Chapter 12
#Chapter 12: Old Ghosts, New Opportunities
I stood in front of the apartment that Ryan and I used to share.
“Well?” Nathan asked. “Are you gonna go in and confront this jerk or should I?”
I shook my head and swallowed. “It’s okay. I’ll go.
With my heart in my throat, I walked up the front steps to the building and rang the doorbell. I waited for a couple of minutes, but there was no answer. I decided to ring it again… And again…
“Olivia? Is that you?” a familiar female voice called. I looked over to see my elderly
neighbor, Susan, standing in her doorway with a puzzled expression on her face.”
What are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for Ryan,” I said. “I need to… talk to him. Have you seen him?”
Susan gave me an even more puzzled expression. “Dear, he moved out. I thought
you two broke up. Did he not tell you?”
I shook my head. “No, he didn’t.”
“Well… What did you need to talk to him about?” she asked.
I didn’t want to tell her the truth, so I just shook my head again and made up a lie as
I made my way back down the steps toward where Nathan was waiting in the car. It’s nothing,” I said. “I just thought I left something here.”
“Oh. Well… Sorry, dear.”
“It’s alright. Thanks, Susan.
I blinked back tears as I stiffly walked back down the steps and headed back to the car. Nathan was waiting for me, leaning on the car when I arrived.
“He moved out,” I said quietly.
Nathan’s face was overcome with anger. In a sudden burst of rage, he growled low and spun around. His fist flew out and made contact with a tree behind him. When he pulled his fist away, I could see blood on his knuckles already, but he didn’t seem
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to notice.
“I’ll kill that jerk,” he growled. “Show me a picture of him. I’ll find him on G****e.”
Once again, I shook my head. “I deleted all of the photos I had of him.”
Nathan stared at me with shock for a moment. “Well, what are you gonna do, then?”
he asked.
I could only shrug. “I guess I’ll wait a little longer for Ryan’s call.”
I did wait. I waited for a week, in fact. Nathan paid for me to stay in the local motel since we still had to deal with the matter of the villa, and I stayed up every night waiting for a call from Ryan.
And still, Ryan never called me back.
By the end of the week, I was completely disheartened. I even began to wonder if I
should keep the baby or not. Being born without the blessing of a father was bad
enough, and to be born to a struggling single mother made it even worse. I couldn’t
help but think that maybe it would be better off to terminate the pregnancy, or at
least give the baby up for adoption to a good family.
But I couldn’t. Already, the love for the baby in my belly outweighed my resentment
toward Ryan.
“I decided to keep it,” I said to Nathan, who had patiently been waiting for my
decision all week. I was standing on the doorstep of the villa.
Nathan’s eyes widened and he gestured for me to come into the house. “Really?” he
said as I walked in. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “I… want to try my best,” I replied. “I can’t bring myself to terminate the
pregnancy.”
Nathan said nothing, but I could see a flash of a smile come across his l*ps. His eyes. seemed to light up a bit, but he didn’t outright say whether he was happy or not.
“But Nathan,” I said, taking a deep breath, “I can’t leave this villa. For my baby’s sake, I need to keep the house that my aunt left to me. Can you promise that you
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won’t fight me on this?”
For a few moments, Nathan was silent. He walked over to the dining room table and sat down, thinking. I chewed my l*p nervously, but smiled when he finally nodded and spoke. “Of course. I won’t fight you for the house… But I have one
condition.”
Immediately, I felt my heart sink. “W–What is it?” I asked.
We live here together.” Nathan’s voice was clear and even–toned, and I could tell
instantly from his stance that there would be no convincing him otherwise. “Let’s say… for a year. Until I can be accepted as a full member of the Alpha Council.”
I was a bit taken aback. “Why?” I asked. “Are we really still going along with what
happened at your wedding?”
Nathan nodded. “They won’t accept me fully if I come across as unstable without a wife or kids. Our pack has always been located in a traditional mining town, but times are changing and my plan is to join the Alpha Council to help seek more cooperation and business opportunities for other packs.”
“If it’s all business, then why did you leave Layla?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. “She was an Alpha female from another pack. If the marriage was only for business purposes, then you two could have just worked something out in private.”
Nathan shook his head, causing a bit of his tawny blonde hair to fall into his eyes a way that admittedly made my heart skip a beat.
in
“If anyone found out that I stayed in a marriage where I knew that I had been betrayed, no one would ever see me as an Alpha again.”
“Then tell people the truth,” I insisted. “Tell them that you caught her cheating and you acted on impulse during the wedding because you didn’t know what else to do. I’m sure they’ll understa-”
“Olivia, it’s not that simple.” Nathan stood from the dining room table and looked sternly at me. Sometimes I forgot that he was an Alpha now, but it was times like this when he was standing tall and puffing his chest out that I was quickly reminded. I would never admit it, but something about it made me feel heated in ways that I never thought I would feel toward my friend.
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“What is it, then?” I asked. I walked over to the window and peered out for a moment to calm my nerves before I looked back at him. Only now, he looked sadder
than before.
“Our town is dying, Olivia,” he said quietly as he stared down at the floor. “Coal isn’t as widely used anymore thanks to clean energy. Our mines were already stripped of
any precious gems or minerals a long time ago, and our current Alpha council
consists of a bunch of old men like my dad – who don’t want to change their
ways. For the good of our town, I need to join the council so I can make some
positive changes.”
As Nathan spoke, my eyes went wide. The sincerity in his voice instantly made me
melt, and I knew that he was right. Already since I’d come home, I came to realize
that a lot of businesses were closed down. If someone didn’t do something, then this
once–thriving town could eventually fall into poverty.
“Please, Olivia.” Nathan lifted his gaze to meet mine. His bluish green eyes sparkled
in the light that came in through the window.
I gritted my teeth as I looked at him. I couldn’t say no to my best friend, we had always promised that we’d be there for each other, and although we were separated for a long time, it felt as though that promise never really changed.
“Fine,” I whispered. “But I have conditions, too.”
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