Chapter 151
Gideon’s POV
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Nova’s words sent a shockwave through me, blasting fresh guilt all the way down to my bones.
Was that what I had done? Abandoned them?
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The rest of the trip was made in total silence. Even Leo didn’t feel like making noise anymore, his expression having turned neutral.
I had no idea what to say to fix things. I’m sorry didn’t feel like enough, especially when I wasn’t sure how much Nova knew. I also didn’t know the full story of what Claire had suffered, only that she had suffered because of me. And now Nova was, as well.
I didn’t want to think that all I could do for my family was give them pain.
During the rest of the trip, I tried to think of ways I could make my daughter happy, to prove my love and devotion to her. I had grown in the past six years. Having children did that to me. I wasn’t going to abandon or hurt them again. Neither would I try to hurt their mother, though I expected nothing but hostility from her in return.
I deserved that, and if she didn’t want to open up to me again, I couldn’t do anything about that.
Nova was too young, though, and she was my flesh and blood. Losing Claire made me hurt, but I would not allow my daughter to drift from me. I still had a chance here, to repair things.
I would fix it. I had to.
The best idea I could come up with on short notice was to buy Nova gifts. Nova had a plush animal that she seemed to favor, so I went out and bought ten just like it. I placed them all in the guest room where she had been staying.
That night, as I stopped by to say goodnight, I had hoped that she would be cuddling the new toys. Instead, I found them strewn carelessly across the floor. It wasn’t as if she had played with them, but that she had knocked them all on the floor before crawling into bed herself, still holding the old one that she favored.
I re–evaluated after that. Okay. So she didn’t need a replacement for a toy she already loved. What about something else? Something she didn’t have?
I bought her dolls, dresses, flowers, and jewelry. Each and every one I found either on the floor of her bedroom or carelessly left some other place. Once, I even saw her give the gemstone bracelet I had gifted her to one of the maids. The maid apologized but couldn’t take it. The small bracelet was meant for the wrist of a child and was much too small.
I didn’t scold her for any of this, feeling as if this was all my fault. I was the one to blame here. My past actions had caused this rift. Nova, a child, was simply acting out in the only way she knew how.
That she didn’t appreciate my gifts was something I could stand. As she started to turn to destruction, however, I had a more difficult being patient.
Nova had taken to lightly vandalizing things around the pack house.
It started small, moving things from their usual places or turning pictures the wrong way on the tables. Anything that had my likeness was immediately turned around.
It grew from there, as she started scratching her name into the back of some of the wooden furniture.
NOVA, or sometimes, Nova was here!
When she dared to scratch her name on the front of the furniture was when I started to be at wit’s end.
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Chapter 151
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I sat her down and tried to speak with her directly. “You cannot vandalize things,” I said. “You only make things more difficult for everyone.”
“Difficult for everyone, or difficult for you?” she asked, frowning me.
“Everyone,” I insisted, but with her dismissive attitude, it was clear she didn’t believe me.
“Can I go now?” she asked.
“Please don’t cause any more trouble.”
“Whatever.” She hopped off the couch and left the room.
At a loss for what to do, I thought of calling Claire for advice, but I quickly shook away that thought. I was a father. I had been raising a good son.
I should be able to handle this.
Nova’s POV
I stood in front of my father’s official portrait, permanent marker in hand. The portrait was in the middle of a hallway with a small table beneath it. If I stood on the table, I should be able to reach it. Then I could do what I wanted.
Leo, beside me, was nervously looking around. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Nova.”
“It’s just a prank,” I said. I didn’t need his permission, so I moved to the chair and crawled up to reach the portrait. It was some kind of painting. Immediately, I opened the top of the marker and started to draw devil horns on my father’s likeness. Then I gave him sunglasses and a crooked mustache.
“He’s a good Dad,” Leo insisted. He’d been trying to convince me of this for days. “You should give him a chance instead of all of this…”
I couldn’t relate to what he was saying though. I only felt hurt when thinking of my father.
Gideon chose to love Leo. He could have loved me too, but he didn’t.
He sent me and Mom away like we didn’t matter.
Well, he didn’t matter either.
“What chance did he give me?” I asked. “He didn’t think about me at all when he exiled my mom. Where was the love then? He was supposed to be my dad, but he never cared about me at all.”
“He didn’t know about you, I don’t think,” Leo said, but didn’t sound sure.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “He never should have done that to my mom.”
I gave the portrait some squiggly lines for hair.
“Nova, please stop,” Leo said quickly, his voice a hushed whisper. “Someone’s coming! We have to go!”
“Let them come,” I snapped. I didn’t care if I was caught. Let them see what I was doing. Let them know what I thought about my father. The villain who had turned his back on my mom and me when we had needed him the most.
“What are you doing?” gasped one of the maids. It was almost a relief when one of the guards pulled me off the chair.
Looking up at the Alpha’s portrait, I had only improved it. I doubted anyone else say it that way, though.
It wasn’t long before I was brought to Gideon’s office, to face him As he was told what I had done, I fully expected to be
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punished. Maybe I kind of wanted to be, though I didn’t know why.
What did it matter to me what Gideon thought of anything, including me? He was the one who abandoned my mom and me so I didn’t care at all about his opinions, just like I didn’t care about his portrait.
Let him scold me. I could take it.
At least then he would be looking my way. He would see me, when he hadn’t seen me the past six years. If I had to be a problem for him to notice me, then I would do it.
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