Chapter 273
Amber’s POV
“Mom?” Julian asked, immediately moving closer to Gloria.
I muted the television at once, not wanting Tony to ruin this moment any more than he already had. Then I joined Alice and Julian at Gloria’s side.
Gloria looked between the three of us, before her gaze fell more permanently on her son. “Julian. My precious
little boy p>
“Mom,” Julian said. “You’ve been out of it for so long p>
“I’m sorry for that, son.” She looked from him to me. “Are you alright Amber p>
“ I think so,” I said. “Though I’ve been having some holes in my memory.
“Me, too,” Gloria said. “But they are starting to fill in. Especially now that I see his face.” She nodded her head
toward Tony on the screen.
Julian and I followed her gaze. Julian set his jaw. I wasn’t as angry as he was. Instead, I felt somewhat validated.
I knew I had a bad feeling about Tony for a reason, but until now, I hadn’t been able to figure out why.
Now, seeing Gloria’s reaction, it was starting to make more sense.
“Did he do something to Julian asked.
“What upsets me are the things he is planning to do to you, Julian,” Gloria said. “He wants to be Alpha and he
will do anything to make sure that he usurps you p>
Listening closely, I noticed the way she put a lot of weight on the word anything. I looked at her, to find her
looking right back at me.
“Amber has already been a victim of his ambition, though she probably doesn’t remember,” Gloria said.
“ I suspected,” I said.
Julian looked at me now too. “What do you mean? Has he hurt you p>
“Julian,” Gloria said with a mother’s patience. “Tony has been the one who has been poisoning us. It started with me, almost a year ago. I caught wind of his ambitions and tried to squash them on my own. You know how
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flightless Tony had been in the past. I had thought this was another one of his foolish distractions. Something he would tire of pursuing once the new season started at the theater p>
“It didn’t go away,” I said, following. “Did it p>
“No. For whatever the reason, this particular ambition of his has stuck around and expanded. It’s almost as if another force is keeping him on course,” Gloria said. “Or maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part. I don’t want to think that my nephew would want to hurt me like this. Or hurt this family p>
“So he poisoned you?” Julian asked through clenched teeth. “Because of me p>
“No,” Gloria said quickly. “Because I caught on that he wasn’t going to be distracted. I started asking questions, and started getting in the way of his plotting. I was in the way.” She sighed. “He could have just
killed me, but he didn’t. I have no idea why p>
Her words pinged some kind of memory inside of me, of Tony telling me something similar. I clutched my head
with both hands and cried out, a sudden splitting pain striking through my mind.
“Amber?” Julian moved toward me.
“Mommy?” Alice asked, fear in her voice.
For her, to keep her calm, I bit back the pain and forced my hands away from my face. I tried to stand upright,
but I kept wincing.
“I’m… okay… Alice p>
“You don’t seem okay,” Alice said.
“Here,” Julian said quickly. “Sit down for a minute p>
With one hand on the small of my back and the other holding my hand, he led me toward one of the chairs at
Gloria’s bedside and helped me sit down.
“You were attacked again,” Gloria said, watching me. “Recently. I know the signs p>
Julian lowered himself down, to look into my eyes. “Amber p>
“She’s right,” I admitted. “I don’t remember, of course, but my blood test showed that I was. This whole morning is a blank, but…” I glanced at Alice. She was watching all of us with wide, frightened eyes. “It’s okay, Alice. Everything is okay p>
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