Chapter 5
The birthday party was held in a hotel's Diamond Ballroom, lavish and grand. Leo peeled crawfish and king crab one bite at a time and fed them to Luna himself. Anyone who saw them praised him as the perfect husband.
Before the party was even over, his assistant rushed in. After whispering a few words in Leo's ear, Leo's face turned stormy. Without even wiping his hands, he strode out of the ballroom. Luna, however, stayed calm. She tossed the shrimp back into her bowl and looked at the man across from her. "Uncle Oliver, please find the proper way to withdraw your investment from Stone Media Group within a week. I'm in the middle of divorcing Leo. In a few days... I'll be going back to Harbor City."
The ballroom went dead silent. Uncle Oliver looked at her, his expression complicated. "...You've thought this through?" When Luna said yes, his eyes instantly reddened, and he nodded over and over. "Good. This should've happened a long time ago!"
"Luna, if it weren't for you, why would I have invested in that poor kid? Did Leo really think he could've bought that media tower on his own? Dream on! Now that you've come to your senses, your parents can finally rest easy up there!"
At the mention of her parents, Luna's whole chest tightened with grief. Her parents had both been university professors. They were flying to Capital City for an academic conference when their plane crashed. All these years, Luna hadn't even gone back once to visit their graves. Even if she went back now and knelt till her head bled, it still wouldn't make up for it.
After the party ended, Luna had just helped Uncle Oliver into his car when she saw a huge crowd gathered outside the hotel. A passerby was filming with a phone. "Hey, isn't that Leo Stone from the trending gossip? He's actually beating someone up!" Luna's eyes went wide in shock. She shoved through the crowd and ran in, only to see Leo straddling a man pinned to the ground. He was still wearing the light gray suit she'd picked out for him, but it was wrinkled now. His glasses had fallen off, and he was driving punch after punch into the man's face without mercy.
Leo had only ever hit someone once before in his life. Six years ago, Luna had pulled in an investor for him, and that investor had tried to cop a feel by touching her leg. That time, Leo had only punched the guy once and stopped there. This time, though, he beat the man till his face was covered in blood.
Luna dug her nails into her palm and rushed forward to stop him. "Enough! If you keep hitting him, you're going to kill him!" But Leo was seeing red and flung her away without even looking. The force was too much. Her foot slipped, and she crashed hard into the glass door. Warm liquid immediately ran down from her forehead.
Her vision swam. Through the haze, she saw someone rush over and cling to Leo's arm, crying out in a shaky voice. "Leo, stop hitting him. He only touched my hand once. You're scaring me like this..." Ava was so frantic her voice cracked, her eyes glossy with tears.
His fury vanished in an instant. Leo stood up and pulled Ava into his arms. "Don't be scared. I'm here. No one will ever hurt you..."
The two of them looked wrapped in tender affection. Luna touched the liquid running down her forehead, and the blood in her palm somehow blurred into that day's rain. And then, at that exact moment, Ava sniffled. "Leo, don't blame Ms. Quinn. She must just love you too much. That's why she had that host come mess with me..."