Chapter 0281
Nora and Theo arrive around thirty minutes later. Like I said, I haven’t been outside since
that short trip
from the hospital
I was dying to see how the city had changed. Four years is a lot of time for a fast–moving
city like this one
to stay the same.
When the doorbell rings, I get up excitedly and open the door.
“Are you and lo
you and Iris ready?” Nora asks.
She was buzzing with the same excitement as me. I let both of them hug me. Being in
their arms felt so
wonderful and familiar. Like it was something I constantly got from them.
“Yes, let me just get her.”
I turn around and head back to the living room. Picking up my daughter, I say a hurried
goodbye to Teresa,
then leave the house.
I was about to climb into their car when a b*dyguard stops me.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t let you leave,” he says, dampening the excitement.
I didn’t know his name, though I’ve seen him a couple of times while he was patrolling the
compound.
“Why not?”
“I’m just following orders,” he replies kindly, but it honestly pisses me off.
“Call him,” I demand, my voice harder than I’d expected,
Almost reluctantly, he takes his phone from his pocket and dials it. I would have called
Rowan myself, but
I didn’t want to admit to anyone that I was struggling to read the names saved on my
phone.
“What’s going on? Theo asks from behind.
I raise my hand to stop him. I wasn’t coming off as rude; I was just frustrated. I hated
feeling like I was
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtcaged. Like I was a prisoner in my own house.
The guard then hands over his phone.
What? His voice is hard and gruff,
Rowen, why is the b*dyguard preventing me from leaving? I ask in imitation,
“Where do you want to go? You can send him or he can drive you.”
“Nora invited me for lunch with her and Theo… I have nothing to do so I want to leave
with them.”
I expected him to put up a fight, but he doesn’t. Instead, he just sighs and asks to speak
to Theo. I hand over the phone to him. He walks a couple of meters from us. When he is
done, he comes back and hands
over the phone to the b*dyguard.
“Well?” Nora asks her husband.
“He has agreed, just as long as we take extra b*dyguards with us.” He then turns to the
guard. “Take at
couple of you, men. You’ll take one car. My b*dyguards will drive in front of us and you’ll
be in the rear.”
He nods. “Yes sir”
It doesn’t take long for them to organize themselves. A few minutes later, we are on the
road.
The drive is silent, and before I know it, we pull up at a fancy restaurant. The driver parks
the car, and
Theo helps Nora and me out of the car.
“Is it okay if I hold her?” Nora asks as we walk.
I don’t see a problem with it, so I hand Iris over to her. She smiles wide as she stares at
me, daughter. Her
granddaughter.
Theo leads us inside. Some of the b*dyguards stay outside, while a few enter with us.
The moment the hostess sees us, she directs us to a VIP section. It was obvious that the
couple had money and were well known. It reminded me of Rowan’s family.
“Can you tell me more about Ethan?” I ask them the moment that the hostess leaves after
she’s made
sure we’re settled
Theo and Nora exchange looks before they both turn to face me.
“So Rowan told you about him?”
“Yes, but only that he is your adopted son, Iris’s father and that he’s in prison.”
Given Rowan didn’t really like him. I knew that he couldn’t have known Ethan well. These
two have raised
him. Maybe I can get to know him better through them.
What do you want to know about him?” Nora asks.
Do you visit him??
I
They both nod their heads. Iris was now awake, but I didn’t take her from her
grandmother. She wasn’t
crying, so there wasn’t any need.
“Yes, and I know most people wouldn’t agree
but he’s still our son despite what he did. All I pray is that
don’t hate. He was wrong but I swear he isn’t a bad person.”
you
To be honest, I can’t really hate him. It’s hard to hate someone you don’t know and have
no recollection
1. of. Right now, my opini
of him is based on what others have told me.
I listen carefully as they tell me all about their Ethan. They also tell me what happened
and how I ended
up with the Sharp’s.
I did pay
y attention throughout, but by the time they’re done, I’m still confused about Rowan. They
went on
and on about how he was a good man. If I’m being honest, I feel like they were trying to
sell me a pitch.
Highlighting all of Ethan’s good qualities without telling me who he truly is.
All these just made me more desperate to see him. If I wanted to know what kind of man
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmhe is, then it’s
better to see him face–to–face rather than ask others about him.
“Please excuse me.” I tell them needing to take a breather.
Leaving them with Iris, I ask the hostess to guide me to where the bathrooms are. My
head was pounding.
It’s like I had an overload of information and didn’t know what to do with it.
I get to the
opens.
washroom and splash water on my face. Taking a deep breath, I release it just as the door
“What are you doing here?” I was surprised to see Emma.
I’m even more surprised to see her with Christine. I didn’t know they were friends. Did
Emma know that Christine has been after Rowan for years?
“I’m here to warn you,” she replies, both of them staring at me with hateful looks.
“So you decided the best way to do that is to corner me in the washroom?”
“We were here having lunch when you and your parents walked in,” Christine shrugs.
Remembering how disrespectful Emma was that day, I dry my hands and move to leave.
She grabs my hand and stops me.
Rowan is mine. Ava: stay away from him,” she snarls, bitterness clouding her voice.
right? enquing. Then why isn’t he with you? Why is it that he comes home to me every
day? How
he sleeps holding every night and not you?
To be honest, I’m surprised at my own boldness. This is so unlike me. I would have usually
bowed to her
because I didn’t want conflict.
She shoves me hard, and I knock my head against the wall.
“I know you planned all this to trap him again. To make him feel sorry for you so he can
come back to you. I’m warning you, though, that it won’t work. I’ll expose you for faking
your amnesia and once I do, Rowan
will come running back to me.”
I couldn’t pay attention to what she was saying because pain shot throughout my head
right before I
collapsed to the ground.
The last thing I see is Emma’s worried and panicked face looking down at me, and
Christine’s devious.
and evil smirk.