LOGINTHALIAMy stomach dropped.“What?”“She did it!” Clara shouted. “She has been following him around since she got here, talking to him whenever I’m not around, and now he has bruises!”“I never touched him!”“Then explain the bruises!”“I don’t have to explain anything because I didn’t cause them!”The argument had grown loud enough that several people had stopped what they were doing, and I could feel the tension spreading through the small crowd gathering around us.Then a familiar voice cut through the noise.“What is going on here?”I turned.Brandon was walking toward us.His eyes moved from Clara, to me, and finally to Leo, whose little hand was still trapped in his mother’s.For a moment, he looked completely confused.“Clara?”She immediately stepped toward him.“Brandon, she—”“I just wanted to know why Leo has bruises,” I interrupted, my voice shaking with frustration. “That’s all this was about. He was very happy with me earlier and all of a sudden he’s looking sick and has
THALIAI couldn’t stop thinking about Leo.Even after I returned to my cabin that night, my mind kept drifting back to our conversation. He had seemed like such a happy little boy. Yet Brandon had described a completely different child, one who barely ate, struggled with his health and was dealing with trauma so severe that he needed his parents around him.I couldn’t explain the difference, and perhaps that was why I found myself looking for him again the following evening.I had just finished up at the training centre when I spotted Brandon near the edge of the grounds. Clara stood beside him, and Leo was between them, holding his mother’s hand.I slowed without meaning to.Something about him immediately caught my attention.At first, I wondered if it was simply the fading light. The evening sun had begun to disappear behind the trees, leaving long shadows across the grounds, but even from where I stood, I could see that something about Leo had changed.He looked pale.His should
LEOI didn’t understand why Mommy was angry with me.The moment we got back to the room, she closed the door behind us and turned to look at me with the same face she made whenever I did something she didn’t like.“What were you doing with Thalia?”I looked down at my shoes.“I was talking.”“I told you not to talk to her.”“But she was nice.”Mommy’s eyes narrowed.“Nice?”I nodded.“She asked me about school and my friends.”“She is not nice, Leo.”I didn’t understand why Mommy always said that about Thalia. The woman I’d spoken to didn’t seem like a witch at all, even though Mommy had called her one before.“She doesn’t look like a witch.”Mommy stared at me.“What did you say?”I immediately wished I hadn’t said it.I lowered my head.“Nothing.”She walked closer.“Do you want Uncle Brandon to be your daddy?”I looked up.That was different.I liked Uncle Brandon. He always talked to me like I was a real person, not like I was a baby. Sometimes he let me sit beside him and watch t
THALIAI slowed when I noticed him, wondering whether I should leave him alone after everything that had happened earlier, but there was something about the way he sat there by himself that made it difficult for me to simply walk past him.I took a few steps closer.“Hey there.”Leo looked up, and the moment his eyes landed on me, he seemed to recognize me. He started to turn away, almost as though he had suddenly remembered somewhere else he needed to be, but then he hesitated and looked back.“Hi.”His voice was quiet, but there was no fear in it.I smiled at him.“You’re Leo, right?”He nodded shyly.“Yeah.”“I’m Thalia.”He studied me for another second before giving me a small smile.“Hello, Thalia.”Something about hearing him say my name made me smile wider.“Hello, Leo. How are you doing?”“I’m fine.”He answered so quickly and confidently that I almost laughed.“You are?”He nodded, sitting a little straighter.“Yeah. I’m a big boy now.”“A big boy?”He nodded proudly.“I’m
THALIAI couldn’t believe Olivia had managed to turn a simple coffee outing into an event that apparently required preparation.“It’s coffee, Liv,” I reminded her as she stood behind me with a straightener in one hand, running the other through my hair as though she were preparing me for a red carpet. “Not a wedding.”“It’s a date.”“It’s not a date.”Olivia made an exaggerated sound of disapproval and reached for another section of my hair.“It’s a date, and you’re going to look like you’re going on one.”I rolled my eyes at her through the mirror. I wasn’t exactly dressed up, at least not by Olivia’s standards. I’d put on a pair of shorts, a sleeveless white cropped top and my Adidas, with just enough makeup to make me look less tired than I actually felt. It was comfortable, casual and, in my opinion, perfectly reasonable for coffee.Olivia, apparently, disagreed.“I’m not underdressed,” I said.“I never said you were.”“You’ve been fixing my hair for twenty minutes.”“Because you
CHAPTER 139THALIAI didn’t answer him.Whatever he wanted to say, I wasn’t sure I had the patience to hear it, especially after the afternoon I’d already had. I tightened my hold on the folder and walked past him, keeping my eyes fixed ahead as though the hallway suddenly required all of my attention.“Thalia, please.”I slowed but didn’t stop.“Just let me explain.”I finally turned around, the frustration I’d been carrying all day rising again.“What do you want to explain now?”Brandon took a few steps toward me, his expression unusually serious.“I didn’t call her here. I promise.”I stared at him for a moment before giving a small nod.“Okay.”I turned to leave but he reached out and gently caught my arm, stopping me without pulling me back.“It’s not that simple.”I looked down at his hand before meeting his eyes.“Then what is it?”His expression shifted, and when he spoke again, the frustration in his voice had disappeared.“Her son is sick, Thalia. Physically and mentally.”
THALIAI stopped walking just before we got to the hall.“Infact…”I opened my purse and pulled out a folded document I had deliberately brought with me tonight. I unfolded it and held it out in front of him.“I brought the agreement for you to sign, Mr. Langford.You promised me a 50% discount on m
THALIABy the time I got to work the next morning, I was still irritated from Brandon showing up at my apartment the night before like he had lost every remaining ounce of sense he possessed.The nerve of that man still annoyed me.I walked into the lab with my coffee in one hand and my laptop bag
THALIAI stood just behind the stage entrance, my hands resting lightly against each other as I adjusted my grip, then released it again when I realized I was doing too much.“You’re good,” the event coordinator said quietly as she passed me. “It’s almost your turn.”I nodded once without respondin
THALIABrandon gave a short scoff beside me, the sound low and dry, as though my anger was something he found mildly inconvenient rather than justified, and it made my frustration spike all over again.“What exactly are you talking about?” he asked, leaning back into the leather seat as if we were







