The intimidating aura around Alexander made Niki shrink back, lips pressed together as she timidly changed her words. "Thank you, sir…"
Her eyes stung, filled with a sense of injustice.
Still, she bit her lip stubbornly, refusing to let a single tear fall.
She had thought… maybe her father was finally willing to accept her.
Danielle was still shaken by what had just happened. When Niki fell away from her toward the other side, Danielle instinctively reached out, but she was too far away.
Thankfully, her daughter was safe.
Gently scooping Niki into her arms, Danielle offered soft words of comfort. "That must have been scary. Are you hurt anywhere?"
Niki shook her head in silence.
She knew if she tried to speak, she'd burst into tears.
Raffy stood off to the side, watching them, feeling a twist of discomfort in his chest.
His mom used to hug him like that, so gentle and warm.
But his mom hadn't come home in a long time, and it had been ages since he'd felt her embrace.
He missed her deep down.
And when his mom had just said he didn't have one, it stung.
But then he thought, as long as Miss Millie was there when his mom couldn't be, maybe things weren't so bad after all.
He was sure his mom didn't really mean it. She was just upset—she'd never actually leave him.
Danielle didn't spare Alexander so much as a glance. Holding Niki close, she walked away without looking back.
Alexander's brow tensed ever so slightly.
He couldn't pretend not to notice the difference—Danielle, who used to greet him with such warmth, now met him only with icy indifference.
Who knew what childish game she was playing at now?
"Even a child knows how to say thank you. Don't you?" he called after her.
Danielle paused in her tracks and shot him a cold, mocking smile. "You owe her far more than a simple thank you, don't you think?"
With that, she walked away, not bothering to see his reaction.
The remark made no sense—utterly baffling.
Alexander's eyes hardened, his whole presence turning cold as frost.
Was it his imagination, or had Danielle just looked at him with hatred?
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Wife You Buried Is Back from Hell