Chapter 5

Lorraine's Pov 

My jaw clenched as I stared at the Liam and the little boy standing beside him.

Every second they remained in my office made it harder to breathe.

"Please leave." My voice was strained, barely holding together. "I don't want to see either of you."

Heat crept up my neck. I felt a deep sense of embarrassment. 

Embarrassment that I expected Callum to come, but instead, I had found his child here.

There was a small part of me that believed he had changed, and I was angry at myself for believing such nonsense. 

"No, I don't want to go. " The child mumbled, his small voice was soft.

"I want this pretty journalist to help me to find my mother. "

My heart skipped.

Find...

His mother?

I frowned despite myself.

"Please, I just want to find my mom." His voice even had an uncanny resemblance to Callum's voice

What does he mean that? Isn't his mom, Lana? Did she go missing? Or did Callum remarry or?

It wasn't my business.

None of it was.

I couldn't afford to care.

"Enough!" I snapped, The word exploded from my lips before I realized I'd raised my voice.

Guilt stabbed through me but I ignored it.

I had to.

I pointed toward the door, refusing to look at him again.

"Take him away, now!"

The child's lips quivered, and his eyes were filled with moisture as he clung to Liam's pant leg.

Liam lifted him and cradled him. He looked at me with disappointment.

"He's still a child. I don't know why you would lash at him or anyone like that for no reason,"

"If you have even the slightest respect for what your Alpha did to me..." I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"...then don't force his son to stand here in front of me."

My voice cracked. "Please." 

"Just.. calm down, Lorraine. I don't know gotten into you," Liam's voice sounded in my ears, and I knew he was right.

I was just being self-centered.  I knew the boy was just a child, and it wasn't his fault that his father had mistreated me. 

The anger I'd felt hadn't been for him. It had been for the man whose face he carried.

I closed my eyes and drew in a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, unable to meet either of their eyes. "I sincerely apologize for my behavior."

Without waiting for a response, I grabbed my handbag and hurried out of the office.

I couldn't stay there another second.

***********************

As I entered my apartment, I leaned against my door. 

Images of Lily playing across the room appeared to me. She had suffered a lot before she passed away. 

I walked towards my room to a quiet corner. I never liked seeing Lily's cot tucked away in the corner.

Anna had begged me to get rid of it years ago.

"You have to let yourself heal, Lorraine."

But she didn't understand.

The crib wasn't stopping me from healing.

It was all I had left of my daughter.

I had packed Lily's belongings into a box. 

Unwrapping the box, I looked at the blankets she had used, which still had her unique baby smell, and I took in her scent, remembering all the times we had spent together. 

Lily was meant to grow up and be a wonderful child. 

She was everyone's favorite and had the prettiest little smile. 

I looked at our first picture where her hands were reaching towards the camera in excitement.

She had my eyes.

And...

She had Callum's smile.

My chest tightened.

I remember the moment I discovered I was pregnant.  It was very uneventful. A few weeks after Callum banished me, I was wandering the human world with nowhere to go.

Every day became a fight to survive.

I begged for food, slept wherever I could find shelter, wondered if I'd wake up the next morning.

One afternoon, I was vomiting by the roadside when a kind older woman stopped by and asked whether I was feeling well. 

She assisted me to a restaurant, bought me food, and asked whether I was pregnant. I didn't know what to say at that moment.

She volunteered to buy me test strips to check just in case, and I couldn't thank her enough. 

Through the test results, I found out I was pregnant. It was a moment of mixed feelings, and I cried a lot because I knew who the father was, but he had chased me away. 

I swore to keep my baby safe and away from any harm. The older woman offered me a job at her cafe, and I discovered her name was Sendy.

The cafe was named after her: Sendy's Little Cup.

I reached out to Anna and she met up with me, and spoke up that her parents had refused her to do reach out to me all the while. so she had to wait. 

Anna told me that she had been searching everywhere for me, and she was glad she finally found me. 

I didn't know what to think anymore, and I had broken down in front of her because for the first time since losing my home...

I wasn't alone anymore.

I told her about my pregnancy, and she advised me. We built our relationship back, even though it was slow and steady. 

Not long after my pregnancy had progressed, Anna and I had gotten close, and I moved in with her.

She became Lily's godmother even before she was born. She stayed with me during labor and even assisted me in those dark times when I couldn't go on. 

After Lily was born, Anna did her best to help us when we discovered my daughter had a terminal disease. 

I remember staring at the doctor, waiting for him to tell me there had been a mistake.

He never did.

From that moment on, every dollar I earned disappeared into hospital bills, medication, specialists, and treatments.

I'd have sold my soul if it meant saving her.

It still wasn't enough.

Heavy rain had fallen that day, and I had stayed in the hospital with Lily the day she passed. It was her birthday, and with shaky hands, I had baked her a chocolate cake–Her favorite. 

She weakly held my hands and gave me a small, sweet smile until her eyes lost all signs of life. 

I wasn't the same for a while. I stayed inside more, no matter what Anna tried to do, and I couldn't see the point of living. 

Hot tears streamed down my face as I came back from memory lane into the present.

Over the years, I'd made powerful enemies through my investigations.

Drug traffickers., politicians, mafia leaders.

I knew they were hunting me.

Yet...

I couldn't find it in myself to be afraid.

Maybe because the worst thing that could ever happen to me already had.

Callum had reopened the healing wound in my heart. I vowed never to forgive him.

I was no longer on the fence, and I just hated him.

I heard a knock on the door, causing me to clean up my tears while I rushed downstairs.

Standing outside my door was Liam, and behind him was a black Range Rover Sport with tinted glasses.

I never hated Liam. I missed him,

I remembered twhen he used to sneak me desserts from the pack kitchen.

The one who'd always called me "Little Luna."

I had forgiven him for not standing up for me seven years ago as I realized that it wasn't his fault.

Liam had a sad look on his face as he spoke to me.

"I thought you loved children. What happened to you?" I suddenly recognized the look on his face as one of disappointment, but I didn't care as I had made up my mind. 

"Callum happened to me. I hate him, and right now, I hate everything that reminds me of him."