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.

the park ground, Across the field, a blur of black hair and bright blue eyes darted between swings, his laughter echoing through the air as he chased after Ivy. Her dark brown curls bounced with every step, her giggles filling the

dose of joy in the often harsh world we lived in. But today, even their

puffed out with pride as he wrapped his hand around his sister, Ivy, her cheeks

he exclaimed, his voice filled with

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a smile, the movement unfamiliar on my lips. "Good job, Nate," I croaked, my voice hoarse from

his pride evident in his wide grin. Before I could say anything else, 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 tired. But if you give her a

both exclaimed at the

did. She had been my rock, my confidante, the one person who truly knew the depths of my pain. Ivy and Nate, easily distracted, turned their attention back to the park and darted back towards the other children. Their laughter became clearer as they joined the pack of kids in a game of

to make you feel better," Natalia finally

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

nothing to say."

in my throat made speaking a physical effort. "I have a father, and... and he hates me.

this hurts, Amaya. It hurts like

"I know what it's like to be hurt by the people you care about. And trust me, letting them win, letting their words define you, that only hurts you in the long run." "But how do I just... turn

acknowledge it. But you don't let it define you. You are Amaya Stone, Maya freaking Stone. You are

in alarm, and a flicker of cold fear washed over her face. She didn't speak, but the sudden shift in her demeanor

"Natalia? What's wrong?"

area, searching for whatever had caused her sudden alarm. But I saw nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual

to get the twins and go." The confusion that had clouded my

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

about -"I began to protest, but

she called out in a bright, cheerful voice that

around her.

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Chapter 72

their game of tag with a couple of other children, didn't hear her at

my voice laced with panic. "What's going on? Why

as she called out for the twins again.

and reluctantly started making their way towards us. Nate tried to bargain for