An Ice Queen for sale (Alice) novel Chapter 8

The conversation of Sloan, Seth and Elaine

As soon as they were far enough from the others, Seth held his mum’s hand and looked at her in disbelief.

“Mum, why did you do this? You shouldn’t bring her into the family. You should keep her separate instead of letting her eat dinner with us.”

“What do you mean, son? Should we treat her like a pet? We are the Sullivans. What would people think about us if we would treat our new family member badly?”

Sloan interrupted. She tried to avoid an argument.

“Mum, Gideon had a reason for this marriage. He wants to protect Gemma. We shouldn’t even know her. We just came to have a look at her.”

“Gideon is not the head of this family. He is about to protect a vulgar wh*re who wants his money only. So humiliating. People must see him with a normal girl.”

“Mum, we all agree with that, but I think we should respect Gideon’s will, especially if you agreed with this madness.” Sloan said.

“Seth Sloane, you don’t have to worry about that. Mummy handles everything. And now, we can’t let them wait any longer.”

Elaine didn’t want to hear them moaning about the situation. At first, she said no to Spencer and Gideon's idea, but after meeting Alice and thinking it over, she changed her mind and was happy with the possible result she got on her mind.

Alice

They continued chatting while we had dinner. I just ate quietly. They mostly talked about the little one. It was clear she was the most precious member of the family. The little girl tried to contact me, but her dad moved her attention to something else as soon as he noticed she wanted to get close to me. Ava kept trying, but if Seth couldn’t, then Leah made sure that wouldn’t happen.

It hurt me, of course, as I would have been happy to talk to her. But she was only a child who didn’t understand adult things yet. How could she have known talking to me wasn’t allowed for her? It wasn’t enough it hurt me, but that was also given that bad feeling back to me, that I felt when I arrived. There was a reason she couldn’t get close to me, I thought.

Mrs. Sullivan took me back into my room after dinner. It was like she didn’t want me to move freely in the house. Actually, I was tired enough not to care about that too much. I always went to bed early, but their life was different. Probably, they never needed to get up early because they needed to work or something.

“Alice, that was a great night. Get used to these kinds of occasions. We like to be together. Now, have a good sleep. Tomorrow, we still have a few things to do. Rest well.”

I nodded.

“Good night Mrs. Sullivan.”

“Good night, Alice.”

After I got ready for bed, I slipped in it. It surprised me how comfy it was, like I never been in a bed so soft. Even if I felt comfortable like never, I couldn’t sleep. The happenings of today made me remember my family. The Sullivans were so different.

The Sullivan couple were so nice to each other. They loved each other and their children. It looked like a family that I always wanted. It made me remember the tough times that Charles caused for us. All the suffering and destitution my mother and I had to endure.

When I remembered Seth’s treatment of his daughter, I remembered how much I envied those girls who got their dads waiting for them at school. Skating club members' biggest fans, their fathers, cheered them on from behind the ice rink fence.

Sometimes I imagined how my life could have been if I could have a caring father. If he wouldn’t have left my mother when he found out she was pregnant with me. If he would have needed me.

Sometimes I played with the thought of he would have changed his mind, and he would have found me. I was angry with him, and I knew I should hate him for leaving us, but I also knew I could forgive him if I could see he wants to make up for his mistake. I was sure he could win me slowly.

I had to stop myself from thinking about it. It only made my heart ache more. I assumed that this was a family that I would never be a part of. And probably my biological father couldn't care less about my existence.

In the bedroom of the Sullivan couple