Chapter 152

Amber’s POV

Unable to handle Mary’s company anymore, I excused myself and retreated to my bedroom. There, I saw more missed messages from Julian. He called even as I was holding my phone, and I sent him to voicemail.

I knew my anger at Julian was misplaced. He was with his mother who needed him, and couldn’t be where I was. It didn’t mean he didn’t want to be here, it was just that he couldn’t be.

With the attacker caught, I still felt angry but my anger had nowhere to go. Aiming at Julian felt like the next logical choice, even though it wasn’t fair and I knew that.

Maybe that was why I was really avoiding his calls. I didn’t want to be angry with him, and I knew hearing his voice would make things worse. Or it would have the opposite effect, and be so comforting that I would just break down. I couldn’t allow either of those things to happen.

So I continued to ignore his calls…

“Mommy?” Alice asked from the doorway. Her tutoring must have been over for the day. “Are you okay?”

I wasn’t, but I would never say that to Alice who needed me to be strong for her sake. “I’m getting there,” I told her. “It’s just been a long day. How are you?”

As she looked at me, she sniffled a little. “I miss Daddy.”

At once, I spread my arms open, inviting her for a hug. She rushed forward into my arms at once, and as I closed them around her, I knew that I felt the same as she did.

I missed Julian too, even if I didn’t want to admit it.

I’d come to depend on him in ways that I hadn’t considered before. Maybe I’d been too afraid to admit how much he meant to me. But now that he wasn’t here when I really needed him, I felt his absence more keenly than I would have expected.

From the bed, my phone chimed again, where I left it. It wasn’t a phone call this time, just a text.

I held Alice until she grew restless. When I let her go, I reached for the phone to check the message.

It was from Julian.

Please tell me you are okay.

Guilt started to well up inside of me. Of course he was worried about me. I sent a quick text in reply.

I’m okay.

Julian’s POV

I’m okay.

Seeing Amber’s message calmed some of the panicked concern inside of me, but did not fully put it to rest. I didn’t think I’d be whole again until I was beside Amber and Alice and could see for myself that they were healthy and contented.

Yet some contact was better than no contact. Perhaps now, I at least had a path to move forward with the conversation. If only I could think about what to type next. It had to be something that would entice her into texting back.

If I asked her what happened, would she reply? Or would she just ignore me again?

As I was debating, sitting in the waiting room with my family, my family was also debating but with each other. I wasn’t paying attention at first, but when I put aside my own internal monologue to hear them, I realized I needed to start listening. Now.

“The best way I can think of to keep her from having another episode is to get Olivia back,” said one of my cousins, Tony.

My surprise nearly knocked me out of my chair, made worse by how many of my family was nodding along like this wasn’t just a good idea, but the best idea they’d heard in a while.

“She tried to kill my mate,” I said icily. “She made efforts to try to hurt my child.”

“I’m sure her accomplices put her up to it. What was that young man’s name? Chase? He was always a problem,” said one of my aunts.

“And I’m telling you, she is banned from this pack,” I said with utmost serious. “If she even tries, she will be confined permanently, if not outright killed.”

A few of my family members leaned back, their faces skewed with distaste.

One of my aunts said, “She was always such a sweet girl. I wondered what happened.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Uncle Peter said. “Truly, we don’t care about Olivia so much as we care about your mother, Julian. We are between a rock and a hard place here, with how weak-minded she is.”

“What if…” One of my younger cousins said, a girl named Penny who was barely out of high school. As she claimed everyone’s attention, her voice went quiet, nervous. But after a moment to gather her bravery, she continued, “Maybe we could hire a fake? Like, an actress?”

“There’s a point,” Uncle Peter said. “Your mother probably wouldn’t notice the difference between a real Olivia and a fake one, especially with the rest of us backing her up.”

“No,” I said firmly.

“Julian, don’t be disagreeable,” said one of my aunts.

“You are ignoring how Olivia tried to ruin my life and kill my mate while also harming my child,” I reminded them all pointedly. My gaze went from one to the next. “Now you want me to – what? Pretend that I’m still with her?”

“In your mother’s eyes, Olivia has always been the one for you, ever since you were children, when she found you in the forest that time you got lost and led you back?” Uncle Peter’s wife, Aunt Kathy said. She was quiet most of the time. For her to speak up here told me that she truly believed in this plan.

I vaguely remember the incident she referred to. I remembered being lost in the woods, and being scared, and then being led out of it. But the rest was all a blur.

Everyone told me Olivia had been the one to ‘save’ me, but I never knew the full story. The older members of my family were sticking with that story though, and used it as an excuse to try to push Olivia and me together for years.

I didn’t care what our shared past looked like anymore. The fact remained that Olivia had tried to kill Amber and tried to hurt Alice. As far as I was concerned, nothing else mattered.

Even if they hired an actress, I would not take part in the make-believe, not even for Mom’s sake.

Amber and Alice meant too much to me for me to discard them like they were nothing.

“I know a few actresses,” Cousin Tony said. I imagined he did, as he spent most of his time down at the theater, chasing around the actresses. His reputation as a playboy preceded him. Even though he was my age, he had yet to settle down, which I knew was a point of contention between him and his parents.

Even now, sitting beside him, they both looked like they had tasted something sour.

“I’m against this,” I said firmly. “And I will have no part of it.”

“Then stay out of the room when she is in it,” Uncle Peter said. “But the rest of us will do what’s best for your mother.”

“I don’t think lying to her is what’s best for her,” I said.

“It is if it gives her peace,” Uncle Peter said. “Let the old woman see out her days in peace.”

I didn’t understand how her peace was so directly tied to Olivia being my wife, instead of my actual wife.

“Amber is my wife,” I said.

Uncle Peter gave me a flat look. “And I would think long and hard about how much you love your mother before you tell her that, because something like that could be enough to kill her.”