Chapter b138 /b

    Amber’s POV

    Watching Alice rush ahead, unwilling to talk to me, my heart ached. It wasn’t as if the source of her anger was any great mystery either. Alice had wanted Julian to be her father, so seeing Chase kiss me must have endangered that in her mind.

    She was too young to understand that things between Julian and me were tumultuous at best. Or that this ‘kiss‘ she witnessed between Chase and me had not been consensual. It was no sign of anything toe, other than my growing anger and betrayal towards Chase himself.

    A six–year old didn’t understand that. She only saw the dream she wanted for her family falling apart

    before her eyes.

    “Give her some time,” Anna said from behind me. “She’s always been emotional. Once she calms down and has a good cry, then she will likely want to talk and you two can clear the air.”

    I wanted to believe that, but it was difficult knowing that my daughter was hurting. “What a day,” I sighed and pushed into the house. Anna followed along behind me, closing the door behind her.

    Together, we moved into the kitchen, where I got two sses from the cab. Anna went right into the fridge and retrieved the bottle of wine.

    “Did you know Julian was going to be there?” she asked me.

    “No idea,” I replied. “And he kept trying to talk to me aboutst night.”

    “What did he sayb?/bi” /ishe asked.

    “I don’t know.i” /iI didn’t really hear him out at all. I didn’t want to talk about it, and I still didn’t. Olivia had also been a problem, interrupting before Julian could exin himself anyway. “And what had Olivia been doing there? Julian at least has been volunteering. Olivia had no reason to be there.”

    “Why is she even in town?” Anna asked, before pouring the wine into the pair of sses, one for each of us. “The answer? To mess with you and try to get with Julian. That’s all she’s ever been after.”

    I had so many questions about what was happening with them. Maybe they were together, maybe they weren’t. But they definitely had enough drama to tie them together. Even thinking about it, and trying to unravel it all in my mind, filled me with exhaustion.

    Anna put the cork back in the wine and returned it to the fridge. Then we grabbed our sses and moved to the kitchen table. We both sat down. Anna sipped from her wine right away but I let mine sit there a

    little while longer, not drinking it.

    Anna watched me for a moment before she asked, “Did you know Chase would try to kiss you?”

    “He’s flirted since the day I’ve met him,” I told her, “But I never gave him any indication that I reciprocated …” I tried to think back, reevaluating each conversation, each interaction, trying to consider if I had identally hinting at wanting something more than I actually did.

    I shook my head,ing up empty. “I just don’t know. But I hate that Alice saw it.”

    “She would have eventually seen it anyway,” Anna said. When I gave her a look, she rified. “Maybe not with Chase, but with someone. Alice has an idea that you and Julian should be together, but you don’t really want that yourself, do you? So, eventually, she would see you kissing someone else…”

    I guessed that made sense. I couldn’t keep Alice in the dark forever about the rift between Julian and me. But she was still too young to fully understand, and I could see how she could be confused, seeing as how

    Julian treated her like a father.

    Which he was.

    cing my elbows on the table, I buried my face in my hands. “Gods, what a mess.”

    “It will be okay,” Anna said. “Alice loves you. She’ll get over this soon ande around, just you wait and

    see.”

    I wanted to believe that, but I just didn’t know. Alice and I hardly ever fought. This felt like a new bridge to cross and I hated crossing it.

    X