Chapter 7
Baby Grace snuggled into Mom’s arms and said in her tiny voice: “Mommy, I had a dream.“]]
“There was this big sister who looked just like you, and she was crying really hard.“[]
“She said Mommy didn’t love her. Why didn’t you love that big sister, Mommy?”
Mom went white as a sheet. She pushed Grace away like she’d been stung:
“Stop talking nonsense! There’s no big sister! Don’t you ever mention that dream again!“]
Grace had never been yelled at like that before. She started bawling.[]
Gabriel walked in right at that moment and his face got really serious.
He’d never seen Mom lose it with Grace like that.[]
When Mom noticed him watching, she looked guilty and quickly left the room.]]
Gabriel calmed Grace down, then went to find Mom:]
“What the hell was that? Why did you snap at her like that? She just got out of the hospital.“[]
Mom wouldn’t look him in the eye: “I’m sorry, Gabriel. I’m just so stressed out lately, I couldn’t help it…“[]
er.]
Gabriel pulled her into a hug to comfort her.
But while he was holding his wife, he kept thinking about my pale but determined face.]]
How brilliant I was in that boardroom. How I’d thrown myself in front of that dog to protect her.
He suddenly realized that everything his wife had “won back” and built–it all seemed to have my fingerprints on it somehow.
Something made him go upstairs to what used to be my
room.
When he opened the door, it was full of junk and covered in dust.[]
His face went dark. He called the butler over:[]
“Why does this room look like a storage closet? Clean it up right now!“[]
The butler rolled his eyes: “Why should that little brat get such a nice room? It was about time someone-“|
“Shut your mouth!”
Gabriel’s voice was ice cold, and he looked furious:]
“She saved my daughter’s life. She’s the eldest daughter of this house, period. Get this room back to exactly how it was!”
…0
Late that night, Gabriel couldn’t shake this weird feeling, like someone was watching him.[]
He quietly went downstairs and saw this flickering light coming from the back patio.[]
Grandma was hunched over by the pool, secretly burning something in this little metal bowl, whispering:
“You got what you deserved. If you’re gonna haunt someone, haunt me–I’m the one who made the call.“[]
“Don’t you dare go after your mother. Don’t you mess with little Grace.“[]
“Should’ve known better than to cross this family…”
Gabriel felt like someone punched him in the gut. He stepped out from behind the sliding door:[]
“What the hell are you doing out here? Who are you talking about?”
Grandma practically jumped out of her skin, scattering papers everywhere.[]
Chapter 7
She tried to kick dirt over the little fire, totally panicking:
“Nothing! Gabriel, you misheard me! I’m just–it’s for my cousin back in Ohio who passed!“]]
Gabriel wasn’t buying any of it. He grabbed her arm hard enough to make her wince:
“Bullshit!”
“You just said ‘don’t go after your mother‘ and ‘don’t mess with Grace!‘ Who the hell were you talking to? Was it Aria? You said she was recovering!“]]
Seeing her son–in–law’s face, Grandma looked like she was about to crack completely.[]
Her hands were shaking and she was seconds away from confessing everything.
That’s when Mom came rushing out in her robe, fake tears streaming:[]
“Honey, you’re exhausted! You’ve been working crazy hours. Let’s go back to bed, okay? You’re imagining things…”
Gabriel looked at his wife’s terrified face, then at his mother–in–law’s guilty expression. Every instinct he had was screaming that something was seriously wrong.
The next morning, instead of going to the office, he drove straight to Mount Sinai.[]
He told them he wanted to check on the donor’s recovery and personally thank her, asking about the girl named Aria.[]
The head of surgery pulled up her file and shook his head:[]
4
“Mr. Reid, I’m really sorry. The donor went into severe septic shock post–op. We had her in the ICU for seventy–two hours, but her body just couldn’t handle it. She died three days ago.“[]
Gabriel felt the blood drain from his face. His hands went ice cold.[]
The doctor handed him a manila folder.[]
Gabriel flipped through the medical records, his hands shaking.
Then his eyes locked on one page and his whole world stopped.[]
“Paternity Test Results: 99.7% probability that Gabriel Reid is the biological father of patient Aria Hawthorne“]
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