Second Chance His Unending Love (Calista Hartwell) novel Chapter 13

Chapter 13 The License Plate

Meanwhile, at Frost Manor, Killian was in the kitchen

finishing the dishes Austin had started earlier.

He and Austin had promised to cook for Nicole, and she’d been so excited about it. Even though Killian hadn’t touched

a spatula in years, he’d learned to make a few simple dishes.

Austin handed over his phone. “Dad, it’s Uncle Gregory

calling.”

Killian said, “I’ve got my hands full. Put it on speaker.”

Gregory’s excited voice came through the phone. “Austin, you won’t believe who I just saw in the parking garage at Skyline

Tower!”

Killian didn’t have time for gossip. “Just say what you need to

say.”

“It was Calista and Olivia!”

Killian frowned. “You must’ve seen wrong. Calista doesn’t have the money to go to a place like that.”

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He sounded completely certain

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of New York. Even the cheapest restaurant on the ground floor cost at least two thousand dollars per person.

With Calista’s current financial situation, she couldn’t even

afford to set foot in there.

Gregory practically shouted into the phone. “But bro, I saw them with my own eyes! They got into a government vehicle!”

Killian went quiet for a second.

Gregory added, “And the license plate is VIP 1!”

This time, Killian froze. His spatula slowed down, and the food in the pan started to burn.

A car with a VIP 1 license plate might be common enough, but one that’s also a government vehicle? He knew exactly

what that meant. That was a level of power he’d never even

come close to touching.

“That’s impossible.” Killian stayed calm. “Calista just moved out of the Frost Manor tonight. We already signed the divorce

papers.”

“Holy shit!” Gregory sounded shocked. “You guys actually Went through with it?”

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Gregory made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Then

I must’ve seen someone else. Calista’s probably hiding

somewhere, crying her eyes out right now. No way she’d be in the mood to go shopping.”

Killian believed that too, which was why he was so sure

Gregory had mistaken someone else for her.

“Anything else?” Killian asked.

“Wait, one more thing. Do you remember what Calista was

wearing tonight?”

Killian thought about it but came up blank. His voice was

indifferent. “No idea. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Then he motioned for Austin to hang up. He went back to stir-frying the food.

Austin walked around him in circles. “Dad, the last time you cooked, I was like five or six. Now that Mom’s gone, I actually get to eat your food again. This is awesome.”

Really, he had Nicole to thank for this. Only Nicole had enough influence to get his dad cooking.

Rililan shot him a look, “I’m just cleaning up your mess.

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“Watch what you say and do when you’re out in public from

now on. You’re the eldest son of the Frost family. You need to

think about the company and the family reputation. Don’t do

things you shouldn’t be doing.”

Austin answered obediently, “Got it, Dad.”

Soon, the three of them sat down in the dining room.

The massive dining table held only four small dishes that

didn’t look, smell, or taste all that great.

Nicole burst out laughing. “I waited until 10 o’clock, and this is

what you two managed? Ha!”

“Nicole!” Austin pouted.

“Okay, okay, I won’t give you guys a hard time. I’m just happy you cooked for me. Maybe sometime I’ll show you what I can do in the kitchen.”

Austin perked up. “Yeah! When are you gonna cook for us?”

Nicole blinked, barely hiding the scheming look in her eyes.

“Well…” She drew the word out, waiting for Killian to invite her

A move in

move in permanently.

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She kept waiting but he didn’t say anything, so she had to

give up. “I don’t know. Probably not for a while. Maybe next

time I’m here.”

“Then why don’t you just move in? Dad, would that be okay?”

Austin looked expectantly at Killian sitting at the head of the

table.

Nicole felt a secret thrill of excitement.

But Killian’s expression stayed neutral. He just kept focusing

on his soup.

After a moment, he put down his spoon.

He didn’t answer Austin’s question. Instead, he turned to Nicole. “The maid already set up a room for you. You can sleep in the guest room tonight.”

Nicole looked thoughtful for a moment, then quickly pouted and started explaining.

“It’s all my fault for being so careless and not paying attention to details. I was in a hurry to take a shower, that’s

why I used the master bathroom. I really didn’t think Mrs. Frost would come home so suddenly…”

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shook his head.

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At 45 years old, if he still couldn’t read a 20-something girl’s mind, then he’d wasted all these years.

He didn’t call her out on it though. He just said calmly, “Calista coming back to her own home is completely normal.”

Whether she came home or not, and when she came home,

that was all her choice.

Even if he’d signed the divorce papers, it didn’t mean

anything.

A hungry dog always came back eventually.

“Oh.” Nicole looked a bit deflated and picked up her fork, pushing her food around on the plate.

Austin felt like the mood had gotten awkward, so he jumped in. “Nicole, let’s play games together tonight! We can get my dad to play too!”

“Is that really okay?” Nicole waved her hand. “Nah, forget it. I don’t wanna get yelled at.”

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• he But her hand over her chest like she was really scared.

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her for a full 30 seconds before he sighed like he was giving

1. “Fine.”

Both of them looked at him in surprise.

Austin gave Nicole an impressed thumbs-up. “See, Nicole’s got the magic touch!”

He was so excited to play games with his dad and Nicole. Something flickered in the back of his mind, like he was forgetting something important.

But it didn’t matter anymore.

*****

Northridge Middle School was buzzing with activity early that morning.

Colorful flags lined the walkways, and bright banners celebrating Austin’s scores hung everywhere.

Today was the school’s awards ceremony. Officials from

the Department of Education and reporters from the city TV station were all coming.

The Ceremony had three parts.

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First, they’d recognize this year’s outstanding graduates and

teachers.

Second, the student who ranked first in the entire city on the entrance exam would give a speech and share their success

story.

Third, they’d do a special interview with Austin.

Inside the school auditorium, the top graduates and their

parents sat in the front rows.

Students who were about to start ninth grade had shown

up early too with their parents. Everyone was excited about today’s speech.

“I heard the top student this year is gorgeous and comes from a super rich family. He’s really the chosen one!”

“I know, right? The top scorer is the CEO of Frost Group’s son. You know the New York elite, right? Killian’s one of them. Austin’s basically Manhattan royalty.”

“I’m so jealous of Mrs. Frost. She’s got this amazing husband and this genius son. She probably wakes up smiling every single day!” 8/10

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gonna interview the top student’s mom later too. We should pay attention and pick up some parenting tips.”

“So does this mean Austin can go straight into Yale’s Scholars

Program?”

The Yale Scholars Program was every high-achieving

student’s dream.

Getting into that program basically meant they had one foot

inside an Ivy League school already.

“Not necessarily. They have to wait until after the first placement test in tenth grade. That’s when the elite schools come around looking for students to recruit.”

“Yeah, but either way, their kid’s future is basically set.”

The parents kept chatting excitedly.

Calista and Olivia found seats in the front row.

Calista listened to everyone whispering around her and felt disappointed. She thought Olivia should be up on that stage

giving a speech too.

Slivia

was just as good as her brother.

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Meanwhile, Olivia was looking around trying to spot Austin.

“Grandma’s already here, so where’s Austin?”

Calista followed her daughter’s gaze and saw Stephanie

sitting in the front row. Their eyes met for a second.

Stephanie kept up her haughty attitude, glanced at Calista once, then turned her head away like she couldn’t be

bothered with her.

Backstage at the auditorium, the host, the principal, Charles Hughes, and Austin’s teacher, Jennifer Bailey, were running around in a panic.

The awards ceremony was about to start, and all the officials

had arrived, but where was Austin?

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