Chapter 23
The restaurant felt different now. Colder.
A strange silence settled over the room, and when I looked around, I realized–¦¦
Every single person was looking at me.
Eyes watching. Studying.
Then, my phone rang
I flinched at the sudden noise, my fingers tightening around the rose.!!
Ronan 8
I exhaled, pressing the phone to my ear
“Where the hell are you?” His voice was sharp, urgent. “Darius is fucking mad. He came back and found you gone. He’s been calling you. but you’re not answering.”
I checked my phone. Several missed calls.
Darius.
My stomach twisted.
I didn’t reply. Instead, I reached for my coffee, my fingers still trembling slightly.
“Valeria Ronan’s voice dropped lower “Are you listening to me?”
I took a slow sip before answering. “I hear you.”
“Then answer your damn phone before he burns the city down looking for you.”
I swirled my coffee, watching the dark liquid move in circles X
“Not in the mood,” I murmured.)
Silence.k
Then, Ronan sighed. “What happened?“%
I stared at the rose in my hand. At the note.§
I should tell him.
I should tell someone.
But I didn’t.
Instead, I tumed off my phone.
I finished my coffee in silence, the bitter taste lingering on my tongue. The rose and the note sat on the table beside my plate, taunting
I should’ve walked out the second that girl handed it to me. Should’ve known better than to stay.
But instead, I sat there, pretending everything was normal.
It wasn’t. It never would be. That note wasn’t just a threat–it was a waming. Someone was watching. Someone who knew my name, my past, my sins.
And yet, the only thing I could think about was the small hand that had placed it in mine. The delicate fingers. The dark, haunting eyes.
My stomach twisted. I forced myself to take another sip of coffee, but the bitterness burned my throat, making it hard to swallow, I barely tasted my food. I barely noticed when I signed the check
Everything blurred.
By the time I left the restaurant, my hands were cold, my body tight with something I couldn’t shake.
The moment I turned on my phone, a series of voicemails flooded in.
Danus–ten voice calls.
ov said.X
I didn’t need to listen to them to know what they
“Where the fuck are you, Valeria?%
“Call me back ”
“Don’t make me fucking track you down”
My fingers hovered over his contact name. I should call him back. I should deal with this before he loses his mind and does something
reckless
But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.E
I exhaled sharply and tossed my phone onto the passenger seat
Minutes That’s how long it would take before he tracked me down.)
Maybe this time, he wouldn’t just yell. Maybe this time, he’d come for me.X
I gripped the steering wheel tighter and pressed on the gas I
The city blurred past as I drove aimlessly, my mind elsewhere I
327 PM c d
But then- I saw her
A small figure on the side of the road. Sitting on the pavement. Alone.
My breath hitched. The same girl who had given me the rose earlier. So, she’s really real. Not just my illusion or what She looked lost, her tiny arms wrapped around her knees, head lowered.
My chest tightened.I
I didn’t stop to think. Before I knew it, I had pulled over
I stepped out my heels clicking against the pavement as I approached her. She didn’t look up..
“Hey I called out. “What are you doing here?”
Slowly, she lifted her head Big, dark eyes met mine. And I stopped breathing. Something pulled inside me. Those eyes. Familiar.
Painfully, hauntingly familiar.
“My stomach hurts,” she murmured. “I’m hungry.
My hands curled into fists.E
No child should be sitting alone on the street like this
I crouched in front of het my voice softer now. “Where are your parents?”
“Don’t have any.”
My throat tightened. “You’re homeless?“L
She nodded.
Fuck.I
A child. Alone. Hungry &
What kind of monsters let this happen?2
I pulled out a few bills, handing them to her. “Here. Buy some food.
But she didn’t take it
Instead, she whispered. “The beautiful lady gave me five bucks to give you the flower.”
I froze.
Beautiful lady.
My pulse pounded in my ears.
I didn’t need to ask.
I already knew.
Isabella’s sister.
That bitch!!
She was playing games with me now!
I exhaled slowly, forcing my anger down. “Did she tell you anything else?“X
The girl shook her head.
I studied her, my gaze scanning the small frame, the thin wrists, the way her clothes hung loosely off her tiny body. Too thin. Too fragile. “What’s your name?” I asked, my voice gentler this time.
She hesitated, then whispered-
“Amara
My heart stopped. The world tilted.
No. No, no, not
I stared at her, my body rigid, my throat tightening. I could barely breathe. For a moment, I swore I was looking at her. My Amara. My daughter My baby girl. But she wasn’t.
Only the eyes. That was the only thing they had in common.
Still, it didn’t stop the pain that slammed into me like a truck, knocking the air from my lungs.
I hadn’t spoken her name out loud in so long. Hadn’t heard it. Hadn’t dared to let it slip past my lips because the moment I did, the grief came crashing back
But now it was everywhere Surrounding me. Suffocating me.l
A child with my daughter’s name. A child with my daughter’s eyes I
I wasn’t prepared for this. I wasn’t strong enough for this I wanted to hold her. I wanted to run. I wanted to scream
Instead, I just sat there, staring at her, my entire world breaking apart-
Again
