Her Precious Baby

He expected Angeline to blame and scold him instead of opening up like this. It was as if she had numbed herself to her fate.

The only thing more dangerous than a fight in a relationship was a cold shoulder, which was proof of her increasing disregard for him.

Evander felt empty in the stomach at that thought. He reached out and grabbed Angeline’s arm.

“Why did we have to break up?” he asked, gritting his teeth in dismay.

“Was I not clear enough?”

“I want the real reason.” Evander gazed down at her, his voice husky. “Why did you react that way when you saw the Heart of the Ocean I gifted you? What are you hiding from me?”

He only realized the shift in Angeline’s emotional state after he calmed down. Though he was unclear of the reason, he surmised upon further thought that it must have been due to the necklace.

“Is that important?”

Angeline’s heart skipped a beat at Evander’s words. She turned around to face him while feigning a calm she did not feel.

“Everybody has their secrets, Mr. Golding. That must be why you won’t tell me who Floretta’s real mother is.”

Initially prodding Evander to see if she could discover something, she did not expect such a hostile reaction from him.

“You are becoming bold, Angeline!”

“Forget I ever asked.”

Angeline scoffed and again struggled to free herself of Evander before turning around to leave abruptly.

the doubt in her

Evander react so strongly to the mention of Floretta’s birth mother? What is he hiding from me? Could he, instead of the traffickers, have stolen the newborn baby? If that’s the case, Evander must have been planning this charade and knew that I would only hate

daring to ruminate further, she opted instead to investigate the matter thoroughly at her own

out to play when the bell in the kindergarten rang a long time ago, but Floretta remained in her seat with a colored

the parent-teacher conference looming close, the teachers called for every child to produce an artwork to be

it was rare for Angeline and Evander to appear together in the parent-teacher conference, Floretta honored the occasion by

admit a group of boys who came

the boys, chubbier than the rest, arrived before Floretta

by his gesture, her

you touch my things, Mark? Give

meaty hands shoved Floretta away and perused the sketchbook with sardonic

were hiding fancy artwork in here. Instead, all you have is

“You’re lying!”

her feet angrily. Her features

must have said

Aunt Olivine,” Mark growled as he pushed her again and jabbed a menacing finger. “Your mother threw you away as soon as you

She was so frightened at the mention of the orphanage that her scarlet eyes blossomed with

rubbing her eyes. “I have a mother. She’s Angeline Sorelle,

at how good at lying Floretta is!

and, along with his friends, began to point and laugh

about? My mother

convince them, but despite her earnestness, none

the harder at those

movie star! How

she loves Angeline