The Fake Luna: Marked By The Alpha King

Chapter 282: Chapter 282 Then it happened

Aria’s POV

The words hit like a boulder hurled into a frozen lake.

Damian’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table. His jaw locked, eyes lifting at last to meet his grandfather’s—cold, silent, and no longer willing to take it without answer.

"Grandfather!" I gasped, moving on instinct to put myself between them. "Damian’s still healing—please, don’t—"

Elena and Grace both lunged forward, trying to hold Aldric back.

But he was beyond reason now. No amount of pleading would reach him.

Andrew, who had been silent until then, rose abruptly from his seat and caught his father’s wrist mid-air before another blow—or another word—could fall. His voice was low, strained, and tightly controlled:

"Father. Enough. Please."

Damian lifted his head slowly, his eyes meeting Aldric’s furious gaze with unnerving calm.

But there was no fear in his expression. No anger. Only a deep, bottomless exhaustion that made my chest ache just looking at him.

"You’re right. I don’t have manners." His voice was soft, measured, but every word landed like a blade.

"Because I’ve always been the grandson you never believed in. So of course I don’t have manners. Isn’t that what you’d expect?"

I’d come to understand, over the months I’d known him, that no matter what Damian did, he would never be the grandson Aldric wanted.

He’d told me once that he’d accepted that truth back when he was still a child—that he’d stopped hoping for approval a long time ago, and all he wanted now was to stop being dragged into the same old storm every time they ended up in the same room.

For years, he’d said, he’d tried to bridge the gap between them, to at least be a passable grandson. But it didn’t work.

Each word Damian spoke was deliberate, painfully clear. There was no shouting, no hysteria. Just cold, cutting truth.

It wasn’t defiance. It was accusation. A lifetime of disappointment, buried deep in his bones, finally clawing its way to the surface.

And it tore through the fragile pretense of peace between them like a knife through silk.

Aldric froze for a few seconds, stunned.

Then his face twisted with rage.

"You ungrateful—"

His hand flew up, aiming straight for Damian’s face.

Damian didn’t flinch. He stared his grandfather down, unflinching, as if daring him to follow through.

"Grandfather, don’t—"

But I didn’t think. I just moved.

My body was in front of Damian’s before my brain caught up, my arms instinctively shielding him.

Aldric’s hand came down hard and fast. The slap wasn’t meant for me, but it landed across my cheek and the side of my neck with brutal force.

The impact sent me stumbling. My knees buckled, and I hit the floor hard.

For a moment, everything went silent.

"Aria!" Elena’s scream shattered the stillness.

Grace’s hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief that Aldric had actually struck me.

And Damian—

I felt the shift in him instantly. The air around him turned glacial.

His pupils contracted sharply as he stared down at me on the floor, clutching my face. His eyes flared red, and I saw the exact moment his control snapped.

He shot to his feet so fast his chair toppled backward with a deafening crash.

"Damian—" Grace’s voice was desperate now, trying to de-escalate before things got worse. "Aldric, we need to leave. Now."

Aldric looked down at his own hand, then at me on the ground, and for the first time something like regret flickered across his face.

It looked like even he hadn’t meant to hit that hard—like his temper had gotten away from him faster than he could rein it in.

This time, when Grace tugged at his arm, he didn’t resist.

Elena looked like she wanted to throttle Aldric, but she bit back whatever she was about to say and dropped to her knees beside me instead.

I was still dazed, my cheek throbbing, my neck burning. The staff member and Elena both helped me to my feet, their hands gentle and worried.

But the second I steadied myself, I turned back.

"Damian."

His name left my lips before I could stop it.

I was worried about him. Ever since Aldric had walked through that door, I’d watched Damian’s state get worse and worse.

Then it happened.

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