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Alaric’s POV: My body went completely still. Clint’s words hung in the air like a dark and heavy cloud. His gaze remained on mine, and I didn’t look away either. Didn’t move, didn’t say a fucking word.I didn’t try to deny it. Hell, I didn’t even want to. It’s why I was here.To accept the fact that I killed my own father.“Nothing to say, huh?” he asked, gaze narrowing. “You won’t try to deny it?”With every second that passed, the expression on Clint’s face soured even more. He was in disbelief. Almost like he wasn’t sure I did it at first, and was only guessing when he tried to accuse me just now.And me not denying his accusations only confirmed it.Yes, I killed my father.I was thirteen years old and completely fed up. My father had done too much, consistently beating up my mother, and even though I tried so hard to defend her, it was never enough. He still locked her up in psychiatric facilities and made her look crazy, releasing her whenever he wanted and putting her back whe
Alaric’s POV: The last thing I thought I would ever do—asides go to therapy—was to come here.This was a bad fucking idea. I knew it from the moment I got in the jet. Knew it from the very second I landed in Louisiana and throughout the entire drive to my destination.But there was nothing else I could do except this. I needed some kind of closure, and where else was I going to get it except here, in the Louisiana State Penitentiary?Fuck, yes. I was here to see Meadow’s father—the man who was in prison for killing my father.My fists curled on the surface in front of me and I stared down at it. I hadn’t seen this man in many years. And even before then, I never saw him enough. But I knew. I knew everything he did.I couldn’t tell Meadow that I loved her when I didn't have a clear conscience, and I would never have a clear conscience if I didn’t speak to Clint Russell.A loud buzz signified his entrance, and I slowly raised my gaze, watching as two prison guards hauled Clint Russell
Meadow’s POV: The back of my eyelids started to burn with unshed tears. Hell no, this wasn’t how this was supposed to go. I wasn’t supposed to cry in front of this woman.I looked away from her, blinking rapidly. “You’re right,” I whispered. “He does need me. But I can’t be the person he needs me to be, Ingrid. I can’t just be some kind of… thing that keeps him grounded to reality. Alaric needs me, but he doesn’t love me. And I’m sorry, but that will never be enough for me.” I rose to my feet. “I know you love your son, and I have no idea how much he told you about us and I…” I ran a frustrated hand through my hair. “Is that what you came here for? To ask me to go back to him?”Cami was right. Alaric was in a very bad state, and his mother was only here because she thought I could fix it for some reason. I didn’t believe that Ingrid would come here on her own accord just to apologize to me. She wanted something, and she had just told me what she wanted.She rose to her feet as well.
Meadow’s POV: Ingrid Ashford’s presence was still as tall and intimidating as ever. However, I wasn’t in the mood for her shit today.To my surprise, her hair wasn’t pulled back in the tight bun it usually was—she let it down beautifully today.“Gives me a migraine,” she said as she noticed where my attention was. “As if having two boys wasn’t enough of a headache already.”Holy… shit.Did she just say something light-hearted to me? Did she just try to make a joke?My gaze narrowed. “Your children are hardly boys, Ingrid. They’re grown men.”‘And maybe you need to get off their backs,’ I wanted to add, but decided against it.“Maybe one day, when you have children, you’ll understand why we as mothers do the things we do and why we’ll always do anything to protect our children even if that means risking our health.”That was it.I scoffed, shooting Ingrid a glare. “If this is what you came here for, then I’ll gladly shut the door in your face. I’m already going through a lot without y
Meadow’s POV:I froze, but I didn’t need to wait long before she continued. “I didn’t tell you the truth because you were already feeling terrible and I didn’t want to make you feel worse—”“Cami, telling me Alaric was fine made me feel worse—”“Did it?” she asked quietly. “If you knew how he was really doing, you would’ve gone back to him out of guilt. And I didn’t want you to subject yourself to that torture of not knowing exactly how he feels about you.”A rock formed in my throat that was too hard to swallow.Nova’s eyes softened, and her smile was sad. She was agreeing with her. “She has a point,” she murmured.“I’m so sorry, Meadow…”“How… how exactly is he doing?” My voice was barely above a whisper, but luckily, Cami caught it.“Um… I can’t really tell because I haven’t seen him in a while. He isolated everybody—even his own brother.” Nova nodded to confirm that fact. “But I don’t think he’s okay. Ingrid was the only one who was able to force her way into his house to see him.
Meadow’s POV: “Well?”“Well, what?” I muttered absentmindedly, not looking up from my laptop screen. I’d just finished class for today and was trying to do some research for my homework, but Nova was doing a good job in distracting me.“Do you like this one?” she asked. “It’s gonna look hot on you.”I looked up at her, slowly scanning the sea-green silk dress she was holding up with a hanger. And then, pinching the bridge of my nose, I replied: “I already told you I’m not going to the opening, Nova.”“And I already told you you have to go,” she countered, tossing the dress aside and joining me on my bed. “Especially since you know Alaric’s going too.”My heart clenched at the sound of his name. It had been four whole weeks since I saw him… since I heard his voice, and it was killing me—I tried to deny it at first and pretend to be fine, but it wasn’t even up to a week before the hurt intensified. God, I missed him so much. And I suppose it made me feel pathetic since he probably di