The Alpha Who Never Loved Me (Serena and Kieran) novel Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Kieran

The interview ran long and by the time I reached my car, the fatigue sat behind my eyes and pressed down on my temples.

My phone buzzed, signalling a message from Sophie.

Ethan wants to see you. Can you meet us?

I read it twice, then a third time. I typed back. Where is

he?

She sent a restaurant address and told me to meet them

there.

I drove across the city and pulled into the parking lot and found Sophie standing alone near the entrance. No

Ethan.

“Where is Ethan?” I asked, “You said he wanted to see

me.”

19hÖ She pressed her hands together. “He had go to:38

school but I wanted to talk to you !!

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My jaw tightened. “I’m busy, Sophie. I don’t have time for this.”

“I know being seen with me causes misunderstandings.” She glanced at the restaurant behind her. “That’s why I booked a private room. Please, Kieran. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Cora stirred inside me; the low growl that came with Sophie’s presence was becoming familiar, a discomfort I could not name that sat in my ribs whenever she stood too close.

I followed her inside.

The private room was small and quiet. She sat across from me and folded her hands on the table.

“My brother and sister left the city,” she said. “They found a house somewhere else and they left my mother for me to take care of.” She swallowed. “I don’t have a house, Kieran. I’ve been staying in a hotel.”

I reached into my jacket and pulled out a bank card and placed it on the table between us. “Use this. Buy a house.”

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She shook her head and pushed the card back toward me. “I don’t want your money. I don’t want to take anything from you anymore. I can take care of myself.”

I looked at her and then at the card and then back at her. “Then why did you call me here? Why dump your issues on me if you can take care of yourself?”

She pressed her lips together. “I signed with a new company, but I don’t know how long it will last.” She paused. “I just wanted you to know that I can manage for now, but if there comes a time when I can’t do it alone, I’m asking that you step in.”

I picked up the card and put it back in my jacket. “When the time comes that you can’t do it on your own, I’ll step

in.”

“Thank you,” she said, and the gratitude in her voice was heavy.

“I have to leave,” I said.

“You do not want to eat anything?”

now.

I said, already rising to my feet. “I will be leaving 2:38

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We walked out of the restaurant together. The first thing I saw was two figures standing on the sidewalk across the

street.

Frederick and Sylvia.

The guilt hit me before I could brace for it; it crashed through my chest and spread through my stomach and my mouth went dry. Serena’s parents stood there and they saw me walk out of a restaurant with Sophie at my side.

Sophie leaned toward me, intertwining our fingers. She whispered, “I’m scared. What if they do something?”

“They’re not hooligans,” I said. “You don’t have to be scared.”

I let Sophie go and walked across the street. Frederick and Sylvia stood side by side; their faces were identical masks of cold indifference.

“Good afternoon,” I said. “Can I give you a ride home?”

They looked at me. Their eyes moved from the top of my head to the soles of my shoes, their expressions were of

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disgust and hate. They turned their faces away.

I stood there and the silence carved through me. I asked again. “Please. Let me drive you home.”

They did not answer. They did not acknowledge my existence. They turned and crossed to the other side of the street and walked away without a backward glance.

My presence was a thorn in their flesh; they could not even stand beside me.

The shame mixed with the guilt drowned me in broad daylight.

I turned back toward the restaurant and stopped.

A black car sat at the curb where Sophie stood, and

Mother and Jenna climbed out of it. Mother’s face was a storm; her eyes locked onto Sophie and she crossed the distance in four strides.

“You!” Mother jabbed her finger at Sophie’s chest. “You destroyed my son’s marriage. You shameless, scheming

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Cora went still inside me.

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Mother grabbed Sophie’s arm and the shouting poured out of her; she called Sophie names I never heard my mother use and her hand came down hard against Sophie’s shoulder. Jenna stood behind her with her arms

crossed and her face hard.

My mother had been cheated on by my father but never had she publicly assaulted the mistress. This was new for her, perhaps looking at Sophie, all she could see was the woman that ruined her own marriage.

I made her experience that pain again.

I ran toward them. “Mother, stop!”

I grabbed my mother’s wrist and pulled her back. She spun on me; her eyes were wild, wet and furious.

“Are you going to hurt me?” She screamed it into my face. “Are you going to hurt your own mother because of this stupid mistress?”

“I’m not going to hurt anyone.” I kept my grip gentle. “But you have to stop.”

“I will not stop!” Her voice cracked. “You are your father’s

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son. You are a stupid man and I wasted my years raising you.” Tears ran down her face. “You are the thing I regret the most.”

I froze.

My mother had said a number of things to me but never had she used the same words Serena had used before.

Regret.

How can a mother regret having a child?

Am I that hopeless?

Why can they not understand me?

Mother ripped free from my hand and went after Sophie again; she grabbed her by the collar and hit her until the fury in her arms burned out, and then she shoved Sophie to the ground.

Sophie hit the pavement; her palms scraped against the concrete and her knees folded under her.

I stepped between them. “That’s enough. Let her go.”

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