The Moon Knows How to Play

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Dad... Mom..."

The word scraped out of my throat like I was forcing myself to breathe through barbed wire. My chest felt heavy as I stood at the doorway of the old mansion's living room. My parents were lounging on the velvet sofa—my mother, with her usual sharp eyes, and my father, with his stern stillness that always managed to cut me down.

"Oh, Thunder. Why do your eyes look so small?" Mama immediately frowned, her voice high—pitched and accusing. "Did you cry? Damn it, I didn't raise a crybaby, leche ka!" She waved her hand as if shooing the thought away, but her words stabbed harder than any knife.

Then her eyes flicked past me, landing on the woman trailing behind my shoulder. Her lips parted, and for a moment, I swore she softened. "Elunar, is it?"

The name cracked something inside me.

I turned sharply toward Eclips. Her face tensed, irritation flashing in her eyes like a whip's crack. The corners of her lips twitched into a forced smile, her voice sugar-coated but laced with steel. "It's Eclips." She emphasized each syllable, driving the mistake into the room like a nail.

"Oh, Eclips." Mama nodded, regaining her composure as though she hadn't just mistaken her for the one person my heart kept bleeding for. "What brings you here? How's Heraya?"

Papa's tone followed, low but deliberate, his gaze pinning Eclips as though weighing her soul.

Eclips smiled—a bright, practiced smile, the kind that belonged to a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. "Thunder and I are getting married."

The words exploded in the air.

Papa's brows pulled together, his lips forming a straight line of disapproval. Mama's reaction was sharper—her eyes widened, her hand flying to her chest. "Holy mother of God, santisimas que horror!" she cried, shaking her head furiously. "No way! Enjoy your youth, Thunder! Don't tie yourself down with marriage so soon!" She swung her gaze back to Eclips, the corners of her mouth flattening. "I am very sorry, hija, but I cannot allow this. And I know Hernandes won't either."

"Buntis po ako," Eclips said, softly but with enough weight to shatter the room's walls.

Pregnant.

The air stilled. Papa's eyes snapped to mine, narrowing into blades. "Who's the father?" His voice was quiet, deadly. "Did you release inside her? And to Heraya's daughter, no less?"

Shame scorched my chest. My eyes fell to the floorboards. I didn't answer.

I was sure I hadn't.

Mama and Papa let out a long, heavy sigh together. "This is exactly what I feared, jusko," Mama muttered under her breath. Then louder, she turned to Eclips. "Anyways, are you certain it's our grandchild you carry—or are you only pretending to be pregnant?"

Eclips's voice trembled. "Y-Yes, I'm sure."

Mama gave her a tight smile. "I only want to be certain. You might have framed our son, hija. Because I know Thunder isn't the type of man to finish inside a woman." Her gaze flicked to me, narrowing. "Even when we've told him to do it inside."

"Mama..." My throat closed. My mother's words sliced me open.

She only sighed, her eyes sad now. "Take full responsibility of this, Thunder. Are you truly ready to marry this woman?"

I lifted my eyes to Eclips. Her words earlier echoed in my skull like a death sentence: If you don't marry me, I'll kill the child.

My fists clenched. "Yes, Mama."