All Chapters of Claimed By His Daddy (Stripper/Nerd): Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Kael. The office felt heavier that night maybe because I had been carrying the weight of too many thoughts. I had come here thinking work would steady me bury me under contracts and invoices and reports that had no dimples or glowing hair in them only numbers and profit. But when I pushed the tall door open, the familiar scent hit me before I even saw him.“Finally decided to come back huh?”Thomas’s voice was lazy but sharp rolling out from where he sat sprawled on the leather couch like he owned the place. His boots were on my table his jacket thrown carelessly over the armrest and in his hand was a crystal glass of whiskey that gleamed in the dim light. He had aged since I last saw him but only in the way men like us age and that’s just tougher around the edges witj sharper in the eyes but the same cocky smirk still plastered on his face.“Get your damn boots off my table.” I muttered heading straight for the liquor cart.“Missed you too Alpha.” He chuckled but didn’t move.I pou

Arielle. The next morning when I finally dragged myself out of bed, I already knew what I was going to do. I stood in front of the closet they had stuffed full last night with those stiff and dark and suffocating clothes and just stared. Rows and rows of high collars, long skirts, buttoned up blouses that looked like they were meant to choke the very air out of me. Every piece was designed to smother who I was to flatten me into some empty shadow standing behind the Alpha.I touched one of the dresses with my fingertips the fabric cool and smooth expensive for sure. It smelled faintly of something perfumed like it had been pressed and steamed a thousand times before landing here. My stomach turned. These weren’t for me. They weren’t even clothes they were cages.So I shut the closet doors and went for what I knew. My old black shirt, faded at the seams and the neckline stretched from too many washes. My black jeans was rough and worn but mine. I tied my red hair up into a messy kno

Arielle. The morning already started sour. The kind of sour that clung to your skin even before you brushed your teeth. I had barely slept tossing and turning in that cold oversized bed that wasn’t mine with stiff sheets that smelt too clean and too new like they belonged to someone else’s life entirely. My old black shirt clung to me like a comfort blanket which was a small rebellion ans the only thing that reminded me I was still Arielle and not some doll locked away in the Alpha’s gilded cage. I looked exactly like who I was. A girl from the gutter, a bastard with no place in this shining marble palace. And maybe just maybe I preferred it that way. But apparently Kael did not.The moment he came back down the staircase, I felt his eyes spear me like knives. He was already standing there in the middle of the grand hall dressed sharp and severe and his aura filling every damn corner like a storm cloud waiting to break. His jaw tightened the second his gaze swept over me. I didn’t

Arielle. I bit down on the inside of my cheek forcing myself to stare at the tinted window and to focus on the blur of the mansion gates opening, the guards standing tall, the cold air rushing in for just a second before the car rolled out. My reflection in the glass looked pitiful witj eyes red from the night I hadn’t really slept, lips pale and shoulders curled inward like I was constantly apologizing to the world for existing. I told myself not to cry in front of this driver and not in front of anyone again. But then I felt it his eyes on me the whole time. Through the rearview mirror I caught it. He wasn’t staring in a cruel way, not really but it was heavy questioning like he was wondering why the Alpha’s woman, the one carrying his child looked like she was on the verge of falling apart.And of course the moment Kael appeared in the doorway of the house like he always did at the strangest moments, I knew he had seen it too. His voice cut sharp like a blade aimed for the weake

Arielle. I woke up with swollen eyes that stung when I tried to blink and for a moment I just lay there staring up at the ceiling like a ghost in my own skin. I knew I cried myself to sleep because the pillow was still damp under my cheek and my throat felt raw as if I had been screaming even though I never made a sound. It was always like this. Quiet suffering that nobody cared about. My chest felt heavy my face ugly and puffy and I hated the fact that I was already starting the day with this much weakness. I hated that Kael would probably look at me and think pathetic.Dragging myself out of bed was harder than it should have been but I pushed up anyway. I walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out something plain. Collared shirt tucked into dark pants that hugged my hips a little tighter than I wanted them to. Nothing special. Nothing worth noticing. I tied my hair back in a ponytail because I didn’t have the energy to fight with it and I just wanted it out of my way. Standing i