Chapter 159

Amber’s POV

After ending the call with the nurse, I was so shocked, I didn’t know what to do. Part of me wanted to go straight to the hospital, to find out for myself what was going on there.

Surely, my nurse friend had to be mistaken. There was no way Julian could have reconnected with Olivia. To have her be there at the hospital? Hadn’t he put out a call for her to be imprisoned if she was caught crossing back into the pack lands?

Now I was supposed to believe they were playing husband and wife?

But the nurse had seemed certain. Olivia was there. She was telling people she was Julian’s wife. There was even rumors floating around that they had a child.

I couldn’t believe any of it, not without allowing myself to feel betrayed.

I didn’t want to think that Julian would do that to me. He had truly seemed like he’d been trying lately, and I’d just started to let my guard down.

But… that would explain why he didn’t want me to go to the hospital.

If I went there, if I surprised him unexpectedly, what would I find?

But no, I couldn’t do that, and not just because I was too proud. I also had Alice to consider. She was with me and we hadn’t figured out a babysitter situation yet. If I went anywhere, she would have to come with me, and that meant that she would be dragged straight into any drama if there was drama to be found at the hospital.

I couldn’t do that to her, not when she and Julian just made up.

Whatever was going on with Julian, Olivia, and me had nothing to do with Alice or her relationship with her father.

For her sake, if not for my own, I had to stay put.

But the news made me restless and caused me to start walking. I moved through the familiar hallways and rooms of this house, reliving some memories while maybe looking for evidence that Julian’s feelings had been lies all along.

If he was doing this to me again, keeping me secret, I didn’t know what I would do.

I wanted to be the bigger person, to keep faith and trust in the man who claimed to love me, but I still found myself searching for evidence of Olivia in the rooms.

Mostly what I found, however, was myself.

Photos of Julian and me, or me alone were nearly on every wall of this house. Most of them were from the days when we had been secret lovers, images taken and developed in secret. There were a few later ones though, and several of Alice.

My walk eventually led me back to the kitchen and to the drawing that Julian had taped back together. Looking closer now, I could see how meticulous he was, aligning everything just right. The tape was on the back of the paper so as not to tarnish the drawing itself.

It had taken time, effort, and consideration to repair the drawing this lovingly and carefully.

Seeing this, I couldn’t believe the same man would try to keep me a secret a second time, to parade around as the husband of the woman who was responsible for trying to kill me and trying to hurt Alice.

The evidence here in this house said that Julian truly loved us. With no trace of Olivia around, my nerves began to settle.

When Julian arrived tonight, then I would ask him about the things the nurse said. It had to be a misunderstanding.

From my own time in the spotlight, I knew how fast rumors could fly. There had to be a logical explanation for all of it.

And rather than rush to the hospital with anger in my heart, I would be patient, give Julian the benefit of the doubt, and wait for him to explain things to me.

I had to put my faith in Julian.

He wouldn’t keep me in the dark again.

He wouldn’t betray me.

Julian’s POV

With Mom dozing again, Becky returned out into the waiting room and seemed to be trying to worm her way into my family’s good graces in the same way she had convinced my mom. Already she had made Uncle Peter laugh, had traded makeup tips with Penny, and I swear she was flirting with Tony.

The more I watched, the more my anger stewed inside of me until I just couldn’t stand it anymore.

Walking over to her, I said, “You can leave now, Becky. Go, and don’t bother coming back.”

“Julian, that’s rude,” Aunt Kathy said.

I didn’t care if it was. I never should have let this ruse go on for as long as it had. I should have put my foot down from the start, even if it did make Mom upset.

“She’s been doing a good job,” Tony said. “Mom’s happy. Why not let her stay?”

“Because I am done with it,” I said. “Olivia tried to murder my wife. She orchestrated an attack on my child. Looking at her, even an impersonator, makes me sick to my stomach. Telling my dying that she is my wife is even worse.”

“But, Julian –” Uncle Peter tried to say more but I wouldn’t let him.

“I am the Alpha of this pack, and I have made my decision,” I said firmly. I didn’t like playing the Alpha card with my own family, but they seemed incapable of listening, of respecting me. So I was done with it.

It disgusted me to even be in the same room with this and people who agreed with it, so I turned, left the waiting room, and went back in to see my mom.

As I entered, she woke from her dozing and smiled at me somewhat dreamily.

“I love her,” she said. “Olivia is the perfect choice for me.”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I loved my mother, I didn’t want to hurt her, but I couldn’t have her believe this lie for a minute more.

Olivia wasn’t the perfect choice for me. Amber was. And it was time my mother knew that.

“Mom, that woman wasn’t my wife.”

Mom blinked. “What are you talking about? That was Olivia.”

“I’m telling you that Olivia isn’t my wife.”

She laughed a little, but it seemed nervous. “What are you talking about?”

“Do you remember Healer Amber?” I asked.

Mom’s heart monitor started beating faster. “I’ll ask you not to say that name around me.”

“I’m sorry, Mom, but I can’t do that. I’m sorry I allowed this farce to go on so long. But the truth is Olivia is not my wife. Amber is. And we have a child.”

Her heart beat dangerously fast now.

“You don’t mean that.” Her face was going pale. “Olivia is your wife.”

“Amber is my wife, Mom. She’s a good woman and a great mom. If I could bring her here… If you could meet her…”

“M-meet her?” Mom went from very pale to deep red in the face in a flash. “That vile seductress tried to snare you from the start! She only wants your money! Your power! What were you thinking? How could you pick that little bitch.”

My eyes went wide, hearing my mom talk about Amber that way.

Just as I opened my mouth to counter her words, an alarm in the room sounded.

Mom’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and she started to spasm.

The nurses and doctors flooded into the room, and I was pushed out of it.

My family were all standing now, some of them moving closer.

“What the hell happened?” Tony asked. “What did you do?”