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“She’s compromised. We must move her. Arlo and Jax are moving in that direction, and we’ve already moved the package. But we believe she’s safer with you now. There is no choice, Amberlea.”
“There’s always a choice,” I gasped.
“Not at the minute. Seraphine gave the order, and you don’t outrank her. Be prepared,” Butch said and cut the line.
My legs weakened, and I sank into my chair. I was in fight-or-flight mode and unsure which way to lean. The urge to run was prevalent, but it wouldn’t resolve anything. So many thoughts raced through my head I couldn’t catch one.
But I knew one thing: after ten years of not seeing her, not even knowing what she looked like, my daughter was coming home.
???
I paced back and forth nervously. Faelea was ten years old. I’d seen her for a moment when I had given birth, and that memory had fed me all this time. Hair so blonde it was almost white, a red, wrinkled bundle with the dark blue eyes most babies were born with. The midwife had taken Faelea to be weighed, and I never saw her again. My choice.
If I’d kept Faelea, Jax would have gone after custody. If Jax hadn’t, the Casks would have. Arlo and his father, Mr Cask, would have taken Faelea and raised her to hate me. No, that was unacceptable. As soon as I’d discovered I was pregnant, Seraphine had made moves. Somehow she’d got me moved to a hospital to give birth. Something about danger to my health, and then the midwife had taken my child, and that was that.
Of course, Jax had known I was pregnant; he’d been informed. I remember cowering in my bed as Jax, Arlo, and Mr Cask tried to break through security and discover where Faelea was. And I may have only been seventeen then, but fuck, I would have died before giving her up. Seraphine had made sure my baby was safe and would be raised without hate. My daughter’s full name was Faelea, Fae for my mama and lea for me. Her middle name was Abigail, after Abbi, and I’d given her my surname. I wanted Faelea to have nothing to do with her father or uncle, who’d turned against me so easily.
Even today, I would put money on the fact they were part of the conspiracy to protect Cordelia Wellspring. Fuck, Jax marrying Cordelia told me all I needed. Faelea would never grow up with that evil surrounding her. Jax had broken my heart when he took the Casks and Wellsprings’ side. I expected him to believe me and Arlo too, and when they hadn’t, I’d locked everything away. The only one I remembered with affection was Abbi. Even the kind Mr Cask’s face had been full of hate when he looked at me. How Mr Cask could believe the lies told of me at trial, I’d never understand, but he had. And that cut me as deeply as Abbi’s senseless death.
I heard the back door open and close, and I spun, terrified and excited simultaneously. Simone came through first and nodded, and then Faelea appeared, and I gasped. Holy hell. This was my baby.
Faelea was slight and small as I was, but her hair was the raven black of Jax’s. Her sweet face was heart-shaped like Abbi’s had been, and she had Abbi’s nose. My girl looked like her cousin. But Faelea’s eyes and mouth were all me. Her grey eyes, so similar to mine, stared at me in amazement and awe.
“You’re my mom,” Faelea whispered, and I nodded, overwhelmed by emotions. Neither of us seemed to know what to do, and then Faelea rushed forward, and I clasped her tightly in my arms as we collapsed to the floor. We were both crying. I couldn’t release her, and I knew I would never let her go again. Faelea was mine.
“Faelea,” I mumbled through my tears.
“Mom,” she replied. Minutes ticked past as we sought comfort in each other and held on damn tight. Mom, the word sank into my heart and stayed there. Ten years I’d been denied hearing it. A whole decade had been stolen from me and my baby. Another woman had raised her, watched Faelea’s first steps, suffered through teething, and accompanied her on Faelea’s first day at school.
Because of one vindictive, rich, spiteful bitch I’d lost precious years and would never get them back. Well, the worm was turning. I’d never stopped fighting for my innocence and freedom. I had one of those, now I wanted the second. And I craved that those assholes who sent me down suffered.
“There’re some bags with Faelea’s shit in them; we couldn’t save anything else,” Butch said finally, interrupting us.
Faelea clung to me as if I would disappear, and I held her just as tightly. I could only nod at Butch, but his face told me something had happened. For now, I needed to bond with my baby girl. Girls loved shopping, I remembered.
“I’ll buy more. We can have some fun shopping,” I suggested, and Faelea nodded with a shaky grin.
“We need to talk. Faelea, could you wait with Simone while I bring your mom up to date?” Butch asked.
Faelea nodded.
“You won’t take her anywhere?” she questioned with fear in her voice.
“No, baby girl, we’re staying right here, just in the next room,” Butch replied.
Wiping tears from my face, I led Butch into the lounge.
“Can you explain what happened?” I sought because I knew something had.
“When Faelea was smuggled out of the hospital, she was taken across the country to Washington state and raised there by a woman; she is friendly to my organisation. Faelea was informed of the truth from the moment she could form words. She knows you’re innocent of the crimes you were locked away for. And Faelea also is aware that you did everything to keep her safe. Seraphine sent her your letters, writing as you.”
“Yes, and letters about Faelea’s childhood were sent to Seraphine as information concerning a niece,” I said, nodding.
“The woman, Selina, raised Faelea to know she was her guardian but not her mom. Selina also kept you alive by reading your letters consistently. But Selina got ill, and we discovered she’s been battling cancer. She died four days ago, and they were going to put Faelea in the system. They would have run a DNA test on Faelea, and if Jax or any of his lot have theirs on file, they’d have linked Faelea to them. So we moved Faelea straight away,” Butch explained.
My heart leapt into my throat at how close that wicked family had been to finding Faelea. The Wellsprings probably wouldn’t have wanted her, but the Casks wouldn’t have batted an eyelid, and neither would Jax. Even now, Jax hadn’t let go of me knowing where our daughter was. Despite the hospital and police calling it an active kidnapping, Jax was damn sure I knew where Faelea was. His hate-filled letters said just that. In the end, the warden began reading all my mail because I’d get so upset.
Obviously, I did not know where Faelea was, but yeah, I ensured they didn’t get their hands on my sweet girl and destroy her life like they’d done to me. Now I had Faelea in my arms for the first time since they snatched her from me at the hospital. I was going to make damn certain nobody would take her again. Even if it meant killing them. No, I had to wait and trust Simone and Butch to discover the proof of my innocence and then stick it to the culprits.
