Chapter 237 Family Meeting

Chapter 237 Family Meeting
>>Riona
I stood at the bottom of the porch stairs, staring up at the door like it might come alive and swallow me whole.
The wood was old. The air smelled faintly of grass and something warm baking in a nearby house. And yet, everything around me felt so cold. Like the entire world had narrowed down to this one moment—this one step forward.
I took it.
My boots hit the first stair with a soft thud. Then another. The boards creaked beneath me, familiar but ghostly, as if I were walking through an old memory I wasn’t sure I deserved to have. My hand hovered just above the doorbell, fingers trembling slightly. It didn’t feel real. None of it did.
I swallowed hard and let myself look back.
The car was parked just a little down the road, engine off but their presence still pulsing strong. Nick had his head leaned against the glass, eyes closed. Riker was messing with something in the backseat. And Demos… Demos was watching me.
I didn’t know what I expected. A nod maybe, or a dismissive glance. But instead, he smiled. A slow, soft smile that caught me completely off guard.
It wasn’t a smirk. It wasn’t teasing. It wasn’t even one of those rare crooked grins people give when they are amused. No, this was different.
Reassuring. Quiet. Warm in a way that shouldn’t have touched me so deeply.
But it did.
My chest tightened, and for a split second, I wasn’t thinking about the door in front of me. I was thinking about him. About the strange calm that always came when he was near. The way his eyes could see through the chaos in my head and settle the storm just a little.
He was growing on me. Faster than I was ready for.
I looked away quickly, almost as if his gaze had burned me.
This wasn’t the time to think about Demos. I had a bigger mountain to climb.
Annamae.
I remembered the call to Ava like it had happened minutes ago. My voice had been tight. My hands cold. I hadn’t known what to say—how to ask.
‘Ava, I… I need to see her.’
She’d gone quiet for a while. I thought she would hang up. But then her voice came through, soft and cautious.
‘She doesn’t know about you yet.’
I hadn’t expected her to. But it still made everything harder.
I closed my eyes for a second and exhaled slowly, then opened them and faced the door again.
Then I pressed the bell.
The sound echoed behind the door, and my heart lurched. What was I even doing? I hadn’t planned what to say. What if she hated me now too? What if she looked at me and saw a criminal?
The door opened.
Ava stood on the other side, her expression quiet but unreadable. Her eyes met mine, and I searched her face for a hint of how this was going to go. There was a flicker of tension there—maybe nerves—but no malice. No judgment.
Just… understanding.
She didn’t say anything.
She didn’t need to.
She stepped aside, silently inviting me in.
My throat tightened. My feet felt heavy, like they didn’t want to move. But I did. I stepped inside the house, the door clicking softly shut behind me.
And just like that, I was in.
“Who was at the door?” Her voice drifted from the hallway, soft and curious. Annamae.
I froze.
Hearing her speak—it was like someone reached into my chest and gripped my heart with both hands.
I hadn’t realized my mouth was already opening until the words came out.
“It’s… me. It’s Riona.”
Silence.
Then the sudden scrape of a chair, the sharp gasp of breath, and hurried footsteps against the wood.
“Riona?” she called again, louder this time, panic and hope tangled together in her voice. “Riona—is that really you?”
I stepped further into the living room, just in time to see her turn the corner. She moved too fast—too excited—and didn’t see the edge of the low table in her way.
“Wait—Anna!”
But it was too late. Her leg clipped the table, and she tripped forward, a startled cry escaping her lips.
I lunged without thinking.
My arms wrapped around her just before she hit the floor. She landed against my chest, trembling, her breath hot and quick against my neck. Her hands clung to my sleeves as I steadied us both, heart thundering from the scare—and from the fact that she was really here.
Alive. Warm. In my arms.
“I got you,” I whispered, my voice tight and shaking. “I got you, Anna.”
She didn’t say anything right away. Her breath hitched like she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry.
Then I heard her whisper, broken and disbelieving, “Riona…”
“I’m here.”
She pulled back just enough to see my face. Her eyes were wide, and tears were already welling up in them, clouding that soft gray I remembered so well. Her hands cupped my cheeks like she didn’t trust that I was real.
“You’re alive,” she said. “You’re actually alive—Riona—I thought you were— I thought—” Her voice cracked, and she burst into tears, throwing her arms around me again.
I held her tighter, burying my face into her shoulder, overwhelmed by the warmth of her, the smell of her hair, the memories crashing over me like waves.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so, so sorry. I—” My throat closed, and I couldn’t say anything more. I didn’t know what to say
She shook her head against me. “Don’t. Don’t say sorry. Just—stay. Please, stay this time.”
I nodded into her shoulder. “I will. I promise.”
We held each other like that for a long time, no words, just breaths and tears and years of pain trying to unwind themselves in the safety of each other’s arms.
The sound of soft footsteps drew my attention, and I looked up just as Ava entered the room.
She paused in the doorway, her expression unreadable for a moment, but her eyes softened as they settled on the two of us—Annamae clinging to me like she never wanted to let go, and me clutching her just as tightly.
Ava’s lips parted, then closed again like she was holding something back. Then she walked over, slowly, quietly, like she didn’t want to break the fragile moment between us.
“I was going to give you two a minute,” she said gently, her voice a little rougher than usual, “but I couldn’t stay away.”
Annamae turned at the sound of her voice, still holding my arm, and reached out blindly with the other. “Ava… she’s really here. Riona’s really here.”
Ava smiled softly. She crouched beside us and tucked a strand of hair behind Annamae’s ear, her fingers trembling just a little. “I know, Anna. I know.”
For a heartbeat, the three of us were still—just breathing together. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed this. The quiet presence of my sisters. The way we fit without having to try.
Ava looked at me then, really looked. Her eyes held something I didn’t expect—something warm, and maybe a little apologetic. “I didn’t tell her because I didn’t know how. But maybe I should’ve trusted you.”
I shook my head, swallowing the lump in my throat. “No. You did what you thought was right. I’m just… grateful I get to be here now.”
Annamae’s fingers tightened on mine. “Don’t go again,” she whispered. “I don’t care what happened. I just want you here.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, brushing her hair gently, like I used to when she had nightmares. “Not again.”
Ava let out a breath, low and quiet, and then leaned in, wrapping both of us in her arms.


The air felt heavier after the warmth had settled. We’d all moved into the lounge, and now the six of us were seated—me, Ava, and Annamae on one couch, and across from us were Demos, Riker, and Nick.
It was strange, being across from them like this. Demos looked like he belonged in some royal court, his posture straight, hands folded in his lap, expression unreadable. Riker lounged back with arms crossed, his eyes flickering between all of us like he was listening and calculating at the same time. And Nick—Nick seemed oddly calm, his fingers drumming softly against his knee, eyes focused on Annamae as if she were the only person in the room.
The silence stretched for a moment before Ava finally broke it, “So, if you didn’t do it,” she said, her gaze cutting to me, “then who is the culprit?”
I hesitated. My fingers fidgeted in my lap, and I felt Demos’s eyes flick toward me from across the room.
“Well…” I began slowly, my voice quieter than I intended. “There was only one other person in the room.”
Ava narrowed her eyes slightly. “Who?”
I looked down for a moment, then lifted my head. “Milo.”
Annamae blinked, like the name startled her. “Milo?” she echoed. Then she shook her head quickly. “Why would he do that? No… no, that doesn’t make sense.”
“I’m not saying it makes sense,” I replied softly, “But think about it. It makes less sense that I would do that, and more if Milo was the actual culprit.”
Silence fell over the room.
We didn’t talk about the part where Milo had even sold me to the auction. I didn’t want my sisters to know the humiliation I had gone through.
“No,” Ava shook her head, “Even if I think about it rationally, I don’t think it was Milo.” Her words made my heart sting, but more than me, it felt like Riker was even more offended. He looked like he would stand up at that moment and go and hunt down Riker.
“Why would you say that?” Nick asked, sensing the bloodlust from Riker but Ava’s answer left us all baffled.