Sold to Bastard Alpha after My Divorce! novel Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Chapter 101

Aria’s POV

I drove like a maniac.

Every red light felt like an eternity. Every slow car in front of me was a personal attack. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles went white.

Lina. My baby. Something was wrong with my baby.

Cassius had said she was fine. Not hurt. Safe. But the word "incident" kept echoing in my head. What kind of incident? With what student? Had someone hurt her? Had she hurt someone else?

The school finally came into view. I barely remembered to park properly. Barely remembered to turn off the engine.

I was out of the car and running before my brain caught up with my body.

The front gates were open. Parents milled around, dropping off their children. Normal Tuesday morning chaos. Except nothing felt normal anymore.

Where was she?

My eyes scanned the crowd. Looking for that familiar dark hair.

There.

Near the entrance. Partially hidden behind a tall figure with silver-white hair.

Cassius stood with his back to me, his posture protective. And behind him, almost invisible, was a tiny shape.

Lina.

My heart clenched.

Even from this distance, I could see something was wrong. She wasn’t bouncing. Wasn’t chattering. Wasn’t doing any of the things my energetic three-year-old usually did.

She was just... standing there. Head down. Shoulders hunched. Making herself as small as possible.

"Lina!"

I called her name as I ran. My heels clicked against the stone pathway. My bag bounced against my hip.

Cassius turned. Relief flooded his face when he saw me.

"Aria. You made it."

I barely heard him. I was already dropping to my knees, already reaching for my daughter, already scanning her body for any sign of injury.

"Baby. Baby, look at me." I cupped her face. Tilted it up. "Are you hurt? Did someone hurt you?"

Her eyes met mine.

Those beautiful black-gold eyes. Filled with something I’d never seen there before.

Shame.

"Mommy." Her voice was tiny. Broken. "You came."

"Of course I came." I was already checking her arms. Her legs. Running my hands over her body, searching for cuts or bruises or anything that might explain why she looked so devastated. "Where does it hurt? Tell Mommy where it hurts."

"I’m not hurt."

I stopped. Looked at her face again.

No bruises. No scratches. No physical damage at all.

But something was definitely wrong.

"What happened?" I pulled her into my arms. Held her tight against my chest. "Baby, what happened? Tell me."

She didn’t answer. Just pressed her face into my shoulder and went still.

I looked up at Cassius. Desperate.

"What’s going on? You said there was an incident."

He crouched down beside us. His gray eyes were troubled.

"I’m not sure," he admitted. "She was like this the whole morning. I’ve been trying to get her to tell me what’s wrong for twenty minutes. She won’t say a word."

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