Semua Bab Howl of Regrets: Bab 21 - Bab 30

Dressed for work, I leave my room in a rush, heading to Hayden's room. Even though I barely had enough sleep, as I stayed up all night thinking about how to get to Valeria—Lester's mother—and how she would really help, I had to get up early to achieve my goal for the day.For all I know, Lester's decision is mostly influenced by Clinton, his father. Thinking about it, I'm beginning to think that's the content of the call that made him leave, not Valeria's words. It should be.However, that doesn't deter me from finding a way to get to her somehow.I stop in front of Hayden's door and knock. If there's one thing Hayden loves, it's his privacy.Taking Hayden to school is my goal. So, today, I've decided to take Hayden to school and meet his friends and his home teacher. Visiting his school has been on my mind after Anders complained about that boy. The fact of moving in with Aunt Sonya with my son, losing the house, never getting a job, and the rest of my worries keep getting in the way

A groan escapes my lips as I hit the hard floor. Wondering when my bed became this narrow, I palm my throbbing head, opening my eyes to the excess light that overshadows the room. Squinting my eyes, I examine the room and quickly reach for my handbag, running out as I realize where I fell asleep.I don't care to check around to see if Lester came back last night. What I care about the most is taking Hayden to school. Running down the stairs in twos, I look at my wristwatch. It's twenty-four minutes past six. Hoping I beat traffic, I run as fast as I can out of the mansion.I'm clearing at the compound when I see Benjamin putting Hayden in the back of the Jeep. I quickly park and dash to him where he's standing watching me. My stomach knots as I think of what to say to him about my sleepover.“I'm sorry I didn't come back last night,” I say, touching the back of my neck. He doesn't say anything. He just stood there, tight-lipped. Aware he needs more lies from me, I add, “I was looking

Lester's P O V I leave the principal's office, having made a mockery of myself. Looking for a thief who might be a student in a school this impressive? It sounds ridiculous just thinking about it. I'm sure the principal and the homeroom teacher must be pissing in their pants right now.I remember how puzzled they looked when I described the boy, and one of the teachers asked if the boy had glasses on. When I replied no, I was told there was no child with that description. After I described the boy, the principal even allowed inspecting grade five, Anders's kids' class, but it turned out to be a waste of time. I should have let the visit slide when I had the credit card blocked instead of coming here immediately after I arrived at the pack, like I'm dying to meet the boy the second time.I stop in the middle of the school compound and look around it, disgusted by my hunch that the petty thief could be the same boy Anders talked about.Is it even appropriate to call him a petty thief w

Knowing the best thing to do after being caught, I turn toward Lester and start to leave but pause when I notice him holding up a pouch of pills for me to see. There are dozens of pills in the pouch; I recognize the brown one so well. Why am I having the feeling that those pills are precisely the ones I had in my handbag?“I know you came for this.” His voice is calm and relaxed. He drops his hand and folds it with the other across his chest and leans against the door.I don't deny his allegation. He took the pills in my bag, and I don't admit it either, knowing there's no point. He knows the truth even though I lie and still knows it even though I admit it.“Look,” he says, and with alarming steps, he begins to walk towards me. “If you're looking for something that will implicate me, I'm sorry to break it to you, but you won't find it. Cause these,” he raises the pouch again, looking at me. “They're just pills.”“Well,” I shrug, folding my hands. “Thanks for clearing that up.” I swal

Heads turn, mouths gape, and eyes threaten to fall out of their sockets as I walk into the hall dressed in a rose-gold satin mermaid gown. The reactions make me uncomfortable. Thanks for the theme of the event, which requires everyone to hide their face behind a masquerade mask; I get to hide the discomfort written all over my face. The mask is the reason I'm here, even after Lester's advice, which kept ringing in my head as I got ready for the event.Speaking of Lester. Where is he?Looking around for Lester, I take a flute from a waiter's tray who walks past me. In a launch party like this, I can only recognize Lester through his scent and his red hair, so I look out for those features.I can't help but smile when I see Lester almost forty feet away. He's alone in front of a cocktail table, sipping a wine that's as red as his lips, staring at nothing. It's been a week since we last saw each other. I almost went blind looking at the screen all day just to see if he sent an email. At