Chapter 0010
Lauren
I pressed myself back against the cold, tiled wall, the chill seeping through my thin blouse and grounding me, if only for a second
My breath came in shallow, uneven gasps, and my chest fell too tight, like I’d forgotten how to breathe. My heart was pounding loud, insistent, impossible to ignore.
I couldn’t turn around. I wouldn’t.
But I had felt him. His presence lingered like a weight presing down on my shoulders, his gaze burning into me even after the elevator doors had closed on his departure to the floors above.
Everything in me screamed to look back, to confirm that he was gone, that it wasn’t just my imagination. But I knew better. I couldn’t let myself.
Watching him walk away should’ve been a relief. It should’ve felt like exhaling after holding my breath underwater, like breaking the surface and finally being free. But instead, it left me hollow, as if I were sinking deeper into a sea of emotions I couldn’t outrun.
I thought I’d handle this better. I told myself I would. Sure, ‘d hoped I’d never see him again—not like this, not while I was hiding–but I thought I was stronger now. I am stronger now. Aren’t I?
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to focus, to find some semblance of control.
He’s gone, I repeated silently. He won’t look back. Come back. He never does.
But the thought brought no comfort, only a bitter ache that hated myself for feeling.
Abigail’s voice cut through my thoughts, bright and excited “Mommy, I just met a handsome uncle!”
I turned, snapping back to the present just as a tiny figure rushed toward me.
Abigail’s face glowed with a joy so pure it could only belong to a child, her chocolate curls bouncing with each determined step.
Behind her, Daphne followed with a wobbly smile, clearly worn out from trying to keep up with the little
whirlwind.
“Abigail, no,” I said sharply, my tone still soft but stern. She stopped in her tracks, her big brown eyes wide, the excitement faltering on her lips.
I crouched down to her level, feeling a tightness in my chest. “You can’t just run off like that from Daphne. Especially not up to strangers. And you definitely can’t call them ‘daddy“.”
Her lip trembled as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, clearly disappointed. “But I thought he was nice, Mommy. He didn’t look mad.”
I sighed, guilt pooling in my stomach.
She was too innocent, too trusting. I hated that. I hated that the world was full of the kinds of people who might take that light from her. How could I teach her that without destroying the very thing I loved about her–the way she saw the good in everyone, no matter how unlikely?
“Abigail,” I said gently, “that man might be kind, but you don’t know anything about him, do you? What if he already has a family, or isn’t who he seems to be? What if you upset him?”
25 BONUS
Charte 0010
Abigall frowned, glancing down at her maryjane shoes. “B he didn’t seem unhappy when I called him that.”
I ran a hand through my hair, the tension in my shoulders spreading as I stood and pulled her into a tight hug. She didn’t understand, not yet, but I couldn’t help my overbearing worry.
“I know, baby. But…we have to be careful.”
She gave me one of her wide, innocent stares, and I couldn help but feel a pang in my heart. She only wanted to be loved, to be seen. A father.
“I promise, Mommy. I’ll be careful.”
I kissed her forehead, wishing more than anything that I could give that to her, even if it was impossible.
We didn’t talk about it again, and by the time we got home, I felt like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.
1 slumped into my room as Daphne followed after me, clearly holding her tongue until we were alone. She had this knowing look on her face. One I knew that said she was finding the right words.
“Hey, Lauren, you know I love ya
“But,” I cut her off with a smirk and she rolled her eyes with a smile.
“But you’re overreacting,” she said, voice soft but direct. “Alexander, though it was kind of crazy seeing him there, was kind to Abigail. He doesn’t seem like ‘that kind of person.”
Alexander? So the man she had ran into was him? I rubbed my eyes, the exhaustion from the day catching up with
- me.
“You don’t understand,” I murmured, but I didn’t have to explain. Daphine knew too much for her not to understand, even if she didn’t always agree.
“I do understand,” she said, stepping closer to the bed. “But you can’t let your past control everything. You’re not the same person you were before, Lauren. You’re not the weak, scared Omega who let herself be hurt. You’re stronger now.”
I could feel her eyes on me, piercing through the cracks in my armor. She was right, of course. I wasn’t that person anymore. But I didn’t know how to stop being afraid
