Filed to story: Offered to the Lycan King Novel by Misha K (River & Hunter)
“But why do you want it two days before the due date?”
Lia clutched her skirt in her lap. “I have to pay my tuition fee.”
Mrs. Morrison narrowed her eyes. She studied Lia for a while. “Okay, I will h*and you over the money. You are lucky that Nat already signed the receipt just before she passed away.” Mrs. Morrison picked up a folder that she had set aside. “Nat had started trusting me after so long.” She flipped through the pages and picked out a paper. “Take this to Grace outside and she will clear the amount”
Lia took the paper with shaking h*ands. When she got up, Mrs. Morrison said, “Remember, this is the last amount for you because you are turning eighteen next month.”
“Yes, thank you,” Lia said and exited before the woman could say something else. Lia was surprised to see that Natalie was receiving two thousand dollars every month. Where did it all go?
Grace grinned at Lia when she h*anded her the paper. She deposited the paper, counted money and h*anded it to her.
“Umm… this is fifteen hundred…” Lia pointed out.
Grace raised an eyebrow. “So?”
Lia’s eyes went wide as she instantly realized that Mrs. Morrison was eating the rest of the money as a bribe. She let out a ragged breath and nodded because she was in no position to fight against them. Tucking the money in her empty wallet, she picked up her bags and went out of the office, knowing well that she would never come back. But now she had a lot of money to survive. She planned on taking up a job as a waitress after her school hours.
She was about a hundred meters from the office when a car screeched on her side of the pavement. Her heart leapt out and she increased her pace. The window on the driver seat rolled down and a woman called her. “Lia!”
“Debra!” Lia was surprised to see her.
“Jump in! I have something very urgent to tell you.”
“I- I can’t!” Lia was terrified. Debra was Natalie’s friend. “I have to go elsewhere.”
“Lia, please. I have to give you something.”
Lia didn’t trust her. She continued to walk on the pavement as fast as possible only to increase the distance between herself and Debra. She didn’t want to do anything with her mother or her past. At the same time, she was afraid that Debra would go and talk about her to Garry.
It seemed that Lia’s luck was running out fast. She saw Garry’s Ford coming in her direction. “S*hit!” Fear blasted in her. She was about to get caught by him.
Debra noticed her fear. “Jump in, will you!” she shouted at her as she backed her car.
Lia didn’t have time to think. She had to choose between the lesser evil. On a quick decision, she opened the car and jumped in the passenger seat. Debra’s car screeched as she raced it on the street. Garry was on their tail. The two girls weren’t talking as Debra steered the car to an underground garage, losing Garry.
“F*uck!” Debra rasped as she shook her head. The garage was eerily quiet at this hour with a few cars parked in it. Lia gave her a wary glance and waited for her to speak.
When Debra settled, she pursed her l*ips and looked at Lia. She pointed at the dashboard and said, “There’s a letter for you that Natalie gave me just before her death. Take it out from there.”
Lia’s t*hroat became dry. “I— I don’t understand.”
“Take it out. I’ll explain,” she replied drily.
Lia’s h*ands shook as she drew a white envelope out of the dashboard.
Swallowing saliva down her dry t*hroat, Lia turned the envelope over. There was nothing written on it. She stared at it with clenched jaws as emotions whirled in her mind.
“That is the letter that Nat gave me,” Debra said, shaking her out of her reverie. “She knew that she was dying. She had stomach cancer and it was suddenly detected only a month back. The day it was detected, she came to me in the evening and gave me this letter saying that I should give it to when she dies. She was crying a lot. The doctor told her that she didn’t have enough time to live.”
Goosebumps pebbled her skin and Lia wrapped her arms around herself as if to save herself. Natalie had cancer? No wonder she just vomited and died one morning. Why didn’t Garry report it to the hospital?
“That night Nat told me things that I shouldn’t tell you, but after contemplating a lot, I can’t stop myself.” Debra lowered her eyes. “Nat and Garry kidnapped you from your father’s home when you were just four. They ran away from their town and settled in Blowing Rock after Garry managed to get some fake documents from his shady contacts. They set up their new identities and used them to live in this town. No one came after them because frankly who would suspect a mother with a child whose father had dumped them. People sympathized with her and liked Garry because he took her in and settled with her also taking care of her child. It was much later that his friends realized that he was a douche and so most of them stopped talking to him. Nat too decided to have little friends because people had started asking about her parents and your biological father.”
Lia’s stomach twisted into a thousand knots.
“She couldn’t manage the barrage of questions people threw at her.” Debra shrugged. “You know… small town hassles. Everyone knows everyone. Rumors start fast.” She held the steering wheel t*ightly. “Your real name is something else and I think it is all in that letter.” She shook her head. “I know the kind of demon Garry is. I saw the way he looks at you and I am shocked that he h*ardly grieves Nat. It’s like he was never in love with her.” She turned her head to look at Lia. “If I were you, I would get the hell out of here and go to find your dad. From what Nat told me, he is a nice man.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?