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All Chapters of The Alpha's Regret After His Daughter Died: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

40 Chapters

Chapter 1 Someone Took Her Heart

(Evelyn's POV)My five-year-old daughter, Stella, lay dying in a hospital bed, her heart failing. Seeing all those clear IV lines running into her thin little arms was like a knife twisting in my chest."Mommy..." Stella's eyes were squeezed shut. Her lips barely moved, and her voice was tiny. "I want Daddy..."I knelt by the bed and wrapped both hands around her little hand. It was ice-cold. I fought back my tears. "Don't be scared, baby. Daddy's on his way. Get some sleep, and when you wake up, Daddy will be here."Stella managed a small smile. "Okay. I'll wait for Daddy."I stroked her hair and hummed to her, choking back a sob, until she drifted off.Once she was finally asleep, I slipped one hand free and, with shaking fingers, tried calling my Alpha mate, Adrian Hayes, again.It was my 16th call that day.This time, the call finally went through."Adrian? It's me. Stella's been asking for you all day. Can you come to the hospital?" I held the phone tight with both hands, my voice

Chapter 2 Lipstick on His Collar

(Evelyn's POV)I almost forgot to breathe. Part of me wanted to push the door open and walk in, but another part wanted to hear how Adrian would answer.After all, I'd been his wife for six years. I knew, of course, that he never would have married me if his grandmother, Eleanor Hayes, hadn't insisted on it, or if that one unplanned night hadn't left me pregnant with Stella.But in the six years we'd been married, he had been good to me.On my birthday, he would rent out an entire restaurant and hire the best musicians in town to play for me. On our marking anniversary, he always had an expensive gift ready. Whenever I had a fever, he'd sit by the bed all night, giving me sips of water and cooling me down with a damp cloth.Three years ago, a fire broke out in the old pack house. A beam from the second floor came crashing down and blocked the door, and there was nothing around me but thick smoke and burning wood. It was Adrian who kicked in the burning door without a thought for himsel

Chapter 3 Less Than Her Dog

(Evelyn's POV)Adrian said nothing.The study was dead silent. I could hear my own heart pounding. He frowned and pressed his lips tight together, as if it had never once occurred to him that I would ask that.After all, through six years of marriage, I'd played the dutiful, compliant Luna. I never reached for anything that wasn't mine.Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the phone on his desk started ringing.The tension went out of Adrian's shoulders at once. He let out a breath of relief and picked up the phone to check the screen."Evelyn." He avoided my eyes and grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the chair. "Something urgent came up, and I have to deal with it right now. Go back to our room and get some sleep. Tomorrow I'll clear my schedule and take you and Stella to Disneyland."I didn't move. "Every marking anniversary before this one," I said quietly, "even when you were away on business in Europe, you took the private jet and flew home overnight." Some small part of me

Chapter 4 A Mistake from Start to Finish

(Evelyn's POV)The ER hallway reeked of disinfectant. After three hours of emergency care, Stella's fever finally broke.She lay weakly in the hospital bed, her little face as white as paper. I sat beside her, my eyes so dry they hurt. Stella slowly opened her eyes. When she saw how red mine were, she worked her soft little hand out from under the blanket and gently touched my cheek."Mommy, don't be mad at Daddy anymore." Her voice was very faint, but she was trying so hard to comfort me. "Let's forgive Daddy. He's so busy. He must have had something super important to do. That's why he didn't come take me to Disneyland. I'm not sad anymore, so don't be sad either, okay?"Her words were like a thousand needles in my heart. I fought down the lump in my throat, gave her a bitter smile, and nodded. "Okay. Mommy's not mad anymore."She was such a sweet, understanding little girl. And yet, because of me, she was stuck with a father who thought checking on a pet dog mattered more than bein

Chapter 5 What Does Homewrecker Mean?

(Evelyn's POV)Adrian's tall frame went rigid. He looked at tiny Stella in the doorway, and the anger he'd just been aiming at me vanished from his face. In its place was a guilty look he couldn't hide.I hurried over, crouched down, and pulled Stella into my arms. "Baby, were Mommy and Daddy talking too loud? Did we wake you up?"Stella shook her head against my shoulder. Then she peeked at Adrian over my arm, her lashes still wet, and asked in a tiny voice, "Mommy, I had a bad dream. Can you and Daddy both sleep in my room tonight? Just for tonight. I promise I won't kick."I turned to look at Adrian, expecting him to use work as an excuse to say no. But when he looked at his daughter's pale face, maybe out of guilt for what she might have overheard, he actually nodded. "Okay," he said quietly. "Daddy will stay with you tonight."That night, the three of us squeezed onto the little bed in Stella's room. Adrian was far too tall for it, and his feet hung off the end. Stella giggled at

Chapter 6 He's in the Shower

(Evelyn's POV)Adrian set the drenched Vanessa down on a lounge chair by the pool. He turned around and looked down at Stella, who was hiding behind me."Stella, tell me the truth. Did you push Ms. Reed in?" Adrian's voice was stern.Stella was so scared she was trembling all over. She clutched my skirt with both little hands, crying and shaking her head. "It wasn't me, Daddy. I didn't push her. She slipped and fell in by herself."I crouched down and held my daughter in my arms, then looked up and met Adrian's eyes. "Stella doesn't lie. If she says she didn't push her, then she didn't."Lying on the chair, Vanessa broke into a fit of coughing. She reached out weakly and caught the hem of Adrian's wet shirt.Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her voice trembled. "Adrian, don't be mad at Stella. I wasn't steady on my feet at the edge of the pool. Stella probably just wanted to play with me and accidentally pushed me from behind... That's how I lost my balance and fell in. She's just little.

Chapter 7 Where Did You Hide Her?

(Evelyn's POV)The heart monitor showed nothing but a harsh flat line, and it let out one long, piercing wail.Stella's eyes were half open. Even at the moment she died, those green eyes, emptied of all their light, had stayed fixed on the closed door. I knew she was waiting for Adrian. Even in the very last second of her life, she'd still been hoping her father would push that door open, walk in, and hold her.I reached out with a shaking hand, laid it over her little face as it grew cold, and slowly closed her eyes."Go to sleep, Stella." I laid my face on her small chest, where the heartbeat was gone for good. My voice was dry and flat. "It won't hurt anymore. No more yucky, bitter medicine. No more big, long needles. Mommy's right here with you."Two hours later, I carried Stella's body into Westside Crematorium. The whole way there from the hospital, I didn't shed a single tear. Because my daughter was finally free. She didn't have to drag her broken little body through any more

Chapter 8 Fireworks for a Dog

(Evelyn's POV)I didn't answer. I didn't even turn around. He came closer, and when he saw my face, he went still. My eyes were red and swollen from crying, and there wasn't a trace of color in my face.He hesitated, then lowered his voice. "Evelyn, I said some things yesterday I shouldn't have. I'm not going to send Stella away." He tugged at his tie, a little awkwardly. "And that trip to Disneyland I promised her? It's still on. We'll go today, the three of us. Go get her dressed."I slowly got to my feet and turned to look at him. The collar of his white shirt was open, and there was a clear reddish-purple hickey on the side of his neck.I looked at that mark for a long moment. "You don't need to," I said quietly. "She doesn't need it anymore. She'll never ask you to take her to Disneyland again."Adrian frowned, but his voice stayed low. "I know I was too hard on her yesterday. If she's still upset, I'll apologize to her myself. Where is she?"I didn't move. I just stood there, loo

Chapter 9 She'll Come Home

(Adrian's POV)It was eleven at night when I pushed open the front door.Only one dim wall lamp was on in the living room. Out of habit, I slipped off my suit jacket, still cool from the night air, and held it out behind me.My hand hung there for two full seconds. No one took the jacket.I paused, then turned and realized no one was standing behind me.I frowned. No matter how late I stayed out at business dinners or handled pack business into the small hours, Evelyn used to wait up for me. She would smile, gently take my jacket, hang it up neatly, and ask if I was tired."Where's the Luna?" I frowned, tossed the jacket onto the couch and turned to Martha, the housekeeper, who had just come out of the downstairs guest room.Martha kept her head down, looking uneasy. "Alpha, the Luna went out this afternoon and hasn't been back since. Miss Stella isn't here either."I frowned and tugged open the top two buttons of my shirt in irritation.Was she still playing at running away? That morn

Chapter 10 Let's Sever the Mate Bond

(Evelyn's POV)I sat by Stella's grave all night.I was the only one left in the cemetery. I laid my coat over her headstone and talked to her until morning."Did you see that, baby? There are fireworks over at Disneyland."I'm sorry Mommy couldn't get Daddy to take you."Tomorrow, Mommy's going to sever the mate bond with Daddy. We'll never have to wait for him again."At dawn, the old man who looked after the cemetery woke me with a pat on the shoulder. "Ma'am, have you been out here all night? You should go home. You don't look well at all."I drove home still wearing the black dress from the burial the day before.When I opened the door, Adrian was sitting on the living room couch. There was stubble on his jaw, and his eyes were bloodshot. Martha took my bag and said quietly, "Luna, the Alpha waited up for you all night."Adrian stood and glanced behind me. When he didn't see Stella, he frowned.He was holding a pink stuffed bunny with a bow tied on one ear.Stella loved pink. Her

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