The Luna Choosing Game

Chapter 0622

The butler showed me to Susie's room, and then quickly excused himself outside of her door. When he was gone, I knocked.

"Go away!" Susie called in a watery voice. She was crying.

I knocked more insistently as I pushed open the door.

*I said -* she started, cutting herself off she say me. "Piper?"

"Hi, Susie," I said.

"Oh, Piper!" She was sitting at her desk, the tears running down her cheeks. As I entered the room, closing the door behind me, she jumped from the chair and ran to me.

We shared a hug. Relief flooded through me.

I stepped back after a moment, to look her over. She didn't seem too worse for wear. Other than the crying, she didn't show any signs of abuse or neglect.

"What are you doing here?" Susie sniffed. "I'm sure word has gotten around by now."

*Rumors don't matter. Come back to palace."

*If you've heard the rumors, you know why I can't."

"Everyone will forget, the moment you appear. They'll all just think it's gossip and it won't matter," I say. "Since Jessica is the only other contender for Joyce, you wouldn't even have to face elimination."

*Piper," she sounded so sad. "I can't come. It's just not rumors. My parents... They know the truth about me."

*How could they?" I asked. She wasn't showing yet. Sure they might suspect, but to have real proof?

"I told them," Susie said.

I startled, speechless.

"I didn't want to lie anymore about any of it," Susie said. "I don't want to have to pretend to have feelings for Joyce, when the only one I really want is Mark."

weight of the ring in my pocket near doubled, and I regretted holding it back even

in the sitting room with your parents," I said. Susie's eyes went wide as saucers. "Mark

think anything would have kept him away. If your parents wouldn't have let him inside, he would have scaled the walls and climbed

laughed a

door might open the way. My presence was required for this. It is, after all, more likely they'd let me in to see

"True."

knew who

about you often.

another hug. How grateful I was to be in her life! Though how much it hurt to hear

"Mark told me to give you this." I held my palm out with the ring

at

I told her. "He wants

it up closer to her, to inspect it. She touched it with only her fingertips, treating it as a precious, rare, fragile

her features. Then, in the

that didn't matter to me, Mark would be throwing his

worry about that," I told her. "Nicholas will find a way to get it to work. If this is what you want, Susie, you can't let it get

the tears. She continued looking at the

see him," she

the doorway. With Susie leading, we didn't need the butler to guide us back downstairs to

slid the ring onto her finger. I couldn't help my smile. When she

Nicholas, as I've consistently said "Susie's father was saying. He cut himself off when Susie and I

*Susie..." her mom said.

Then his gaze dropped to her hand, where she'd already put

word overflowing

closer to Susie's parents, closer than

dropping into a deep bow. "Please allow me to marry

both

your daughter," Mark said. "I

don't know of her condition!"

mother was quicker. She touched her husband's arm. "He

And I would raise it as my child, with

Nicholas said. "He is my Beta and a loyal man besides. He will treat your