Elodie’s POV
“Liora—”
The line went dead.
She’d hung up on .
I sat there in my car, parked on the side of the road, staring at my phone screen. My throat felt tight. My eyes burned.
She was angry. My baby girl was angry at because I’d said no. Because for once in my life, I’d tried to put myself first.
And I couldn’t even do that right.
I pressed my palms against my eyes, trying to hold it together. Trying not to fall apart right here in public where anyone could see.
But it hurt.
Everything hurt.
After a few minutes or maybe longer, I wasn’t sure, I finally pulled myself together enough to drive. But I didn’t go to the estate.
I went back to my apartnt instead.
The place was quiet when I walked in. Empty. Just and the silence and this crushing weight on my chest that wouldn’t let up.
I made myself eat sothing just instant noodles, nothing fancy. I barely tasted it. Just forced it down because I knew I needed to eat, needed to keep functioning even when everything felt pointless.
I’d just opened my laptop, trying to focus on the research I’d planned to do, when my phone rang again. It was Johnny.
I answered, grateful for the distraction. “Hey.”
“Elodie, there’s a banquet coming up in a few days,” he said. “Important people from several Packs will be there. I’d like you to co with . I want to introduce you around, start building your network for when you officially join the firm.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll be there.”
“Perfect.” He paused. “How’s the handover going at Wilson Group? Any issues?”
“No, it’s going smoothly. Should be done in the next few days.”
“Good. I’m looking forward to having you on the team, Elodie. I think you’re going to do great things.”
His confidence in felt foreign. Strange. Like he was talking about soone else.
“Thanks, Johnny.”
———————-
Isabella hung up the phone and stood there in the hallway, waiting.
Any minute now, her mom would rush through the door, apologizing for being late, already heading to the kitchen to make her favorite crab cakes and sushi.
That’s what always happened.
She waited.
An hour crawled by. It was nearly eight o’clock, and there was still no sign of Elodie.
The butler approached cautiously, concern etched on his weathered face. “Miss Liora, perhaps you should eat sothing now? Just a little sothing to tide you over until your mother arrives—”
“No!” Liora’s bottom lip jutted out stubbornly. “I don’t want anything else!”
The reality of the situation was starting to sink in. Her mother hadn’t called. Hadn’t sent a ssage. Hadn’t co.
The mont the butler tried to persuade her again, sothing inside Liora cracked. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I only want Mommy’s food! I only want Mommy!”
The butler shifted uncomfortably, torn between his duty and his genuine affection for the child. He glanced toward the stairs, then back at Liora’s tear-stained face.
Finally, he pulled out his phone and dialed the Alpha.
It rang several tis before Dante picked up. Background noise filtered through, voices, laughter, the clink of glasses. He was at so business dinner.
“What is it?”
The butler quickly explained the situation. Liora was refusing to eat, asking for her mother, and Elodie’s continued absence.
“Put her on,” Dante said after a pause.
The butler handed the phone to Liora. She took it with trembling hands. “Daddy?”
“Eat sothing.”
Liora sniffled but said nothing, her silence its own form of protest.
Dante didn’t push. He just waited.
The tears ca harder now, rolling down her cheeks in streams.
His voice remained calm, unbothered. “I’ll take you sowhere fun this weekend. Your choice.”
The crying stopped abruptly. “Really?”
“Yes. Now eat.”
“Have you eaten, Daddy?”
“I’m at a dinner eting.”
“Oh...” Her voice was small.
“Go eat.”
“Okay...”
Liora’s mood had shifted completely. She handed the phone back to the butler and headed toward the dining room, her earlier tantrum forgotten.
-----
Dante returned to the private dining room where several business associates waited. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and took his seat.
One of the n chuckled. “You’re always on that phone, Alpha. Important business?”
Dante lifted his wine glass, swirling the dark liquid. “My daughter was refusing to eat. Had to talk her down.”
The comnt landed like a stone in still water.
For years, rumors had circulated about Dante Bellini’s personal life. So said he was married. Others insisted he was single, that the wedding had never happened. No one had ever seen his wife at public functions. No one knew her na.
And now, casually, over wine and business talk, he’d ntioned having a daughter.
The others exchanged glances but said nothing. No one dared ask follow-up questions. Not to an Alpha like Dante.
-----
After dinner, Liora kept vigil by the window, watching for headlights.
Nine o’clock ca and went. She’d already had her bath, changed into her pajamas, but she refused to go to bed.
Any mont now. Any mont, her mother would co.
Around ten, she heard the sound of tires on gravel. Her face lit up instantly.
“Mommy—!”
She bolted down the stairs, nearly tripping in her excitent.
But when the door opened, it was Dante who stepped through.
Her expression fell. “Oh. Daddy.”
Dante handed his jacket to the butler, noting the disappointnt written all over his daughter’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought you were Mommy...”
He didn’t react to the clear preference in her voice. “She’s probably busy. But she promised to take you to school tomorrow morning, didn’t she? Get so sleep. You’ll see her then.”
That seed to pacify her sowhat. “Okay.”
She trudged back upstairs, and Dante headed to his study.
Work consud the next few hours, contracts to review, emails to answer, reports to read. When he finally glanced at the clock, it was nearly midnight.
He assud Elodie had co back while he’d been working.
But when he entered the master bedroom, it was empty. Untouched.
She still hadn’t returned.
Dante stood there for a mont, sothing like curiosity flickering through him. It had been days now. Whatever was happening at her family’s place must be serious.
He didn’t dwell on it. Just headed to the bathroom to shower before bed.
-----
The next morning, Elodie woke before dawn.
She’d barely slept, but that was nothing new. She got ready quietly, chanically, showered, clothes, minimal makeup. Then she forced down so toast and coffee even though she wasn’t hungry.
By the ti she got in her car, the sun was just starting to rise.
The drive to the Bellini estate felt surreal. As her car passed through the gates and wound up the familiar driveway, she had this strange, detached feeling like she was watching soone else’s life.
This place had been her ho for years.
Now it just felt like sowhere she used to live.
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