The Alpha Who Never Loved Me (Serena and Kieran) novel Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Kieran

I sent Sophie a message and asked her where she was; she replied with an address in the south part of the city.

The apartment was modest; a narrow hallway led to a living area that could barely fit a couch and a table. The paint on the walls was chipped near the ceiling and the light overhead flickered once when I stepped inside.

Small feet slapped against the floor before I could take another step.

Ethan sprinted across the room and crashed into my legs; his arms wrapped around my knees and squeezed with a strength that startled me.

“Daddy!” His face tilted up and his eyes were wide and bright.

Cora pressed against my chest; the wolf stirred, not with warmth but with something heavier, something that sat wrong behind my ribs.

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Sophie rushed out of the kitchen. “Ethan!” She pulled

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< Chapter 88

him back. “Mr. Thawthorne is not your father. How many times do I have to tell you?”

Ethan’s lower lip trembled. “But I want him to be my daddy. I love him.”

A door opened from the bedroom and Sophie’s mother stepped out. Dani. Her eyes moved from Ethan to Sophie and her mouth twisted.

“I broke my back to send you to school,” Dani said; her voice was sharp and it filled the small room. “And you disappeared for six years and came back with a child.” She jabbed a finger toward Ethan. “The boy doesn’t have a father. You can’t provide a happy life for him, so why can’t he want a father? What is wrong with that?”

The color drained from Sophie’s cheeks. “Mom, please. Stop yelling at me.”

The chipped walls pressed closer; the room was too small for this many people and this much anger and the air carried the sour edge of old cooking oil and frustration. Ethan stood between the two women with wet eyes and I stood by the door and the guilt sat on my shoulders because this boy’s life was a wreckage my family built 2:41

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Danny grabbed Ethan’s hand. “I’m taking him outside to buy a toy.” She walked past me and the door shut behind

them.

I walked to the kitchen, poured a glass of water, and brought it to Sophie. She took it; her fingers shook around the glass.

She sat on the couch and I sat across from her and I placed the bank card on the table between us, the same one she refused at the restaurant.

“Stop trying to act tough,” I said. “Take the card. Buy a house and use the rest to invest so you can support

yourself and your son.”

Sophie shook her head. “I already told you I don’t want trouble. Take your money away. I can’t take it.”

“If you don’t want money,” I said, “then what is it that you want?”

Six

years ago, whether or not Grandfather forced her hand, she took sixty million and kept it a secret. Mark’s report confirmed her parents never received a cent. The money

went somewhere and she never mentioned it until Mother exposed her.

< Chapter 88

cracked. “You married a beautiful and noble woman who is far better than I am. I wasn’t good enough for you before and I’m still not good enough for you now.”

She wiped her face with her sleeve. “I need to earn my own money and raise my child and send him to school and give him a good life. Even without a father, I will provide everything for him.”

Her shoulders shook and her words came out in broken pieces. “Just tell Serena everything. Tell your wife the truth so you can clear the air between you.” She gripped the edge of the couch cushion. “Pretend nothing happened between us. And if your grandfather comes after me and my son one day, don’t feel guilty. Just let us go.”

I stood. “No.”

She looked up; her face was a mess of tears and snot and desperation.

“I made a promise to you,” I said. “I’ll honor it. I’ll take care of your son and you should call me if anything happens.”

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I walked out of the apartment and pulled the door shut

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