30 Days Until He Loses Me by Aaren Collins novel Chapter 9

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Chapter 9

Jacques stole another glance at Gideon, sighing to himself. Gideon was like a character straight out of an American movie–all tough exterior, but soft inside.

Who would have guessed? Gideon Logan, the invincible, iron–willed financial titan, had such a

tender side.

It was almost unbelievable.

Felicia boarded the plane with Abigail.

Abigail was a well–behaved little girl. After takeoff, she felt a bit uncomfortable and squirmed for a while, but then quickly fell asleep.

Felicia tucked the blanket around her and smoothed it down.

As she watched Abigail’s chubby little face, her mind drifted back five years–to the first day she’d met Abigail.

Back then, Abigail was just an infant wrapped in a blanket.

Felicia had just arrived in France, working as an intern in the surgical ward.

Most people she met were kind. But not all of them.

J

Unfortunately, her direct supervisor at the time, Jennifer Burnett, was one of the few who weren’t.

After Felicia finished two surgeries, Jennifer told her to come back and cover the night shift at the hospital.

Jennifer knew it was New Year’s Eve back home.

She was determined to make Felicia’s life difficult.

Felicia wasn’t happy about it, but she nodded and said, “OK.”

After all, she was alone in a foreign country. Going back to her apartment would just mean sitting in silence.

A shift was fine–and honestly, the overtime pay in France was hard to beat.

She grabbed a quick meal at her rental, then trudged through the squeaking snow toward the hospital.

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Chapter 9

France had been hit with heavy snowfalls for days. It felt like winter would never end.

Felicia walked, glancing at the houses along the way.

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Some had twinkling lights in the windows, surrounding banners that read “Happy New Year.”

A person happened to walk out of one of the houses. Seeing her, he wished her a happy new year in French.

She smiled and replied, “Happy New Year!”

The guy’s face lit up with excitement.

If it weren’t for the shift, she might have ended up celebrating New Year’s Eve in a stranger’s

home.

The first time she saw Abigail was by the roadside.

Yes, by the roadside. To be more precise, in a world buried in falling snow, with no one in sight but the two of them, she saw Abigail on a bench by the road.

What looked like a quiet, motionless “bundle” suddenly let out a baby’s sob as she walked past.

Her cries were just like her–quiet and soft.

Felicia gathered her courage and held the infant in her arms. The baby’s face was scrunched up, and there were still traces of vernix on her skin–clearly only hours old.

She looked around and saw no one. But she couldn’t bring herself to walk away, leaving the infant alone.

So she called the police and took the baby to the hospital.

The police took forever to show up. By the time they arrived, Felicia had already cleaned the baby and finished running all the tests.

“Are you sure this isn’t your kid?”

Felicia was stunned by the question. After a few seconds of silence, she told them the whole story and said they could check the security footage if they didn’t believe her.

But clearly, they couldn’t be bothered. Instead, they advised her to stay out of it, to deal with the baby herself–they almost said the words “get rid of it” out loud.

With major violent crimes on their plates, this felt like a waste of their time.

Felicia grabbed one of them as they turned to leave. She asked anxiously, “What about the baby?

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Chapter 9

Can’t you track down the parents?”

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The cop looked annoyed but forced himself to respond. “It was dumped right after birth. That means the parents are either criminals or underage. And if they dumped it once, what makes think they won’t do it again if you send it back?”

you

Felicia was stunned.

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