REJECTED MATE DESIRED BY THE BASTARD LYCAN BILLIONAIRE のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 61 - チャプター 70

NORA POV“Mommy!” Liora’s little voice echoed through the room. She ran straight to me, her tiny arms flinging around my waist.“Hey, my little champ,” I said, scooping her into my arms.I held her close. I already knew she was going to start asking millions of questions at once and give me all the details about what happened at the competition.“My baby,” I said as she laid her head on my chest, before I noticed she was shaking. I quickly lifted her head a little and made her face me. That was when I noticed her eyes were so red, like she had been crying for a while.She had my exact eyes and nose, the same soft curls, and even the same little crease at the corner of her brow whenever she’s worried. But there was one thing that was all Derek — the deep dimple on her left cheek, the one that only showed when she smiled. I used to joke that the goddess left it there as his signature on her.“Liora, what is it? Talk to Mummy,” I said, brushing her curly hair wi

NORA POVThat night, I went back to Liora’s room to sleep beside her.She was already deeply asleep when I came in. Her hand was on her little bear, her hair scattered on the pillow. I just stood for a while and watched her face. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe I gave birth to her.I quietly lay down beside her. I wrapped my hand around her waist and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes the next morning, Liora was already awake. She was lying quietly and staring at me. I pretended to still be asleep. I felt her small finger tracing something on my forehead. She was doing it gently, as if she didn’t want me to know.I opened my eyes slowly. She quickly closed hers and acted like she was sleeping.“Liora,” I called her name quietly. She didn’t answer.I smiled a bit and sat up. I touched my forehead and felt something sticky. When I looked at the mirror beside the bed, she had drawn a small star with her colored pencil.“Liora,” I called aga

NORA POVI heard Asher call my name, but I pretended not to hear him. I gently removed his grip from mine and walked away. It seemed like he wanted to chase after me, but Mabel blocked his way. She said something to him, but I didn’t clearly hear it.I kept walking faster down the hallway, feeling a bit restless. Luckily, I passed a restroom and quickly turned back and walked in. I instantly removed my sunshade glasses and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I almost washed my face with water, but Mabel walking in stopped me.It was her presence that stopped me from almost ruining my makeup.“Are you okay?” she said from behind me.I looked at Mabel and managed to smile. I said, “I’m running from fire, not knowing smoke would still find me.”I refer to Derek as Fire and Asher as Smoke.Mabel looked at me through the mirror and asked, “Who is he? ...Does he really matter?”I took a small breath and shook my head. “No, he doesn’t. I guess that’s why

NORA POVJust as expected, Dorcas didn’t even say much. She just looked at me and said I should be patient. That was all. I didn’t even know what to think. Before I could say anything, she had already walked off.After some minutes, Derek came to get me. We entered a Rolls-Royce Phantom. Lyra and Gerrick left with Maya and Mira in another one.Now that it’s just me and him, I seriously don’t know how to react. I’m so nervous for no reason that I don’t even know where to put my hands. Maybe I’m not even nervous, maybe it’s just how everything suddenly happened and no one is explaining anything. I looked at Derek as he passed a message to one of the guards through the car window before he aggressively loosened his tie. The car started moving and I looked at him again, expecting him to say something, but he didn’t.He just unbuttoned the top of his shirt, and that’s when I saw a tattoo of my name on his chest. He didn’t have that before. My heart just stopped for a seco

NORA’S POV“I’m sorry,” Derek repeated, his voice low and rough. He covered his face with one hand, still staring at the ceiling for a while before letting out a deep breath. Then he sat up, looking like someone who was trying to gather all the courage left in him to face something long buried.I knew he wanted to talk about what happened six years ago.He reached for my hands and held them, his palms warm but slightly shaking. I looked at him, and in that moment, I saw the man who had carried too much for too long. His jaw was tight, his shoulders tense, but his eyes told me everything—guilt, regret, and exhaustion.“I don’t even know where to start,” he said quietly. His voice was rough, like it hurt to speak. “I betrayed our bond out of carelessness.”My chest tightened hearing that. I knew he was talking about Ariana. But truth be told, I didn’t leave only because of her. I left because I didn’t want his people turning against him because of me, not afte