The telephone rang the minute I stepped into my house. I had only just returned from dropping Laurel at school.
Everything seemed back to normal till I lifted the telephone from its cradle.Jody hadn't noticed me yet. She was sprawled on the love seat sofa in my tiny sitting room, distracted by those South Korean dramas on her mobile that made her cry and laugh at the same time.The caller on the telephone had a modern American accent. He asked if he was speaking with Grace Jones and I'd have concluded the call as spam until he mentioned ‘The Man I Saved Last Week’. “Why should I meet him?” I had asked the caller impatiently, standing with my back resting against the wall behind me.“Are you not curious to know how the person you saved is faring?” he asked, then went ahead without waiting for a reply, “What’s the point of saving him if you wouldn't be interested in his final outcome, if he recovered or not?”I wanted to tell him he soundedI would really love to know what you think about the story so far!❤️❤️
CONNOR SHELBY. “Oh my God," I exhaled in my mind at how it all played out before my eyes.I wanted to go after her, grab her hands and launch into a tirade of explanation.But it felt as though my feet grew roots and suddenly pinned me to the spot. I couldn’t move a bloody inch.It unsettled me to see the crushed look on her face as she ran out of the café.But it wasn’t my feet’s fault, I sensed the firm grip of Marcus’s hand on my arm holding me back. And when he realized that I had noticed his hands on mine, he took two steps backward, stood at attention and bowed to me.“I’m sorry Alpha.” he apologized with his eyes still facing the ground. “I just felt it was best not to go after her at this point. With the reporters around us and all. I believe we can handle this better without creating a scene.”I ignored Marcus and dashed out of the café to where our car was waiting, remembering I took a dark sunshade on my way out. I fished it out o
GRACE.My phone's alarm went off reminding me it was time to go pick Laurel up from school. I had lost track of time, sobbing and sinking in gloom since I got back from Dior’s Diner.I was relieved to see that Jody had left, so I had enough space to cry my eyes out without anyone asking me what was wrong. I had no idea if she kept to her promise but I couldn’t care less at that point.I was going to tell my friends, but not now. I still couldn’t believe this was happening after all I had gone through to get my life back on track. Working like a mull these past seven years, trading sleep and convenience for a life of comfort for my daughter.What do I tell her now? That some stranger who was about slipping into my life after six years was her father? After telling her she had no dad the first time she asked me with watery eyes at age three.Damn you, Connor Shelby, I thought.The time- to- pick- up- Laurie- fro
CONNORI saw Grace climbing up the stairs and my tummy lurched.She must've seen my car parked downstairs. Would she suspect I was already here? It took all of my willpower to not descend the stairwell to go meet her.So I stood frozen at the top of the stairs, watching her clamber up with a child by her at her side.Neither she nor the child had seen me yet. Grace's attention was fully on her as they both laughed and continued climbing.From my position, I almost gasped out in awe. The little girl, the same girl I saw on the tablet was like a miniature version of myself. The picture I saw didn’t do justice to what I was finally seeing.I wouldn’t need a DNA test, heck I wouldn’t even need Grace to tell me the girl now walking towards me was my daughter. Seeing both the mother and the child made me thrilled and scared at the same time.The little girl ran up ahead of her mum, hopping on the each stair with innate ene
GRACE.“Gracieeee” Jody’s voice rang out from outside my house. She did that all the time, so I wasn’t startled. Considering the sort of mood I was in at the moment, I wasn’t really curious about whatever made her yell my name like that.What I wanted was staying somewhere where no one would see me and cry in silence. I wished with all my heart I could skip work tonight.I was on permanent night shifts for NAs Daily, a small scale newspaper company I managed to secure after rigorous job huntings, so as to garner more funds for Laurel and I, not to mention few other freelancing jobs I was doing here and there.On most days, I took Laurie with me, and on others, she stayed with NK and her kids or Jody helped me babysit her till I returned in the morning.There was nothing I could do. Securing a good job in central London required connection with insiders or a recommendation from top people, especially fro
CONNORI remained in my car at the entrance of the Grace’s house, willing her to come out, maybe to get something or to see off the woman that went in there earlier.I wasn’t sure I'd be lucky enough to see her again as the day was getting darker, but I had to make an effort. Who knows?As Marcus drove me back home after speaking with her, I thought long and hard on how to get closer to my mate and my child, how to make up for all those years I was absent from their lives.“Is something bothering you, Alpha?” Marcus had asked, staring at me from the car's rearview mirror.I shook my head and sent him a fake smile. I was aware he was still waiting for me to tell him what was going on, but also knew I would when I was ready. And that was when the idea of coming to her place later today without his knowledge occurred to me.I had let him drop me off at the house and go back home before rushing in to change to a mor
GRACE.Director Lancelot Howard looked so pleased to see me, I cringed, wishing he could make it less obvious.I bet he was thinking he had finally won me over. The main problem I had with men who were rich and handsome enough to get any woman they wanted, whenever they wanted, however they deemed fit.Lance was one of those kind of men. Alpha Connor Shelby was definitely at the top of the list.There I go again! The same name, the same person I was trying so hard to wipe off my mind. I hated to admit it, but he was the only reason I agreed to let Director Lance drive me to work today. And with the smug look the director was giving me, I wished I could take back saying yes and agreeing to his offer.He made me generally uncomfortable. He was too focused on himself and the impression he would be making on others. I wasn't sure I had met the real him yet, if at all it existed.He rushed to open the door wielding his heavy air of chivalry, smil
CONNOR.Marcus knocked on my bedroom door when I was finally trying to get some sleep. “Come on in.” I called from inside and sat up on my bed.“Good morning, Alpha.” Marcus was looking all smart and active in his navy-blue colored suit and tailored trousers.He raised his head to stare at me. “You look spent, Alpha, were you able to sleep at all?” he asked with a worried elevated eyebrow and creased forehead.Of course I look spent. I couldn’t sleep a wink all through the night, thinking about what Grace could possibly have going on with the Mercedes guy.I ran in my wolf form all through the night, hoping I could find some relieve or it would help clear my head.“I’m okay, Marcus.” I said instead. “Just had a lot to do.”He shot me a disbelieving stare before turning to the tablet on his hands. “An article came out last night about you in E
GRACEI was done with work before 4am, hence I was able to rush home and catch a short nap before day broke to take Laurel to school.Jody was on bed with her when I got in, so I crashed on the couch, feeling totally exhausted from hours of typing without getting any sleep. Our editor in chief worked with us through the night, thus, none of us could steal naps as we usually did whenever she went home on time as supposed.I remember director Lance calling me up to his office once to ask me to sleep. Come to think of it, he was great to me a lot of times and if I was a normal woman without so much fear or an ugly past or so much responsibility, maybe I might have given him a chance. The 7am alarm on my phone woke me up. I scrambled to my feet, aroused Laurie and started preparing her for school. But what I really wanted to do was crash and sleep like someone in a coma.Jody was already preparing for work as well. Some of her clothes