Chapter 6

“Before you do anything!!! Remember I am still your son’s mother!”

The spite suddenly burst out from Vincent was so intimidating. Talia felt like she was soaked by a bucket of icy water from head to toe and yelled out the first thing that jumped into her head.

She stared at this bloody, angry man, shivering, speculating how much he had recalled, or hadn’t he recalled anything at all.

As the blood dripped down to his white shirt from his pale cheek, the man’s eyes turned red and he took a step forward as if he didn’t hear or care what she had just said at all.

Talia almost cried. She was too frightened to even move, but the desire for survival made her scream, “Charlie!!! Charlie!!! Come upstairs!!! Come here!!! Your father is going to kill your mom! Charlie!!!!Charlie!!!Come!!!Help!!!”

A string of hurried footsteps came upstairs. Charlie didn’t show up but Mrs. Mead did. She had started running towards the couple when she heard the vase break. Vincent and Talia had numerous fights before, but none of those was as furious as this one. And Mrs. Mead was frightened by what she saw in the hallway.

“Vincent! Oh my gosh!”

She gasped, noticing the broken pieces on the floor and the blood that had already tainted half of Vincent’s shoulder.

Talia screamed at her, “Stop him!!! He is crazy!!! Stop this lunatic!!!”

Vincent was standing right at the door, blocking the entrance. Talia had nowhere to escape.

Mrs. Mead noticed that. She also noticed how scary the vibes Vincent was emitting right now were. As the person who watched Vincent grow up, Mrs. Mead knew what a kind-hearted person Vincent used to be. It was the first time she saw him with so much venom, almost like a born felon. Her heart broke for that.

“Vince, dear, don’t,” she said, walking up, and pulled Vincent’s arm.

As much as she wanted Talia dead, a wolf can’t kill its mate while they are still connected. The consequence would be too huge to take and Talia was right. No matter what horrible woman she was, she was still Charlie’s mom.

He can’t kill his son’s mom.

“Please, Vince, think about Charlie. Think about Sam. And think about the pack. Please don’t,” she said, looking at the pale and gaunt face of the young Alpha who used to be so handsome, vibrant, and charming.

Vincent didn’t reply to Mrs. Mead. He didn’t realize she was there, just stared at Talia. Every cell in his brain was screaming, urging him to kill this vicious bitch. His eyes were about to drip blood out of hate, but the fresh smell from those lovely lilies in front of his chest restrained him.

A piece of his broken mind was reminding him that he couldn’t do what he was about to do. Killing an unarmed woman was different from killing his enemies. If he did it tonight, he would become a murderer and something would change forever. The consequence would be irredeemable.

What was that something? Vincent had no idea. But he knew he wasn’t ready to give it up yet.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and turned and walked downstairs with those blooming flowers still in his hand. When he reached the guest hall on the ground floor, the front door was pushed open.

Vincent saw his son, Charlie, walk in with a young girl he had never met before. The girl widened her eyes when she saw Vincent because of the scary blood all over his face, and shirt. 

“Umm…Good night, Mr. Lanton. I am Charlie’s new nanny, Kelly,” Kelly introduced herself with all sorts of guesses and gossip storming her head. On her first day of work, Mrs. Mead showed her all the family member’s pictures. She knew this bloody man was the family’s young master. Then why was he covered with blood? Who dare to hurt him?

Vincent didn’t reply. He was looking at his son, Charlie. Ever since he woke up, he had never seen Charlie go outdoors even once. The little boy wouldn’t even leave his own room. It was the first time he saw Charlie outside his bedroom. All of a sudden, he wanted to talk to the little boy.

He took a step forward and said, “Come to your father, Charlie.”

To his disappointment, the little boy immediately hid behind his nanny and tightly clutched her as if hiding from a monster.

Vincent felt the anger in his heart grow bigger. His face became sullen.

Kelly quickly explained for the little boy, “Charlie is tired today, Mr. Lanton. I am sure he would love to spend time with you tomorrow.”

What she really wanted to say was, “Who has the guts to be near you, Mr! Look in the mirror. You look like a freaking murderer about to shred people!”

But she wasn’t ready to be eaten by an angry vampire yet, so…Nay.

Vincent didn’t realize that. He didn’t know that he was now covered with blood. All he saw was that not only his mate, but his son hated him, no matter how hard he tried to fix the problem.

At that moment, something inside him broke. He took a deep breath and turned and went to the garage.

As soon as he sat back in his car, he pulled out his phone and dialed Samuel’s number.

The phone call was picked up quickly.

Vincent heard noisy crowds at Samuel’s side and recalled his little brother had a charity dinner tonight. 

“Hi, Vince, are you going to come?” Samuel was surprised to get Vincent’s phone call. His voice was filled with excitement.

Vincent took another deep breath before he declared his decision. “I am going to end it with Talia, Sam,” he said.

Samuel widened his eyes. He was shocked by that news. “Why? What happened?” He quickly asked, but actually felt quite cheerful about it. He knew once Vincent got rid of Talia, he would be back to a normal and happy person.

Vincent didn’t think so. He was reluctant to let go of his mate. It made him feel like such a failure, but what had just happened tonight went beyond his limitations. He couldn’t take it anymore. He and Talia weren’t just torturing each other. They were also torturing Charlie. If he had lost control just now and killed Talia, he couldn’t imagine what would happen to Charlie. He didn’t like that weird kid, but killing his mom was still…

He clenched his fist, then said, “I am tired of this, Sam. Please contact the lawyer and take care of it for me. I want her to have half of my personal assets and I want it to be done tonight.”

Samuel frowned. Talia wasn’t married to Vincent. When she first arrived in New York, she tried to, but failed because Vincent was still in a coma. After Vincent woke up, he proposed to Talia. Talia somehow refused, but asked for an expensive beach house in Italy. Plus what she got from the family in the past four years while Vincent was still in a coma, she was now like one of the richest women in New York. Samuel couldn’t believe Vincent still wanted to give her more.

“She doesn’t deserve it, Vince,” Samuel said with a frown. “She doesn’t deserve anything!”

Vincent kept silent for a while. He said, “I want her to have the boy.”

It was such a shocking decision. Samuel almost choked. He quickly said, “But he is a wolf, and an Alpha, Vince! You can’t let him live with a human! She doesn’t even know we are wolves!”

Vincent didn’t say anything. He knew it wasn’t a wise decision, but he recalled the way Charlie hid from him just now. He didn’t know what to do with that weird little boy.

“He hates me, Sam,” he said after a while. “My own son hates me.”

Samuel pressed his lips at the other side of the phone. He knew about Charlie’s condition and he felt sorry for his big brother.

“Where are you, Vince?” he said after a few moments. “Let’s have a meeting and discuss about it. You can give as much as you like to Talia. But you can’t let her take Charlie. She doesn’t love him, Vince. He will only get worse.”

Vincent closed his eyes and breathed in pain. Now he thought about it, he knew he couldn’t let Talia take Charlie. But he didn’t know what to do with the little boy after Talia was gone. He needed Samuel’s advice.

“I will go meet you at your place,” Vincent said. Right now, he couldn’t stay at the house anymore, and he didn’t want to go back to his workplace.

“Sure,” Samuel said. “I still have a few things to deal with. Come meet me at the auditorium.”

Vincent nodded his head quietly without saying anything. After Samuel hung up, he dropped his phone on the floor, fell on the steering wheel, and hugged his head in huge misery...

***

In the auditorium of Samuel’s University, Lena was having conversations with some of the celebrities in New York City.

At noon, after Gary showed her around her workplace, he invited her to give a speech at the charity dinner tonight.

Lena was going to refuse because she had to take care of Angela, but Gary told her that the guests were encouraged to bring their kids. Lena then agreed as she would love to help those children. Besides, she might get some information about the Lanton Family.

She followed Gary and met several of the famous child therapists in New York and a few sponsors of the dinner party. Disappointingly, none of them mentioned the Lanton Family.

At around 8, before the opening speech was about to start, Angela suddenly ran into the auditorium and pulled her hand. She had been playing with other kids at the square in front of the auditorium under the volunteers’ watch.

“Mommy! Mommy!”

The little girl called her with rare hurries in her voice. Lena apologized to the old professor she was talking to. She then held Angela’s hand, leading her to the corner of the auditorium.

“What’s going on, sweetie?” she asked, crouching in front of the little girl. She was a bit worried that Angela might dislike this noisy city. But the little girl was doing well. She was curious and excited about everything new she saw.

“Can I get an Ouchie patch, Mommy?” the little girl blinked her beautiful green eyes, and asked Lena.

Lena frowned. She pulled up Angela’s arms, checking her pink dress worriedly.

“Why do you need an Ouchie patch, sweetie?” she asked, still eyeing Angela’s clothes. “Did you hurt yourself?”

Angela shook her head.

“I am fine, Mommy. A friend of mine needs an Ouchie patch! Can I get one?” she asked with expectation in her eyes.

Lena had confirmed Angela was fine. She put Angela’s little arms down, but was still worried.

“Who is your friend?” she asked. “Is he or she injured badly? Do you need Mommy to call a doctor?”

Angela shook her head again.

“He just needs an Ouchie patch!” she insisted.

Lena nodded her head. There were volunteers outside. Whoever the kid was, it should be fine. She opened her purse and took out a band-aid. It was a pink one with little cartoon flowers on it. Angela was a smart kid. She never got herself injured. Still, Lena had it all prepared.

“Here you are,” she passed it to Angela then cupped the little girl’s cheeks. “Get back once you are done, alright? Uncle Gary is about to give a speech. We should be here for him when it starts.”

Angela nodded her head heavily to make her promise. She then turned and ran out of the auditorium.

She didn’t go back to the lawn where the kids were playing around the volunteers, but ran towards the fountain in the middle of the square.

At the other side of the fountain facing the passage between the lawns, Vincent was sitting there in the shadow like a ghost.

He shouldn’t have gotten out of the car considering he was now covered with blood—he noticed it when he was about to start the car in the garage. But when he parked a few yards away, he saw the fountain and thought of that strange feeling he had today downstairs his workplace.

He opened the car door and walked to the fountain like he was possessed. And then, he sat there quietly in the shadows, feeling nothing but coldness and loss…

Right when he was about to drown himself in bitterness and failure. A little girl in a lovely pink dress showed up. The sky was really dark tonight. There weren’t any lights around the fountain and he had lost lots of blood. It was difficult to see the little girl’s face.

Still, Vincent knew that she was a lovely little girl. Fearing he might scare her with all the blood, he said to the girl, “Go away! Go back to your mom!”

His voice was hoarse and kind of terrifying due to the loss of blood. It made him sound like a real murderer, lurking in the shadows. Weirdly, the girl wasn’t scared away by him.

Slowly, she walked towards him step by step, then stopped about two steps away from him. Vincent saw she had a pair of very beautiful green eyes. It somehow reminded him of that woman he had just met during the day.

“Go back to your mom, NOW!” Vincent said again, this time with a harsh tone. He didn’t hate the girl, but he was now too tired to deal with any kids. Not to mention that now he had blood all over his face and clothes. The girl’s parents might think he was some sort of pervert and get him arrested.

The girl didn’t back off. She just blinked her beautiful green eyes.

After a few moments, she opened her mouth and asked, “Are you my dad?”

Vincent laughed. He didn’t know why, but it felt funny to hear a cute little girl call him Dad. Charlie never called him Dad. Charlie never called him anything.

“No,” he denied ruthlessly. “I am not your father. You’ve got the wrong person.”

The girl tilted her head. She wouldn’t give up.

“But you smell like him,” she said, blinking her beautiful green eyes. “And you look like him too.”

Vincent fell into silence. Only wolves’ pups identify their parents by smell. The kid was a werewolf. Hadn’t he lost his wolf, he would have known it the moment he saw her.

“I am sorry,” he apologized. His heart went soft because they were the same kind. “I am not your father. But I may help you find him. Do you know what your father’s name is? Or which pack he belongs to?”

The little girl didn’t say anything. She was staring at the wounds on his head. After a while, she asked, “Does it hurt, Daddy?”

Vincent laughed again. He didn’t know why it felt so funny to hear this little girl call him Dad, but he didn’t hate the feeling.

“Yeah, a little,” he said. He didn’t try to correct the girl this time. He was too tired to do so.

The girl thought for a moment. She then said, “Wait for me, Daddy! I will go get you an Ouchie patch!”

She then turned and ran off before Vincent could stop her.

About 5 minutes later, she indeed returned with a band-aid in her little hand. When she passed it to Vincent, Vincent felt his heart melt.

It was a pink one with lovely little cartoon flowers on it just like the little girl herself. He would never use it but save it in his heart like the most precious treasure in the world.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He took the band-aid, and softened his voice and asked, “What’s your name?”

The girl answered, “Angela.”

Vincent smiled. It was such a good name, very suitable for her.

“My name is Vincent,” he introduced himself and reached his hand to Angela. “It’s very nice to meet you, Angela.”

Angela didn’t take his hand. She was still a little girl, but had a very sharp perception. She didn’t want to meet her father in this way.

She stared at Vincent for a while and asked, “When can I see you again, Daddy?” She knew Vincent was about to leave and she wanted to see him again.

Vincent smiled. He didn’t know why this girl was so obsessed with calling him Dad, but it felt nice to have such a cute daughter.

He thought for a while, and fumbled out a business card from his pocket.

“You can call me when you want to see me again,” he passed it to her and stressed, “but it must be under the supervision of your mom, or else, I won’t answer your call. Do you understand?”

Angela nodded her head and pressed the card in front of her chest like it was some kind of treasure.

Vincent smiled again, and persuaded her softly, “Now go back to your mommy. You have been out for too long. She will be worried.”

Angela didn’t move, just kept staring at him. After a few moments, she suddenly walked up to him and opened her little arms to give him a very, very big hug.

“I love you, Daddy,” she said, pressing her soft little cheek on his chest, and asked. “Please take care.”