Bonds of the Alpha Billionaire (Maya and Alex)

Chapter 72

-Maya's POV-

Saturday

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Seventy-two hours.

Three excruciating days had crawled by since the earth had split open beneath my feet. Three days since the man I was supposed to call Dad. the one who should have been my protector, my safe harbor, had looked at me with such raw, naked hatred that the air itself seemed to crackle with hostility.

The vibrant chaos of the park swirled around me, a meaningless blur of sound and movement. Laughter, shouts of encouragement, the rhythmic thud of feet pounding the dirt-it all blended into a monotonous symphony of noise that did nothing to penetrate the thick fog clouding my mind.

Natalia sat beside me talking endlessly and outlining potential solutions to the text message problem.

"We could try a signal blocker. It wouldn't be foolproof, but it might buy us some time to track down the source."

My gaze remained fixed on a distant point on the horizon, a point that stretched into an endless void mirroring the hollowness within me. My chest felt heavy, and everything just felt so wrong.

"Or I've been doing some reading. We could use a counter-trace program. It's a little risky, but if we're careful..."

Her voice trailed off, and I finally tore my eyes away from the empty horizon. She was staring at me with a worried frown etched on her face.

"Amaya," her voice was gentle. "Are you even listening to me?"

A flicker of pain crossed Natalia's face for a fleeting moment before she recomposed herself. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Talk about it?

How could I possibly talk about it?

How could I put into words the searing pain of rejection that had branded itself onto my very soul? How could I explain the suffocating emptiness that had replaced the fragile hope I had clung to for so long? That someday we could get past whatever it was my father felt for me. He hated me. My own father simply hated me.

ground, Across the field, a blur of black hair

lived in. But today, even

me out of my reverie. Naty, panting and grinning from ear to ear, stood in front of me, his chest puffed out with pride as he wrapped his hand around his sister, Ivy, her

voice filled

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unfamiliar on my lips. "Good

Ivy managed to shove him off her and leaned towards me, pulling me with her tiny hands, "Come on, Mommy. Let's play." I smiled down at her, "Mommy is really

both exclaimed at

one person who truly knew the depths of my pain. Ivy

you feel better," Natalia finally

nudge, pulling me out of my self-imposed isolation. I turned to her, my vision blurry with

nothing to say."

speaking a physical effort. "I have a father, and... and

"Look, I know this hurts, Amaya. It hurts

my hand, "I know what it's like to be hurt by the people you care about. And trust me,

it. You acknowledge it. But you don't let it define you. You are Amaya Stone, Maya freaking Stone. You are strong, you are brave, and you are worthy of love, no matter what your father says and

voice trailed off abruptly, her gaze snapping towards the edge of the park. Her eyes widened in alarm, and a flicker of cold fear washed over her face. She didn't speak, but the sudden shift in her demeanor sent a jolt of

"Natalia? What's wrong?"

had caused her sudden alarm. But I saw nothing out of the

scrambled to her feet, her movements quick and purposeful. "We need to get the twins and go." The confusion that

explain," Natalia snapped, already starting to gather our things scattered around the bench. "We need to get the twins

to protest,

she called out in a bright, cheerful voice that contrasted sharply with the

around her.

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Chapter 72

of tag with a couple of

I pleaded, my voice laced with

called out for the twins again. "Ivyl Natel It's time to go

towards us. Nate tried to