Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 110

Eve

We stayed like that for a moment, letting the grief settle. I tried to keep my eyes dry and collect my thoughts. To put up a brave and bright front after all she had been through felt like a betrayal to the depth of her pain, so I let myself mourn with her. Mourning not just the years of suffering she endured, but the innocence stolen from her, the love she was denied, and the freedom that had always seemed just out of reach.

Finally, Jules pulled back slightly, wiping her face with trembling hands. Her cheeks were streaked with tears.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice raw and hoarse. "For listening, for... not pitying me. I hate pity. It makes me feel small."

I shook my head firmly, meeting her eyes. "You are not small, Jules. You are monumental."

She gave a watery smile, the barest hint of a flush returning to her freckled cheeks. "I don’t feel extraordinary."

"You are," I muttered, my voice losing some of its zest. You are not like me, I said in my head.

"Thanks for bearing some of the weight for me," she murmured, "but I know I’m not the only one who needs help with the burden their past has left them."

I stilled, my throat working with a swallow. I hesitated.

"You don’t need to be afraid, I promise. It does not matter how small or big your scars might be, I want to lessen their weight, and it will stay between us." She intertwined her fingers with mine. "I am your friend, and I’ll stand by you, no matter what." Her voice was soft yet steady, a quiet reassurance that sank deep into my chest.

I looked down at our intertwined hands. Her grip was tight despite the tremble in her fingers. It was hard to believe someone who had endured so much could still offer comfort so freely.

I wrestled with the impulse to pull away, to bury my own pain and truth as I should. Yet, the sincerity in Jules’s eyes disarmed me.

"You don’t have to say anything if you’re not ready," Jules added, her tone soft. "I just... I want you to know you don’t have to carry it alone. Not with me." Her expression was earnest as she gazed into my eyes.

The lump in my throat hardened, and my pulse thudded in my ears. Jules’s earnest gaze pierced through me, stripping away the layers of defense I’d meticulously built over the weeks I had been here. The warmth of her hand in mine was soothing, but it also ignited a panic deep inside me, a flicker of fear that if I let her in, everything would unravel.

She wasn’t looking at Eve, the ghost clinging to life in the shadows. She was looking at Ellen, the facade I’d constructed, the lie that kept me safe. If I told her the truth, the walls of this fragile world I’d built would crumble, leaving me exposed.

"I…" My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard, forcing myself to meet her gaze. The words hovered on the edge of my tongue, threatening to spill out. *Tell her. Tell her who you are. Tell her why you’re here.* But the weight of the consequences pressed down on me, suffocating. What if the truth reached Hades? I glanced around the edges of the room, looking for the cameras that I knew were hidden. It only served to make the room more unnerving. At least the ones in the hallways were in plain sight.

I could whisper it. I glanced uneasily at her, sweat forming on my brow, the ground-breaking truth on the tip of my tongue.

I am supposed to be dead. I am Eve Valmont.

Jules’s grip on my hand tightened, her expression softening with concern. "It’s okay," she said gently. "You don’t have to push yourself. Whatever it is, whenever you’re ready... I’m here."

It could have been a trick of the light, but her eye twitched. I blinked, shaking my head nervously.

I was losing it. My chest tightened as I tried to regain my composure. I had buried Eve that day or so I thought. But standing here, with Jules offering her firm support, I felt Eve stirring inside me, begging to be acknowledged.

"I wish I could," I whispered, the words escaping before I could stop them. My hand twitched in hers, but I didn’t pull away. "I wish I could tell you everything."