Chapter 73 Seventy Three
AMELIA XAVIER
The room was white and smelled like disinfectant — it made me a little nauseous.
I opened my eyes slowly just for it to hit direct light and immediately shut it back. Opening them one lid at a time, I looked around, barely a second before Owen stepped into the room. He looked stressed, and I felt guilty.
“Owen…” I muttered, making him turn sharply to where I lay.
“Pumpkin, you're awake,” he said, his expression changing from neutral to really excited. He sat beside me as his hands graced my cheeks — they were warm and scented like chocolate.
“How many days have I been out?” I asked, curious to know. Owen shrugged before replying, “Just a day, the doctor said you'll be fine as long as you rest and…”
“The baby?” I interrupted, already impatient. I had put a lot of pressure on myself that it was accurate to say the baby was in danger.
“The baby's fine, Amelia. Let's relax after this. Ash is dead,” he reassured me, but an unsettling feeling stirred at the pit of my stomach. Was it the realization that Ash Winters was now a dead man?
No, I was probably hungry because my stomach churned embarrassment colouring my face.
“Oh fuck me, I got some fruits for you. The doctor recommended that,” he said, disarranging the curls on his head like a twelve year old. He brought out a bag that stood on the small table next to me — I hadn't noticed something was there.
Owen looked different, the frosty colour of his eyes were fading, and his lips looked dry like that night when Ash abducted me.
“Are you sick?” I inquired deeply concerned, but he shrugged.
“Nope. It's just handling the press can be really exhausting, and I haven't had a good rest since Ash Winters, bless his soul, died,” he answered, handing me an apple.
Thinking back at it, father had murdered the legitimate son of the Winters and that alone could cause a tear in the long relationship between them. I was so foolish as to call father to save me. I wasn't in my right state of mind yet I did the most foolish thing. I gulped down the lump that grew in my throat.
Fuck me.
“Maybe we should rest after all this, Owen. What about father… how is he going to…” I didn't complete my statement, but he knew what I meant. He sighed and checked the time.
“Pumpkin-” he kissed me lightly on my lips.
“I have to go see my father now, maybe I'll bring it up, and, I'm not meant to say this, but Dylan's holding Ash's body hostage.”
My eyes widened in both fear, shock and uncertainty.
What was father thinking? I let out a frustrated sigh and kissed Owen's cheeks.
“Father's not foolish, he knows what he's doing. Now run along, you know how Mr Winters loves his time,” I said pretending to be okay with everything.
Owen nodded and stood to leave. As he reached the door, he turned to face me. “Dylan's not stupid, he wouldn't do anything that'll hurt you. I trust him,” he spoke and left clicking the door shut behind him.
“Fuck!”
OWEN WINTERS
The moment I walked into where used to be my home. The moment I laid my eyes on that woman, my mood the whole day was shattered into tiny pieces.
I came here to have some talk with father about Ash Winters, and I had to see this woman — my stepmother.
She stared at me with her eyebrows, her smile hard and face filled with disgust.
“Mother,” I said, going to give her a kiss on the cheeks, but instead I kissed her fingers.
So much for acting.
She looked older than expected, especially since she did a face lift. “Owen, you look…” she assessed me, then plastered a smile on her face. “Tired. How has work been?”
This woman wanted to play pretend and sure enough I was up for it, so I smiled softly.
“Good, unlike you I'm working hard and yes, I'm seeing all the debits,” I said and she laughed which annoyed every part of me.
“A girl has to look good, yes?”
I rolled my eyes and made to walk away, but she held my hand stopping me dead in my tracks. Memories I wanted to erase came rushing back to me, and all the emotions I had to bottle up threatened to spill out. On impulse, I shoved her away, but luckily she didn't fall.
“Don't touch me, mother. It's unnatural,” I said and she chuckled.
“It's unnatural for a mother to hold her child?”
Sizing this woman up, I realized she had some gray strands popping out of her wood coloured hair. “It's unnatural between us, and if you'd excuse me, I need to talk with father,” I answered, excusing myself.
“He said you should wait here, he had work to do.”
I turned to face her, but didn't look into her eyes. “Let's quit the pretence, what do you want?” I asked and she shrugged.
“I visited the Xaviers one time on my trip, and didn't see Amelia, so I made some inquiries and found out she lived with you…”
“So?”
Mother hesitated a bit. Her fingers played with each other, and she seemed a little awkward… a little distance — although the mere thought of her made my skin crawl.
“I just came to warn you. I've watched everything that has happened, the kidnap, the parties… it's just those people are foxes. I heard Dylan Xavier is keeping Ash Winters body hostage. They want a war, they…”
“Enough of your nonsense, mother! I know you don't like them, but try to pretend you do at least. If they wanted war, they would have done that since,” I cut her off before she completed her statement.
Mother didn't do the kind of work we did, and if anybody wanted war, it wasn't the Xavier's except…
“I'm telling you, you know Lucian Xavier right?”
“That's enough! I want some time with Owen. Leave, go do what you love doing best.” Father's voice echoed throughout the room as he came downstairs to where we stood. His long strides were unmatched and his posture strong.
Mother nodded, and left. The fake smile I wore fell as I locked eyes with this man.
Let's get down to business.
“Father.”