Semua Bab A Surrogate For The Alpha: His Substitute Bride: Bab 141 - Bab 149

VIVIANMy voice came out sharper than I expected and my curiosity had finally turned into a full-blown suspicion which I didn't even try to hide it.Joanna didn’t speak for a few seconds. Her mouth opened a little, then closed. Then she looked down at her hands on the table, like she was thinking about how to answer.I waited. My heart was racing a little now with anticipation. Either she was lying to me right now, or she had faked her death. Either way, it meant there were still more secrets she was keeping from me.And I hated that. I was tired of being in the dark.She finally looked up and met my eyes.But before she could say a single word, something in me shifted.I wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it was the way her hands trembled slightly. Or the way she kept avoiding my eyes before looking back up.Or maybe it was just that quiet voice inside me that had always helped me tell when someone wasn’t telling me the full truth.Whatever it was, it made my body tense.I couldn’t expl

VIVIAN I looked at Isla’s mom closely as she said those words. “Because I can’t feel her anymore.”Something about the way she said it made my chest tighten just a little. But I shook the feeling off. I couldn’t let my emotions cloud my judgment. Not now.Not with someone like her sitting in front of me. She wasn’t the type of person I could give my full trust to.No matter how sad her voice sounded or how much pain showed in her eyes, I had to remember what she had done before.She sighed and looked down at the table between us. “I always used a location spell,” she said quietly. “It was my way of keeping track of Isla. Not to control her or anything. Just to make sure she was okay. That she was alive.”I didn’t speak. I just let her go on.“So that even if she runs away from the Circle, I could still find my way to her. I just needed to know she was breathing.” She paused, swallowing hard. “But now… now I can’t find her. The spell doesn’t show where she is anymore.”A small chill r

ZANDER I stood there with my hands on my hips, staring at the floor like it was supposed to give me some kind of answer.My thoughts were all over the place. No matter how I tried to stay calm, I couldn’t. Something didn’t feel right.Vivian said she tried the location spell herself but the result was the same.No sign of Isla.It made my chest feel tight. The kind of tight that made it hard to breathe. I tried to tell myself she was okay.I told myself that maybe she was just hiding. Maybe she knew what she was doing. But that didn’t stop my mind from racing.What if something happened to her?What if we were already too late?I ran a hand down my face and let out a slow breath. I didn’t want to panic, especially not in front of Vivian and Isla’s mom, but I felt like I was losing control.My thoughts kept jumping from one possibility to another. What if the Circle had her? What if she was hurt? What if she was gone?I hated not knowing. It was the worst part.I tried to come up with

ZANDERI could still hear Isla’s words in my head and also the name written in her text. The one I never expected to see.Derek.It was written clearly in Isla’s message. Just one word. But that one word shattered everything I thought I knew.Derek? How was that even possible?My thoughts were messy and I tried to breathe slowly, but my chest was tight. I felt like none of this could be real. I wished someone would wake me up and tell me I was dreaming.I didn’t even remember that Vivian was standing beside me until she spoke again. Her voice was quiet, but shaky.“Zander… did she tell you who it is?” She asked me while holding my phone.I nodded slowly although my mind was still far away. I couldn’t speak yet. I didn’t even know what to say and I didn’t know where to begin.All I could think about was how everything suddenly made less sense and more sense at the same time.I heard Vivian gasp softly. I turned my head just enough to see her face and saw that her mouth was slightly ope

ZANDERIsla’s mom grimaced like she was recalling something she didn’t want to remember. Her lips pressed into a thin line before she finally spoke.“About that,” she said quietly, “I don’t know the woman’s name.”I stared at her, not sure I heard her right. “What do you mean you don’t know her name?”She looked at me, then at Vivian, and gave a small shake of her head. “I never got her name. But I caught a glimpse of her face.”Vivian crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “You saw her face?” Her voice carried doubt. “Just a glimpse? That’s all you got?”Isla’s mom held her ground. “I promise you, it was just a glimpse but her face stuck to my memory. I’ve tried forgetting it, but I can’t. And I don’t know why.”Vivian still looked skeptical. “A face with no name. That’s not much to work with.”“It’s enough,” Isla’s mom said firmly. “All you have to do is put together the pictures of every woman close to you. I’ll recognize her right away.”Vivian shook her head slowly. “You’re that