Chapter 242
Amber’s POV
45 %
+25 BONUS
I wasn’t angry at Julian, but I didn’t really know how to handle the news. As I had been kept a secret for most of our marriage, I hadn’t really thought that his family thought about me at all. Now, I was slowly coming to realize that they knew who I was but still hated me.
They resented me for taking Julian away from Olivia. They couldn’t see Olivia for the person that she truly was, and now that they had finally come around to that, they still didn’t like me.
What happened with Alice…
I couldn’t let her be in that kind of situation again, which was a shame, as she truly seemed to be bonding with the woman who Julian told me was Aunt Kathy.
Alice didn’t have enough family in her life. I would have liked for her to know and love Aunt Kathy and to be
known and loved in return.
Julian and I sat at the kitchen table for a long time, not saying anything, not really moving except to breath.
After several long minutes – I wasn’t able to discern time for a while – Julian received a text message. He
checked it then sighed. It had to be from a member of his family.
“They are letting people in to see Mom again but she’s unconscious,” he said.
“She’s stable,” I assured. “She’ll be okay p>
He nodded and typed something back.
As I watched him, I knew his heart was divided. He wanted to be here, but needed to be there too. This was his
mother we were talking about, not some distant relation.
“You should be there,” I said. “You can go. Alice and I will be alright p>
He looked up immediately. “My place is here p>
“They are your family,” I said.
“You and Alice are my family, too.” He spoke with such conviction that it seemed to definitely close the end the
conversation. “Alice was frightened. She needs her dad. I’m going to be here when she wakes up p>
1/2
2:16 PM Wed 1 Oct
Chapter 243
45 %
+25 BONUS
She had been frightened, worse than she had been in a while. Julian’s closeness would help with that, but I didn’t want him to think this was going to be a short recovery process. She wasn’t going to just bounce back
into the person she usually was.
Coaxing Alice into forgiving herself was going to take a great deal of work.
“When she wakes up, she won’t want us around,” I said. “She’s going to try to push us away p>
“All the more reason for me to be here,” Julian replied. “So I can convince her that I’m not going anywhere and
that I don’t blame her for anything.” He huffed a breath. “Tony is such an ass. I can’t believe he spoke to a child
that way, even one who clawed him p>
“He might have been surprised,” I said, but I didn’t fully believe it. He shouldn’t have talked to Alice like that,
and I would hold it against him for as long as I would know him. No one hurt my daughter and easily earned my
forgiveness.
An apology would be a good place to start, but if he was as big of an ass as Julian said, then I wouldn’t come to
expect that.
We continued to sit in silence for a while, with Julian scrolling through his phone and me staring into the cold
coffee. He offered to refresh it for me, but as I wasn’t really drinking it, I didn’t see the need.
After a while, I heard Alice’s soft voice from the top of the stairs. “Mommy? Daddy p>
Julian and I were on our feet in an instant and moving toward the stairs. We went up them two at a time, eager
to see and comfort our daughter. Yet, as we came closer, she turned and rushed to her room.
We followed her, but with every one of our steps forward, she seemed to shrink further and further back. We
stopped just inside of her room, with Alice pushed up into a corner of her bed.
2/2