Chapter 190
Okay, Daisy, you win,” Victor said, and I heard him walk out the door.
I closed it behind him and ran to my bedroom. Collapsing onto my new bed, I began to sob. I punched the pillows a few times and soon felt drained.
I was finally happy living with Alex in his mansion. I had a father, friends in the servants, and two handsome male friends.
Why did everything have to be taken away from me?
“Self-pity isn’t any better than someone else pitying you,” I told myself and swung my legs off the mattress to sit on the edge of the bed. “Many people would love to have what you do.”
Besides, Victor would have married somebody else one day. What did it matter if it was Olivia?
I stood and went to the double glass doors that led onto my new balcony. Pushing one side open, I stepped outside.
I closed my eyes as the sun’s rays touched my face. I was outside, but being outside in the city was an entirely different experience from being outside in the country.
The sounds of traffic and some machinery floated upward from the street below me, as did whiffs of vehicle exhaust.
I opened my eyes and looked around the balcony at the little bit of the country that had been created for me.
Besides comfy outdoor furniture, Benson had made sure there were plenty of plants and flowers on my balcony. It made it my outdoor space. I would be spending a lot of time here
I ran my fingers over some waxy begonia petals, sniffed the blooms of a potted rose bush, and felt myself relax a little.
The feeling didn’t last long.
Suddenly. I heard a voice shouting, “Yoo-hoo,” inside my apartment.
Oh, no. I didn’t lock the door after Victor left. Someone must be inside the apartment. What happened to the doorman? I thought he wouldn’t let anyone come up the elevator without asking me first.
With my cell phone in my hand and ready to call the police for help, I went inside. Nobody was in my bedroom, so I peeked around the doorway and saw an equally empty hallway.
It sounded like the voice had been coming from inside my apartment, but nobody was in the living room either. Had I imagined the voice came from inside the apartment?
But when I went to the front door, I saw it was now locked.
Someone was in the apartment with me! But where were they?
With my heart pounding, I started for the hallway to check the guest bedroom. But I stopped halfway there when I thought of calling the doorman and having him check out my apartment.
“What was his name?” I whispered frantically. “It was Seth!”
I would go into the main hallway near the elevator and call the number he called me from. I had to get out of here. The intruder could be anywhere.
I began crossing the living room when the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the living room swung open, and a heavyset older woman entered the room.
A startled scream escaped my throat, and the woman screamed too.
She put her hand over her heart. “Sorry, Miss. You scared me,” she said. It was the same voice I heard yoo-hoo when I was on the balcony.
“That’s okay,” I said and searched my memory for the name of the housekeeper Benson mentioned. “Are you Mrs. Carson?”
“That’s me,” she said with a little finger wave. “Come with me into the kitchen. “You need to eat. You’re nothing but skin and bones. Sit down at the table, and I’ll make you lunch.”
I sat at the small table, and she placed a glass of milk at my elbow before taking several items out of the full refrigerator and placing them on the counter.
“You need to tell me what you like to eat,” Mrs. Carson said. She was a happy person with a good heart. We would get along great.
“Where do you live?” I asked as she slid a thick roast beef and cheese sandwich in front of me.
“There are studio apartments on each floor for the resident’s staff,” she replied. “My door is across the hall from yours.”
“What hours do you work?” I took a bite of the sandwich. It was delicious.
“Whenever you need me,” she said. “I’m a widow with no children. But if there’s nothing for me to do, I hope you don’t mind if I read. I’ve always loved books.”
“I don’t mind at all,” I said. “I’ll take you to my favorite used book store sometime.”
Mrs. Carson grinned. “I’d like that, Miss Wilson.”
A housekeeper who likes to read and makes great food! I had to thank Benson. But she needed to address me more casually.
“I would prefer it if you’d call me Daisy.” I wasn’t Miss Wilson anymore; Olivia was.
She put a plate of cookies on the table. “I’d like that when we’re alone, but you’re Miss Wilson if Benson comes for a visit.”
We both chuckled. Mrs. Carson had a great sense of humor.
I spent the rest of the day hanging out with her and reading on my balcony. She had similar tastes in books and was fun to be around.
She helped keep me from missing everyone at the mansion as much, but thoughts of Victor still invaded my mind. Would he be dating Olivia soon?
After dinner, Mrs. Carson went to her studio apartment across the hall with one of my mystery novels and some cookies.
I took a hot bath and tried watching TV in my new bed. It was comfortable enough, but I doubted I’d sleep. I started thinking about Amy and wondered what she would think about what happened to me.
The next thing I knew, daylight was streaming across my bed from the balcony doors. It was morning, and I felt more rested than before Alex’s announcement that I wasn’t his daughter.
The following two days were spent thinking, reading, and shopping. Yes, shopping. I bought new jeans and tops to wear to school because they were more comfortable, and I didn’t have to dress up to go to an office anymore.
I also had my hair cut at a salon for the first time. My mop of thick hair was tamed, and the curls now fell in waves just past my shoulders. My head felt lighter, and Mrs. Carson said the cut made me look prettier and more mature.
I checked the city bus schedule and knew how to get to school on time the next morning. I hadn’t yet made any lasting life decisions, but it was time to face the world.
I would never be that shy, geeky girl again, but I wasn’t an Alpha Princess either. Another Daisy was evolving. Hopefully, she would be the best part of each of them.
I got off the blue line city bus a block from the school. Walking to the gate, my stomach fluttered. “There’s nothing to be nervous about,” I told myself. Yet, every student I passed gave me a double glance.
“Your hair is different, Daisy,” I mumbled. “Relax.”
By the time I reached the front of the school, I knew there was something besides my hair making everyone stare at me.
There was no sign of Amy at the bench where we used to meet every morning. Instead, a group of Alphas were gathered around a girl I had never seen before.
She had a pretty heart-shaped face and long, curly brown hair. The crowd surrounding her went silent as I passed by. The smug smiles on most of their faces made warning bells go off in my head.
What was going on? I expected the staring and some awkward questions, but nobody said a word to me. They just watched me with that weird smile on their faces before whispering madly after I was past them.
It was the same in each of my classes. The only person who didn’t stare and whisper was Amy in math class. She avoided my gaze and kept her eyes on her desk.
I entered the werewolf history classroom, eager to talk to William. We texted each other a few times last night.
He said he was glad I was coming back to school and wanted to go to the diner sometime soon.
But my usual seat next to William was occupied by the pretty brunette I’d seen surrounded by Alphas this morning.
“Um, Daisy, you need to sit over there now,” William pointed to an empty seat two rows behind the new girl. “Miss Grant gave Olivia this seat.”
Olivia! It couldn’t be her.
“Nobody expected you to come back to school,” the girl said with a charming accent.
William blushed when he introduced me to her. “Daisy, this is Olivia Owens.”
