnold felt bad for her. So, he personally went to her company last night to help out." Sarah's expression didn't change, but her hands clenched briefly before she forced them to relax.

She had already suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed left a strange, hollow feeling in her chest.

Megan, ever the gossip, leaned in a little closer, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Actually, rumor has it that Arnold and Linda pulled an all-nighter together in the upstairs office. They even slept there." A beat of silence followed.

Leo, who had been keeping an eye on Sarah, suddenly reached out and covered her ears with both hands.

"Don't listen to this nonsense,” he said, his voice laced with irritation. “If you listen any longer, your ears will be contaminated." Sarah blinked, caught completely off guard by his sudden action.

" " She had already heard everything. It was too late to cover her ears now.

A soft chuckle escaped her lips, and despite herself, she felt warmth bloom in her chest.

She wasn't particularly affected by the news about Arnold and Linda-she had already suspected where 14.00 Crippled Luna's Farewell: Half A Life Without My A 83.1% he had gone last night.

But Leo's protective gesture, his immediate reaction to shield her from something unpleasant, touched her in a way she hadn't expected.

Just as Leo was about to say something else, the air in the room shifted.

At that moment, Linda and Arnold entered the lobby.

Linda walked in first, her presence commanding as always.

She was dressed in a cream-colored, form-fitting dress that accentuated her graceful figure, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor.

Her honey-blonde hair was styled in perfect waves, and her expression carried just the right balance of elegance and authority.

Arnold followed closely behind her, his tall frdressed in a tailored black suit. His usual air of quiet dominance was intact, but the moment his gaze landed on Sarah and Leo, something in his posture changed.

His steps faltered-just for a fraction of a second.

His sharp eyes immediately took in the scene before him: Leo standing close to Sarah, his body slightly angled protectively toward her.

The way Leo had just been covering her ears, the soft amusement lingering on her face.

Something inside Arnold twisted, an unfamiliar feeling creeping in.

His inner wolf let out a low growl. *Look at them. Your Luna is slipping further away from you." Arnold clenched his jaw, willing away the intrusive thought. He had made his decision. Linda was by his side now. That was what mattered.

And yet, as he met Sarah's gaze-calm, unreadable, indifferent-he felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest.

The air in the lobby of the Silvermoon central building was cool and crisp, but the tension between the four people standing there was unmistakable.

The polished marble floor gleamed under the bright lights, and the soft hum of chatter from other employees filled the space.

Linda's eyes flickered toward Sarah the moment she saw her.

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Without thinking, she tightened her grip around Arnold's arm, drawing d's arm, drawing! herself close to him as if to silently herself mark her territory. Her lips curled into a practiced smile, but her gaze held an edge of triumph.

Then, she turned to Leo with a bright expression. "Leo, I didn't expect to run into you here, heard about me.Should havestarting a company, right? We have a networking banquet tonight, we invited many elites in the industry, do you have time?" she said smoothly, her voice lilting with artificial warmth. She didn't even glance at Sarah.

Leo raised an eyebrow, catching the deliberate exclusion immediately.

He didn't even bother hiding his smirk as he responded, "Thanks, but we already have other plans." His voice voice was polite, but the underlying bite in his words was impossible to miss. Linda's smile stiffened for half a second before she regained her composure.

"Oh well, another tthen," she said, her tone light, but the flicker of irritation in her eyes betrayed her disappointment.

Arnold, who had remained silent throughout the exchange, finally stepped forward.

His expression was unreadable, his posture composed.

"We'll be sure to invite you next time," he said to Leo, his tone neutral, yet there was an undeniable tension in the air.

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