Chapter 241

“I’ve heard a lot of nonsense out of some of you tonight,” Andy scolded the crowd. “But I can assure you that Amy’s mother was not a prostitute, nor did she trick me into mating with her.”

Alex and Victor heard the commotion and came to my side. They listened intently to Andy’s story.

“Deirdre was a laundry girl at my home and a kind, wonderful, hard-working person, just like her daughter,” Andy continued. His soft brown eyes, exactly like Amy’s, dared his family to stop him.

“We were fated mates and deeply in love. But my family was determined to keep us apart because they thought the pretty Omega girl who washed our clothes wasn’t good enough to be a member of the great Archer family.”

Amy stared wide-eyed at Andrew Archer, the man who claimed to be her father, as he spoke. She was too surprised to say anything.

“You look like your mother, Amy,” Andy said. “Except you have my eyes. I’ll show you her photo sometime if you want to see it.”

When Amy still didn’t speak, Mr. Gray stepped forward. “Mr. Archer, will you tell us what happened? Where is Deirdre now?”

Amy found her voice, but it was shaky. “Why was I left in a tote bag on your doorstep, and if I am your daughter, why did you give me away?”

“Do you want to go somewhere private to talk?” Andy asked. “This must be hard for you.”

“No.” Mr. Gray shook his head. “If these people don’t hear the truth from you, they will continue to imagine the worst, and Amy will suffer.”

Amy nodded her agreement and clutched Justin’s hand.

“Okay,” Andy agreed. “Then let me start at the beginning. Deirdre came into my room one morning when I was nineteen to collect the laundry. She thought I had already left for morning classes and was mortified to find me still there.”

“Her name was Deirdre,” Amy mused. She repeated the name. “It’s pretty.”

“It suited her.” Andy smiled as he remembered the love of his life. “She was eighteen and had an ethereal beauty that dazzled me.”

He sighed. “Anyhow, as soon as we looked into each other’s eyes, we knew we were fated mates. But Deirdre fought it at first. She knew our love would cause problems. But I didn’t care what anyone thought about us.”

As Andy and Deirdre’s love story unfolded, most of the guests became sympathetic toward the ill-fated lovers. Amy was glued to his every word.

“Despite our deep connection, it took me months of begging and wooing her before she let me take her to a movie.” Andy smiled at the memory. “We kissed for the first time that night.”

“Did you marry her?” Amy asked.

“I wanted to marry her, but she refused until the day after you were born,” he replied. “But before the first time we made love, we had a priestess perform a marking ceremony, and I moved us into a tiny apartment so we could be together as a committed couple.”

Andy’s expression hardened. “But our happiness didn’t last. My parents fired her and cut me off. They did everything they could think of to separate us. They even bribed the landlord to have him evict us from the apartment.”

“Why did you both give me up if you were married after I was born?” Amy pressed.

“We didn’t get married.” Andy’s eyes filled with tears. “The day I was supposed to meet her for the ceremony, she disappeared, and Brenna Gray found you at our backdoor the following morning.”

“I don’t understand,” Amy said. “Where did she go?”

“I don’t know what happened to her, but I have my suspicions,” Andy told her. “I don’t think she left you or me voluntarily.”

“I tried to keep you with me.” Andy was crying now. “But my family refused to help me at all. And they said if I quit going to college, they would cut me off and throw you and me into the street with nothing.”

“I didn’t know anything about babies, and I couldn’t get you to stop crying all night. I had no choice but to do as my grandmother and my parents demanded.”

“You gave me to your maid and her husband to raise.” Amy gave Mr. Gray a warm look. “They did a wonderful job. I was safe, loved, and happy.”

“I was watching, and I’m glad.” He turned to Mr. Gray. “Thank you, Elliot, for loving my daughter when I couldn’t. It broke my heart to see Amy leave the house in Brenna’s arms. But it was the best thing for Amy at that time.”

Andy wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “At first, I planned on finding Deirdre and getting Amy back,” Andy admitted. “I looked for Deirdre for years. I even visited her family to see if she was hiding with them.”

“They were hostile toward me because they knew about the humiliation she endured from my family and how they were determined to ruin her life.”

Andy’s jaw tightened with anger. “My family fired her and gave her bad references to keep her from getting another job. And they did their best to keep us apart, even after they knew she was carrying my baby.”

“You never found her,” Amy said. “That’s so sad.”

“I would do anything to have her in my life again,” Andy told Amy. “I avoid my family because I hate them for what they did to Deirdre, to you, and to me.”

“You don’t live with them in their mansion anymore?” Amy asked.

“No,” Andy replied. “I work for my family’s company, but I live in an apartment alone. It’s all I can afford on the small salary I’m given. But I’d live in a refrigerator box along the highway before I’d live with them again.”

Alex had heard enough. “I am appalled at what I have just heard. Pat and Aaron Archer, you do know it is against one of our oldest laws to separate fated mates?”

The couple moved closer to Alex, and Aaron spoke. “But Mr. Wilson, the girl was totally unsuitable. She was a laundress in our household and an Omega. Would a girl like that be good enough for your son?”

“If I had a son and he loved a kind, young woman who also loved him, I wouldn’t care about any of those things,” Alex replied. “I would help them to become self-sufficient and look forward to holding my grandchildren in my arms.”

Pat Archer began to protest. “But ….”

“Silence!” Alex demanded. I never saw him this angry. He was a true Alpha leader. “There is no excuse for what you and the rest of your family have done. You will sign over the controlling interest of Archer Enterprises to Andrew tomorrow morning.”

“You can’t make us do that,” Pat Archer argued. “It’s not fair.”

“You ruined two lives, and yet you have the nerve to whine to me about not being fair,” Alex said. “You will do as I say, or I will have charges brought against you. I will stop at nothing to ruin you and ensure you never again thrive in the Alpha world.”

The couple were angry, but they bowed their heads to Alex. “It will be done first thing in the morning,” Aaron Archer promised.

“What are we supposed to live on then?” Pat Archer demanded.

“If you have nothing saved by now, I suggest you get a job,” Alex replied.

Aaron Archer took his enraged wife’s arm and steered her from the ballroom.

Alex looked squarely at Justin’s parents. “Everyone, hear me. I will not tolerate anyone trying to separate fated mates. And all of you should remember that Amy Gray is my beloved daughter’s best friend, and therefore, she is also dear to me.”

The ballroom remained silent until after Alex spoke again. “I thank you all for attending Amy’s ball, but I’m afraid it’s getting late. Drive safely, and good night.”

Alex patted Andrew on his back and shook Elliot Gray’s hand before walking to the bar for a last drink. He watched the crowd begin streaming out the door.

After Alex’s warning about treating Amy well, I watched Justin’s parents whispering to each other. Their faces told me they weren’t pleased by Alex’s rebuke.

Would they heed his words?

I held my breath and gripped Victor’s hand when they agreed with each other about something and then began to approach Amy and Justin.