Just My Hockey Roommate’s Filthy Desires by Esther Pen novel Chapter 262

Chapter 262

ARIA’S POV

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The horror of the last twelve hours rushed back through my mind as I stood beside Brandon under the school archway, watching the color completely drain from Anna’s face.

I remembered last night, sitting on the edge of my bed after checking up on “Sarah” in her room. My heart had ached for her, thinking Brandon had frightened an innocent girl.

But barely ten minutes after I had returned to my room, my phone had vibrated on the nightstand with a text from Brandon.

Tomorrow morning, Anthony will drive you and Amelia to the kindergarten. But you won’t be going to the office afterward.

Confused, my fingers had flown across the keyboard. Why? What’s going on, Brandon?

His reply had sent a wave of icy terror straight through my veins.

Sarah isn’t who we think she is. Her real name is Anna, and she’s working directly for Leonie. We have to draw her out of the house where we can trap her safely without endangering Amelia.

The rest of the morning had been an agonizing blur of forced smiles and desperate acting. Watching Anna brush Amelia’s hair, watching her pretend to be the sweet, devoted nanny who had lived under my roof for months… it made my stomach turn into violent knots.

When Anthony had driven us away from the house, he didn’t head straight toward my executive building after dropping Amelia at the school gates.

Instead, he pulled into a secluded side street two blocks away and killed the engine. Seconds later, the rear door opened, and Brandon slid into the back seat beside me.

I had immediately turned to him, my hands shaking so violently I couldn’t hide it. “I’m scared, Brandon,” I had whispered, the tears burning behind my eyes. “She was in my house. She was near my daughter every single day.”

Brandon had reached out, his large, warm hand completely enclosing mine, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an unshakeable, lethal calm.

“Breathe, Aria. I promise you, I have everything under control. The trap is already set.”

“What about Amelia?” I had asked, my voice cracking. “What if Anna does something to her?”

“She won’t get the chance,” Brandon had assured me softly, his grip tightening reassuringly. “I’ve already personally spoken to the kindergarten principal and the receptionist. The moment Anna shows up with that fake accident story, the receptionist will play along and call Amelia out. We need Anna to physically pull Amelia past those gates so we can catch her in the act and apprehend Leonie’s men at the exact same time.”

Now, standing here in the cold morning air, watching the terrifying scene play out, my heart shattered into a million sharp pieces.

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Hearing Anna’s sweet, gentle voice twist into that vile, cruel hiss, telling my sweet five-year-old girl to quit whining and threatening my life, ignited a primal, blinding fury inside my chest that I had never felt before.

“DADDY! MUMMY!” Amelia sobbed, breaking free from Anna’s loosened, trembling grip the second she saw us. She ran toward us as fast as her little legs could carry her. Brandon wasted no time.

He dropped to one knee, scooping her up into his massive arms in a single swift motion, pulling her tight against his chest.

Amelia’s whole body trembled violently as she buried her face into the crook of his neck, her small hands clutching his suit jacket for dear life.

“I’ve got you, princess,” Brandon growled softly into her hair, his eyes never leaving the fake nanny. “You’re safe.”

Panicked, Anna’s eyes darted frantically around the street. Realizing the van was completely surrounded by Brandon’s heavily armed men, she whipped around to run down the sidewalk.

She didn’t make it two steps. Dominic and Anthony materialized instantly out of the shadows, stepping directly into her path like two unyielding brick walls.

Anthony’s face was a mask of cold disgust as he blocked her escape route. Anna stumbled backward, gasping for air, her eyes wide with frantic, pathetic terror.

I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. I marched straight up to her, every ounce of motherly rage boiling over in my

veins.

Before she could even open her mouth to beg or lie her way out of it, I swung my hand back and slapped her across the face with everything I had.

The sharp sound echoed loudly against the brick walls of the school. The force of the impact snapped Anna’s head to the side, sending her stumbling hard onto the pavement, clutching her swelling cheek as she looked up at me in utter shock.

“How dare you?” My voice shook, not with fear, but with a raw, agonizing fury that vibrated through my entire frame. I stepped over her, looking down at the snake who had slept under my roof, ate at my table, and hugged my daughter goodnight.

“How dare you try to take my child?” Anna sprawled on the cold pavement, clutching her bright red, swelling cheek.

Tears of pure terror welled in her eyes as she frantically looked between me, Anthony, and the heavy barrels of the guns pointed at her drivers.

“Miss Aria, please,” Anna stammered, her voice high and desperate, scrambling onto her hands and knees. “You-you don’t understand. I didn’t want to. I was going to make sure she wasn’t hurt. I was going to—”

“Save it,” Brandon’s voice sliced through her excuses like a guillotine. He hadn’t shifted an inch, holding Amelia securely against his chest with one arm while his other hand rested near his coat.

His dark eyes were completely dead, devoid of a single drop of human mercy.

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“We intercepted your encrypted burn lines last night, Anna,” Brandon said, his tone chillingly level. “We listened to every word you exchanged with Leonie. We heard you plan the fake accident. We heard you promise to deliver my daughter like a piece of cargo.”

Anna froze, the blood draining from her lips until they turned blue. The finality of his words struck her like a physical blow. The lie was dead. The mask was gone.

“She made me do it,” Anna shrieked, breaking down into hysterical, ugly sobs right there on the pavement, wringing her hands toward us. “Leonie threatened me. She’s the mastermind behind everything. She said she’d kill me if I didn’t get Amelia out of the house. Please, Mr. Brandon, I was just following her orders.”

“I trusted you,” I yelled over her wailing, the tears finally bursting past my lashes, hot and bitter against my skin. I took a step closer, my fists clenched so tight my nails dug into my palms.

“I welcomed you into my home. I gave you a job, I gave you my kindness, I trusted you with the most precious thing in my life-and all this time, you were actively plotting to tear my family apart.”

“Miss Aria, please-”

“No,” I snapped, my voice cutting off her desperate plea. “No more lies. No more performance.”

I looked her dead in the eye, watching the realization sink into her twisted, pathetic soul.

“We have the call recordings. We have the wiretaps. We have your men trapped in that van, and we have you caught red-handed on school grounds,” I said, every word dropping like heavy iron. “You’re not escaping this, Anna. We have all the evidence we need, and I am going to make sure you go away for a very, very long time.”

Anna collapsed back against the pavement, her frantic weeping turning into silent, hollow defeated gasps as Dominic and Anthony stepped forward, hauling her up by her arms and dragging her toward a waiting unmarked police transport.

I turned away, unable to look at her for another second. My knees felt weak, the adrenaline that had fueled my rage suddenly draining out of me, leaving an overwhelming weight in my chest.

A soft, sniffling sound brought me back instantly.

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