An attractive woman in her early fifties stood at the kitchen doorway wearing a sleeveless dress in sage. Her golden-colored hair was cut short and curled at the ends. An old-fashioned style, but still fashionable today.
Margo looked very upset and walked quickly towards her two daughters and her future son-in-law. It was obvious that she was disappointed when she looked at her youngest daughter.
"You know that your sister is getting married tomorrow, right? And now you intend to hurt her, huh? Seriously Luna! There's no way your sister would walk down the aisle with her face battered from your anger."Margo snapped in a low but very firm voice.
No words came out; Luna just stared at her mother, her breath rising and falling. In the midst of her anger, Luna held back tears. Her mother was not on her side.
"Stop making such a fuss. There's a lot to prepare for tomorrow." Margo turned to Joshua and Leah. "You two, go back to the front. There are still many things you have to discuss with the WO."
Leah embraced Joshua while grinning a little. Joshua, meanwhile, released a regretful breath and looked down, avoiding Luna's eyes. Leah smiled triumphantly as the two made their way outside.
"Joshua!" screeched Luna loudly, stopping the bride-to-be in her tracks. "Don't call me 'darling', like you just did! It disgusts me!"
Leah's eyes were wide with rage. Joshua, who was confused, was the target of annoyance. He felt awful about Luna's words.
"There's no way Joshua is calling you 'darling'. Don't get yourself into trouble!" Leah shouted angrily.
"Joshua! Bring Leah to the front. And enough of the noise!" Joshua quickly complied with Margo's severe order by wrapping his arm around Leah's waist.
When their shadows vanished, Luna looked at her mother before getting ready to leave the kitchen.
"Luna, I need to talk."
Luna took a breath. She did not want to talk to her mother. But her mom had already put her arm around her and led Luna to sit in one of the chairs.
Margo looked at her youngest daughter's face from the side with both affection and sadness. She stroked Luna's head, but the girl quickly moved Margo's hand away gently. Margo didn't try to force her love because she was very aware of her daughter's suffering.
"Honey, I know you're devastated and hurt. This is definitely not what you wanted or imagined. But this is the way of destiny. No one can guess or evade it. Not me, not you, not anyone else. All we can do now is accept it and live with it."
"From the past..." Luna looked down tiredly. She caught her breath to keep the tears from escaping. "Mum was always at the forefront of looking after and protecting Leah. You were never there for me. Why, Ma?"
Luna turned her head, looking at her mother. Margo was unable to stand to stare into her daughter's red and wet eyes. The protests of her youngest daughter were too much for her to deal with. For many things, she had indeed made mistakes that hurt Luna.
"Joshua is my lover, Ma. We even got engaged with your blessing and Papa's too. Everyone knows that. But, why did Mama and Papa let Leah be with Joshua? You even gave your blessings to the two of them to get married.
Why didn't anyone ask me, Mom? Not even you, Mom. What did I do wrong to you that you all hate me? Tell me, Mum!"
The girl bombarded her mother with questions until her breath ran out. There were more questions, but Luna couldn't say them anymore as a tear fell down her pale cheek.
Margo reached out both arms, wanting to hug Luna, but the girl stood up immediately.
"I want to get married, Ma. I also want my wedding to be tomorrow."
***
Instead of heading to the front room, Leah pulled Joshua to another part of the house. The girl led her future husband into the lounge. Joshua had given up on himself. He didn't ask any questions because he had guessed what Leah wanted by taking him to another room.
"What were you and her talking about in the kitchen earlier?" Leah questioned them when they were in the lounge. Fortunately, nobody was there.
"Nothing. We didn't talk much," Joshua anaswered.
"No way. You were in the kitchen for so long that I needed to catch up with you."
"The truth is just like that, darling."
Leah tensed her hands into fists right away. The word "darling" made Leah think of her sister's scream of protest.
"Why are you calling Luna a darling? You still love her, huh? Your heart is still there for her, huh? Perhaps what you're imagining right now is getting married to Luna. Isn't that right?" Leah began to point out her prejudices with a series of questions.
"Come on, Leah. We're getting married tomorrow. Do you need to be prejudiced like this?" complained Joshua, who was reluctant to respond to his future wife's suspicions.
"What's prejudiced? It's very clear; Luna was talking about it. You do call her 'darling', don't you?"
Joshua was trapped. Leah would pursue him if he resisted until he admitted what he had done. If he told the truth, there would be a big commotion. It was a real dilemma. If he told the truth, there would be a big commotion. It was a real dilemma.
"Yes, I call her 'darling'. But I said it, not because I still loved her. It's just a normal greeting. Nothing special," Joshua replied half-honestly.
"How can anything be ordinary when you say it to your ex?"
"In fact, it was normal."
"You're a hypocrite! Admit that you still love her."
"Is that what you want?"
Leah looked at Joshua in confusion. "What do I want?"
"You want me to say I still love Luna. Is that what you want? You don't want my honesty. You just want me to say what you want to hear. Is that what you want?" Joshua challenged Leah sternly.
The man could see the hesitation in the expression of the woman who would become his wife; if this was the case, then the controller was Joshua.
"I just want you to tell me the truth," Leah said firmly.
"I've told you the truth."
Joshua's seriousness made Leah unable to move. The girl couldn't argue with Joshua, even if she had doubts about his sincerity.
"Is it true that you no longer love Luna?"
After lightly kissing her on the lips, Joshua hugged Leah's stunning body while petting both of her arms. He gently stroked Leah's back.
"I really apologize to you. I won't be calling Luna "darling" anymore. Let's forget what happened today and focus on tomorrow. The culmination of my affection for you is my promise to God to always take care of you and love you for life. Okay?"
When Leah's heart and mind were still in turmoil, Joshua's hugs weren't something she particularly loved. She had yet to get an answer to her question about Joshua's current feelings towards her sister. But Leah couldn't resist the sweet words that slipped from Joshua's lips.
Leah also didn't forget her goal of seducing Joshua and getting him to marry her. An endeavor that Leah will not destroy because of her own jealousy.