Chapter 98

Andrew told me what happened between him and my mother. It started out almost identical to the way my mother described it, which made me more inclined to believe what he said afterwards.

He fell in love with my mother when they were both young. They thought they’d found their soulmate, they were convinced that everything would be so much better than it really was.

When Andrew found out my mother was pregnant, he panicked and left. He said he didn’t have the money or resources to handle a baby at the time being.

“That doesn’t excuse you leaving,” I told him, frustrated. “It doesn’t make anything else you did afterwards any better.”

Andrew looked away from me, his cheeks dusted with pink as though he was embarrassed.

“I made some poor decisions then,” Andrew admitted. “I was young, naive. I didn’t know how to deal with raising a family, you have to understand that.”

I looked at him, face blank and void of emotion, “I don’t have to understand anything.”

He shook his head and looked down at the plate of food he ordered.

“I’m sorry, Ava,” He murmured. “But please, let me make it up to you. Let me build a relationship with you like a real father and daughter. I am still your blood, you cannot ignore me.”

I didn’t like the way he demanded things of me. The way he demanded answers or results from one lunch. Maybe I didn’t want a relationship with him after this. Maybe I hated him.

There was still the issue of Ethan’s parents that needed to be dealt with. The way Andrew tried to have me killed and kidnapped before he realized that I was his daughter.

Blood or not, he was no good person.

However, I told him I would meet him again at the same spot in a week to discuss more about his past, and try to understand him more as well.

If anything I wanted to understand where his mind was when he took out Ethan’s parents. It could help with Ethan’s closure if nothing else.

When I got back to the office, Ethan’s meeting was just finishing up. He didn’t even notice I was gone.

“Ava!” He cheered when he came into his office and saw me sitting on the couch. I had just enough time to sit with a single thought before he entered. “How is my beautiful wife today?”

“You’re in a good mood,” I giggled as he pressed a gentle kiss on my lips.

“I’ve got some things with a client that are working in our favor,” He grinned into the kiss.

I smiled back, our teeth clacking together at the duplicate smiles and I giggled more at that. Ethan decided to end the work day early after that, deciding to take me home so we could get ready for a fancy dinner together and a night in our new bedroom.

The guilt was eating me alive the entire night. Ethan was so charismatic, so charming, and I was lying to him. Lying through omission, but hiding information felt just as awful as telling a straight lie to his face.

Ethan, if he noticed my ever-changing mood, didn’t say anything. He was all smiles the entire night all the way to the bedroom.

The next week, Ethan had another one-on-one meeting with Sarah’s father. It worked out perfectly with when I had planned to meet Andrew to further discuss a relationship as father and daughter, and I took the bodyguard to come with me again.

This week, I planned to finally ask Andrew about Ethan’s parents. Last time we talked about my mother, and though I didn’t feel as though I had all of my questions answered, I still felt more comfort in what I knew about her than what little I knew about Ethan’s situation.

He was sitting at the same table as before. I sat across from him, ordered my food, and we began our conversations.

“I’m happy to see you again, thank you for meeting me,” Andrew said very cordially.

I nodded my head, “I want to talk about the Velasco family.”

That caught Andrew off guard. He choked on a bite of his lunch and had to hit his chest a couple of times to relieve the pressure.

“What about the Velasco family?” He tried to appear unbothered, but I heard the slight waver of anxiety in his voice.

“The night they died, you had something to do with it, didn’t you?” I challenged him, making sure I held eye contact with him to let him know I was not scared of him in the slightest.

Though, there was an alarm in the back of my head warning me of how dangerous he truly was.

“Did Ethan tell you that?” He laughed lightly. “That silly boy.”

I cocked my head to the side, urging him to continue.

“I took him in after his parents died. As his father’s second in command, it was my duty to take care of the pack should anything happen to him until the day Ethan turned eighteen,” Andrew rubbed his temple and rolled his eyes as he spoke. “I took care of him, but he thought he found evidence of me plotting against his parents.”

“He found emails between you and some rogue wolves,” I clarified, watching his face carefully.

“He thought he found emails between me and them. It was a transcript of a phone call I intercepted with rogue wolves and the police. I was looking for who murdered the Velasco’s. They were my best friends, Ethan’s father was like a brother to me,” Andrew sniffed as he spoke. “And then Ethan ran away and I truly lost my entire family during it all.”

I regarded Andrew, scrutinizing his emotions. Either he was telling the truth, or he was a very adept liar. I debate whether or not to believe him, but the story does make sense in some parts.

Ethan was a child during all of this, he could have blown it all way out of proportion. Andrew seemed very genuine, but that didn’t mean he was.

I wrestled with the choice in my mind, but ultimately decided that I needed more time to think about it before I ever made a real decision about him.

I was moving to get up and leave. I bid Andrew a quick goodbye, promising to meet with him one final time to make my decision on whether I wanted him in my life as my father, when I heard a familiar barking laugh from somewhere in the cafe.

The laugh belonged to Sarah, I knew it did. The problem with that, Ethan was supposed to be having a meeting with Sarah’s father and I could only assume Sarah would take any chance she could get to get close to Ethan.

Even if that meant using her father to do it.

I swiveled my head around, looking for the source of the laughter.

That’s when I found it. My gaze fell upon a little table in the corner of the dining room. Sarah was laughing overdramatically at something that probably wasn’t funny.

Beside her, Ethan stared at me. We made eye contact, and I felt every vein in my body freeze in terror.

He looked pissed.