Lara As soon as I heard the security guard tell me that my son was in trouble, I raced outside. I don’t hesitate, not even when I see Dexter kneeling right next to him. Ander catches my eye and runs toward me, his face crumpling as he reaches me. I sink to my knees in front of him, tears racing down my cheeks. My baby. “What happened?” I ask hysterically. “Goddess, what happened, baby?”“Some guys were mean to me,” he answers. I hold him at arm’s length and take note of the blood on his face. I have to clean him up. I have to make sure he’s okay. I put an arm around him and say, “Let’s head upstairs.”We start walking toward the stairs and then I catch a glimpse of Dexter again. His brows are furrowed and he seems completely confused. His lips are set in a thin line. Ander leaves my side and to my absolute shock, walks up to Dexter and hugs his leg. “Thank you for helping me,” he says sweetly. Dexter rubs his head. “You’re welcome, kiddo. It’s alright. You’ll be fine.”Ander re
DexterI’m letting my mind wander and that isn’t fucking good. Lara. Lara. Why is that name coming back to haunt me like this? Why that name? Why would Ander use that name? I close my eyes. I’m reaching. I have to be. First of all, this woman isn’t Victor Taylor’s daughter. I know this. I know because I remember that girl’s face and Vanessa looks nothing like her. Vanessa is a redhead. That woman was blonde. I mean, even trying to compare the two of them is absolutely fucking ridiculous. I’m just exaggerating. Vanessa is breaking down and I don’t know what to do. I’ve never seen her in this state before. She’s absolutely devastated and that despair is starting to seep into my very pores. I squeeze her shoulder and when that isn’t enough, I whirl her around and pull her closer to me. “It’s alright,” I murmur against her hair. The whole time, I’m thinking about Victor Taylor’s daughter. No, it can’t be. This isn’t her. Why would Vanessa even be her?Fuck, I need to get this out of
LaraI’m shaking still and nothing makes me feel better, not even the glass of brandy that I’ve gulped down.Ambrose is standing and his back is facing me. This is my second time in here with a problem even bigger than the last one. He finally says, “Well, it seems you’ve had a series of unfortunate events.”“I have to go this time,” I state. “I can’t stay here anymore. Dexter…I don’t know if he suspects anything. I’m very scared.”“You should be,” he agrees. “It could be that he’s doing all of this so that he can find out if you’re behind all the sabotages.”“Did you find the money?” I ask hopefully. “They’re headed there now, actually,” he tells me. “They decided it would be best to do it at night because they didn’t want to risk being caught or seen. It’s only a matter of time.”I put my hands together and pray. I really hope that they’ll find that money and that Dexter will lose the advantage he has over me. “But did it seem like he believed your lie?”I nod. “It did. If he didn
Dexter I wake up feeling so much pain that I can’t even sit up in bed, much less stand up. I’d heard before that rejections were painful especially when the bond was old. Mine and Ellen’s had been relatively old as we had been together for quite some time. I guess I wouldn’t have felt this way if I hadn’t put in so much effort instead of just lying down, but I couldn’t leave her on the floor of my garage. So, I put her in her car and drove her two blocks away from Walter’s house. It was at a considerable fucking risk and I can’t believe that crazy bitch put me through that. I didn’t end up getting caught, though. I called an Uber and went straight to a hotel and this is where I currently am. I can’t risk going back to my place. Maybe after Walter is dead, I’ll be free. Until then, there’s no fucking way I’ll take a chance, especially now that Ellen and I are officially through. But despite the pain, I feel free. So free in fact that I find myself smiling. I’m now free to mark who
LaraWhen Ander wakes up, he wonders why we’re in a hotel room and not at our apartment. I give him an excuse about how I lost the job and so as a result, we had to move. This saddens him and I can tell it right away. Instead of accepting what I told him, he asks me, “Is it because I was stealing?”His questions breaks my heart and I stroke his hair. “No, it isn’t. There were other reasons that contributed to it. But you can’t steal anymore, Ander, and you have to listen to me. I’m your mother. Everything I do and say is for your own good, even though you don’t want to do it. Do you understand?”He nods and lowers his head. “So, when do we go back?”“To our apartment?”He nods. “We can’t. I don’t work there anymore so we don’t qualify to stay at the apartment. We’ll find a new apartment where we can stay. It’ll be fun.”This doesn’t cheer him up and honestly, I have so much on my mind and on my to-do list for today that I don’t have time to sugarcoat things. Maybe when I pick him up
LaraThe nurse—Violet—begins the tale with a sigh. “I’ve heard it so many times that I know it by heart,” she reveals. Her eyes are distant and she seems very sad, so much that I can’t help but feel the same way. We’re seated near the edge of Lucy’s bed. She hasn’t looked up once. “May I ask how you found out that you were her daughter?” she asks me. “I mean, for years, there were no leads. I know this because Lucy’s mate never stopped looking.”I shrug. “The news came from the very man who plucked me from her arms. My father, the man who raised me.”Violet’s eyes widen. “Goddess. This is terrible!”“It is,” I agree. My eyes fill with tears and I lower them so she won’t see them but she already has. She reaches over and grabs my hand. She says, “I can tell this is very painful for you.”I nod. “It is.”“Well, maybe I can start by telling you who that woman was and why she ended up in this terrible place. I don’t know how much you know. But this woman has been in pain from the day s
Lara I feel numb after leaving the facility. Everything is a jumbled mess in my head. Figuring out what my next step will be is harder than it should be. I have to stay low and not attract attention to myself. I should drive back to the hotel and stay there until it’s time to pick up Ander from school. But this anger brewing inside of me won’t let me sit still. I call Finch. My hands are shaking as I reach for the phone. He answers again on the first ring. My breaths are uneven and I find it hard to figure out what to say even though I’m the one who called. “You saw her?” he asks gently. I slap my forehead with the heel of my hand. “What the hell was that, Finch?”“I had the same reaction when Dad told me,” he reveals. “I want to talk to him.”“To who? Dad?”“Where can I find him?” I ask. “Which prison?”Finch is silent on the other end of the line. Although I haven’t spoken to my father in years, this is something that I can’t run from. I need to know the truth from his side.
Lara I arrive at Ander’s school right on time. Other parents are parked in the massive lot waiting for their kids to run to the cars. I see many of them pouring out of the front doors. A few moments later, I zone out. My mind drifts off to everything that happened today and I just feel so discouraged. My energy has been drained and I can barely keep my eyes open. I just want to drift off to sleep and never wake up again. If I do, then I want all of this to have been a dream. Ambrose. I can’t stop thinking about him. Goddess, he’s seen me naked. I know it’s not the thing I should be focusing on but it’s true. He’s seen me dance. He’s the one who gave me this job as a stripper. And now, I’m his daughter. How will he react when he finds out?It’s just occurring to me now that he might not want me as a daughter or end up being disappointed in some way but that’s honestly the least of my worries. When I snap out of my troubled thoughts, I realize that a few minutes have passed and And