Chapter 114
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+25 Points
Every time I try to fix something I’m always surprise by something else that comes up and this isn’t any different to it because it’s a curve that I’m not sure I will recover from and I honestly couldn’t continue listening to my father because I have to do everything like I can to bring Isabella home today.
Faith’s paternity will have to wait for today because the most important thing is our daughter and I’m about to bring her home.
The journey to Alice’s house felt longer than usual and my little girl, hummed a happy tune walking beside me.
When we got to the house, Alice was a ball of energy just trying to get some attention and impress me but it hasn’t happened even once in the last 6 years and I don’t even know why she continues trying. “Oh, Astor darling! I’m so glad you’re here. Everything’s almost ready. Dinner will be on the table soon.”
I forced a smile back. “Looking forward to it, Alice.” The words tasted like ash in my mouth. Every interaction with her was a performance, a carefully constructed lie.
I guided Isabella in, her small hand tucked into mine. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s get you settled
in.”
Alice smiled at her and kissed her forward and the only thing I wanted to do was get her very far away from my daughter but I had to keep calm.
I steered Isabella towards her room, a welcome escape from Alice. it’s crazy that up until yesterday I trusted her with Isabella but now I just can’t imagine having to leave the two of them together. “Let’s get you a nice warm bath, shall we, my love?”
The bathroom was steamy and smelled faintly of lavender. As I bathed Isabella, her laughter echoed in the bathroom. Afterwards, we moved to her bedroom full of pastel colours and stuffed animals. She then brought her favourite doll, her teas set and chairs and insisted on a
tea party.
“More tea, Daddy?” she asked, holding out a tiny plastic cup.
“Just a sip, thank you, princess,” I replied, playing along. As we “drank“, her little brow furrowed slightly. “Daddy, why haven’t you been spending much time with me lately?”
My heart clenched. My mother’s words, sharp and accusatory, echoed in my mind.
I didn’t think I was neglecting either one of them but it turns out I have been because my baby
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girl is very sweet and innocent and if she is mentioning something like that it’s probably because she sees it.
“Oh, sweetie,” I said, pulling her into my lap. I hugged her tight, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. “I’m so sorry. It’s just… things have been complicated. But I love you, Isabella. I love you just as much as I love Marco. You know that, right?”
She looked up at me, her eyes wide and earnest, and a wave of shame washed over me. How could I have been so blind?
“I know, Daddy,” she said softly. “And right now, you’re spending more time with Marco because he didn’t have any time with you before. It’s only fair that he gets to spend time with his father. And you’re spending time with me now too!”
Her simple wisdom, her utter lack of resentment, was overwhelming. I kissed her forehead, my voice thick with emotion. “You are such an intelligent and precious little girl. I’m the luckiest man in the world.” she is Faith and I don’t even know how I didn’t even notice because Alice doesn’t have these characteristics.
A giggle bubbled up from her, a sound that filled the room with light. She wriggled in my arms, her joy infectious, and for a moment, the gnawing guilt receded.
Just then, Alice’s voice, a little too loud, cut through the quiet. “Dinner is served, my dears!”
As we walked towards the dining room, a cold dread settled in my stomach. Alice had cooked. I had to be careful. My plan depended on me playing along, on eating what she served. Pretending was my only option.
Alice had already plated our food. A hearty roast chicken as I reached for my plate, I subtly, almost imperceptibly, switched it with has and also added another ingredient to hers. The deception was effortless, I’m not just the alpha of my pack for nothing.
We sat down, and Alice began to talk, her voice in her high–pitched voice while Isabella was tured so her eyes were slowly drooping.
–
I watched Alice, her every movement scrutinized, every smile analyzed. After a few bites of the meal I noticed a subtle change in her. Her movements became jerky, her speech slurred. She blinked rapidly, her eyes unfocused. She was starting to behave exactly how I anticipated.
I ignored it. This was part of the plan. I wanted it to be in her system, to take hold before she even suspected. After dinner, I excused myself with Isabella. “Time for bed, princess.”
I read her a story, her eyelids heavy, her small body already succumbing to sleep. It was good. She’d played all day, she was exhausted. She would sleep soundly, oblivious to the
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unfolding drama. I tucked her in, kissed her forehead, and whispered, “I love you, my darling girl.”
Back in the sitting room, Alice was a mess. She was scratching at her arms, her face
contorted in discomfort. Her skin was flushed, and she looked utterly miserable.
“Something’s wrong,” she moaned, her voice raspy.
I turned to her, a slow, cruel smile spreading across my face. The mask was off. “Oh, something is very wrong, Alice,” I purred, my voice laced with triumph. “You thought you could mess with me? Play your little games? You thought you could steal what’s mine? Well, that’s never going to happen again.”
Her eyes widened, and she looked at me, really looked at me, as if seeing me for the first time. But there was a glazed, unfocused quality to her gaze. The silver I’d laced into her food was working its magic. For werewolves, silver wasn’t just an irritant, It made us weak, vulnerable, and deeply, unwell and sometimes it even causes death.
“Did
you… did
you poison me?” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
I chuckled, a low rumble of satisfaction. “Yes, Alice. I did. And you’re going to die a very miserable, very slow death.”
Tears welled in her eyes, not of pain, but of bewilderment. “But… why? I was just trying to be good for you. I was trying to do something nice.”
“Nice?” I scoffed. “You think this is nice? You’ve been fooling me for five years, Alice. Five years! But I can see right through you now. Tell me, how did you do it? How did you manage to steal my daughter?”
Confusion etched itself onto her face, a stark contrast to the dawning horror. “Steal your daughter? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Alice!” I snarled, my patience wearing thin. “Tell me how you managed to take her. How did you get Isabella at the hospital?”
Her eyes widened, a flicker of genuine shock breaking through her. “I… I didn’t steal Isabella. Kyle must have lied to you. He’s after Faith, you know, he’ll do anything to get into her bed.”
“Kyle?” I laughed, a harsh, disbelieving sound. “I didn’t mention Kyle. How do you know it was Kyle who told me? Unless, of course, you did work with Kyle. Is that it, Alice? Was it a team
effort?”
“No, no!” she cried, her voice growing frantic. “I was just guessing! It was a lucky guess!”
“A lucky guess,” I repeated, my voice dangerously soft. “A lucky guess that it was the man
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who happened to be involved in kidnapping our daughter. That’s quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
“Let me go, Astor” she pleaded, struggling against an invisible force, her body thrashing weakly. “I’m innocent!”
“The only innocent one here is Isabella,” I spat, my vision narrowing. “Because the woman who raised her, the woman sehr thought was my mother, is the same woman who kidnapped her. And her own birth mother never even knew.”
Alice’s struggle intensified, and then, a strange sound escaped her lips. A laugh. A hysterical, almost deranged laugh.
“Stop it, Alice!” I roared, my control fraying. “Stop laughing, or I’ll make your death even more painful than I intended.”
She continued to laugh, tears streaming down her face. “You can’t kill me.”
My blood ran cold. “What did you say?”
“If you kill me,” she gasped between laughs, “Isabella will die too.”
I slapped her, a sharp, brutal sound that echoed in the silence. The sting of it surprised me. I’d sworn I would never raise a hand to a woman, but she wasn’t a woman. She was a
monster. A creature who would threaten my daughter’s life.
She slumped against the sofa, her eyes drooping, her breath shallow. “I’ve been feeding Isabella something… very dark and dangerous,” she whispered, her voice frail. “She needs it
every day. If she doesn’t get it, she’ll die. There’s nothing anyone can ever do about it.”
A wave of disbelief, followed by a chilling fear, washed over me. “You’re lying. You would never put Isabella’s life in danger. Despite everything, I know you love her.”
A genuine sorrow flickered in her eyes. “I do love her, Astor. That’s why I never miss a day. If I
I want to go to heaven with her. So if you kill me,
miss even one day, she’ll die. M
you’ll be killing your daughter too.”
