Second Chance His Unending Love (Calista Hartwell) novel Chapter 7

Austin dialed three of his classmates right away.

Nicole herded all four boys into a glitzy internet cafe. Feeling generous, she booked a fancy private room on the spot.

The four boys had just wrapped up their entrance exams, and stepping into that room felt like discovering a whole new universe. They kept whooping and gasping every other second.

It wasn’t like they had never heard of internet cafes. Their parents were just strict—strict enough to ban them from setting foot inside one.

But now that they had an adult tagging along? They were ready to cut loose.

*****

Calista had a meeting lined up with a lawyer to hash out the divorce asset split.

Soon, her phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID: Lauren Mitchell.

She frowned in confusion.

Lauren was Leon Mitchell’s mom. Leon was a good kid, a solid student who often studied with Austin, so the two moms had gotten to know each other over the years.

Calista answered the phone, and Lauren told her that Leon had gone out with Austin. He skipped both lunch and dinner, and worst of all, she couldn’t get ahold of him anywhere.

Calista didn’t want to deal with Austin’s messes. But other people’s kids were involved now. She couldn’t sit back and let something bad happen.

She soothed the panicked mother with a few calm words, hung up, and dialed Killian.

Killian had just stepped out of a meeting. When he saw Calista’s name flash on his screen, he rejected the call without a second thought.

Calista didn’t back down. She called five times in a row.

Killian let out a smug smirk and finally answered.

He knew it. Calista couldn’t hold out for long.

Without any money, how was she supposed to run away from home?

But did she really think a few desperate calls would make him forgive her?

His tone dripped with condescension. “Calista, you got what you wanted. I signed off on your resignation. I’m not unfreezing your cards anytime soon either. When you finally realize where you went wrong, then we can…”

“Where’s your son?” Calista cut him off, sharp and cold. “A boy’s mother just called me. Her kid went out with Austin, and now they’re unreachable. You need to fix this.”

She hung up.

Killian’s words died in his throat. He stared at his phone in disbelief, checking the screen over and over to make sure she had actually hung up on him.

Calista had never once spoken to him like that.

His face darkened with rage. He threw his phone across the room, but then remembered he needed it to find Austin and went to pick it back up.

*****

Inside the internet cafe’s private room, the table was piled high with fried chicken and burgers. Beer bottles and cigarette butts littered the floor.

Nicole had already bonded with all four boys like they were long-lost best friends. Her wild ideas and bold, outgoing vibe had won over the teens in no time flat.

She introduced them to the most heart-pounding games. And somehow, she tracked down a few explicit porn sites for them too.

For a group of hormone-fueled teenage boys? That was pure catnip.

When the parents burst into the room, they let out sharp cries of shock.

The room was thick with smoke. All five of them, Nicole included, were dead drunk, huddled around the computer screen, pointing and cackling like maniacs.

Moaning sounds blared from the speakers, hitting the parents like a physical punch to the gut.

Nicole shot to her feet, her face flaming. “Who are you calling a stripper? Watch your mouth!”

Lauren lost every last bit of her self-control. She reeled back and slapped Nicole hard across the face. The sound echoed through the room.

“I’m talking about you, you shameless tramp! I can tell just by looking at you that you’re nothing but trouble!”

Austin lost it. “Hey! If you’ve got a problem, take it up with me! Leave Nicole alone!”

Lauren glared at him, her eyes blazing. “Take it up with you? You led my son astray! Do you even realize what kind of responsibility that is? What on earth has your mother been teaching you?!”

Austin stepped in front of Nicole, playing the hero.

He shot back defiantly, “My mom taught me to do exactly this! She’s the one who said we should come to the internet cafe! If you’ve got something to say, go talk to her!”

He winked at Nicole, proud of his quick thinking.

Lauren froze. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

The Calista she knew was elegant, kind, with a rock-solid sense of right and wrong. She raised her kids with strict, loving care.

Lauren had even borrowed a few of her parenting tricks over the years. There was no way on earth Calista would let her kid run wild like this.

Lauren knew better. But the other two moms? They didn’t have a clue.

The mom with glasses immediately whipped out her phone. “Call your mother right now. Tell her to get down here this instant!”

Another chimed in, “Yeah! She let you drag my kid into this mess! She owes us an explanation! Otherwise, this isn’t over!”

“Call her! Do it now!”

The mom with glasses opened up the dial screen.

Austin didn’t hesitate. He typed in Calista’s phone number and hit call.