Sold to Bastard Alpha after My Divorce! novel Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Chapter 104

Aria’s POV

The meeting room was small. Sterile. Four chairs arranged around a round table. A fake plant in the corner. A clock on the wall that ticked too loudly.

We arrived thirty minutes early.

I couldn’t help it. The anxiety was eating me alive. Every minute that passed without resolution felt like torture.

Lina sat in the chair next to me. Her legs dangled above the floor, too short to reach. She swung them back and forth. Back and forth. A nervous rhythm that matched my heartbeat.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Are we in trouble?"

The question broke my heart.

"No, sweetheart." I reached over. Took her small hand in mine. "We’re not in trouble. You’re not in trouble. You didn’t do anything wrong."

She looked up at me. Those black-gold eyes swimming with uncertainty.

"Then why do we have to be here?"

"Because those girls said mean things to you." I squeezed her fingers gently. "And when someone does something wrong, they need to apologize. That’s how the world works."

"But what if they don’t want to?"

"Then their parents will make them." I tried to sound confident. Tried to believe my own words. "That’s what good parents do. They teach their children to take responsibility."

Lina considered this. Her little forehead scrunched up the way it always did when she was thinking hard.

"What if their parents are mean too?"

"Then we’ll figure it out together." I pulled her closer. Kissed the top of her head. "No matter what happens, Mommy is here. I won’t let anyone hurt you again."

She nodded slowly. Not entirely convinced. But willing to trust me.

---

The first fifteen minutes passed slowly.

I watched the clock. Listened to it tick. Counted the seconds between each movement of the hand.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Lina fidgeted beside me. She’d already rearranged the pens on the table three times. Examined every corner of the room. Asked me seventeen questions about the fake plant.

The clock hit the meeting time. 10:00 AM exactly.

No one came.

I took a deep breath. Told myself to be patient. People were late sometimes. Traffic happened. Schedules conflicted.

Five more minutes.

Then ten.

Then twenty.

The room felt smaller with each passing moment. The air thicker. The silence heavier.

Lina’s fidgeting got worse.

"Mommy, I’m bored."

"I know, sweetheart."

---

Forty-five minutes late.

The clock mocked me from the wall. Each tick felt like a personal insult.

I’d checked my phone six times. No messages. No calls. No explanation for why we were still sitting here alone.

Lina had given up on fidgeting. Now she just slumped in her chair. Head resting against my arm. Eyes half-closed.

"Are you tired, baby?"

"No." A yawn contradicted her immediately. "Maybe."

"You can close your eyes for a bit. I’ll wake you when they get here."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

She snuggled closer. Within minutes, her breathing evened out. Her small body relaxed against mine.

I looked down at her sleeping face.

Three years old. That’s all she was. Three years old and already learning that the world could be cruel. That people could hurt you for things you couldn’t control. That sometimes, even when you did nothing wrong, you still ended up waiting in empty rooms for apologies that might never come.

My chest tightened.

This wasn’t fair.

None of this was fair.

I found the teacher’s number. Started composing a text. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The sound cut through the room. Sharp. Distinct.

High heels on marble.

I turned.

The door to the meeting room was still closed. But through the small window, I could see movement in the hallway.

A figure approaching.

No. Two figures.

One tall. One small.

Click. Click. Click.

The footsteps got louder. Closer.

I lowered my phone. Watched the door.

It swung open.

A woman walked in.

She was... a lot.

Blonde hair cascading over her shoulders in perfect waves. A dress that probably cost more than my monthly salary—bright red, tight, showing off every curve. Jewelry glittering at her ears, her neck, her wrists. Perfume so strong it hit me from across the room. Designer sunglasses perched on her face despite being indoors.

She was chewing gum. Loudly. Obnoxiously.

In her other hand, she held the fingers of a small blonde girl. One of the girls from this morning. The taller one. The leader.

The woman walked like she owned the place. Slow. Deliberate. Each click of her heels a statement.

She stopped in front of the table. Looked around the room like she was assessing a property she might deign to purchase.

Then she reached up.

Pulled off her sunglasses.

And I saw her face.

Recognition slammed into me like a freight train.

Those green eyes. That perfect bone structure. That cruel smile I’d seen a thousand times in my nightmares.

"Rebecca??"