363\u2013Our Names Through The Mud\u00a0<\/p>\n
Graham:\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not only did I listen to the same warrior who told me he had seen Madeline break down after her daughter was taken, but I also came to confront her like a fool, only to be struck by the harsh truth. Th\u00a0<\/p>\n
to swallow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, I thought about everything she had just told me, from her love for her she had not thought about me even once, while my life\u2019s purpose had been to stay angry at her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
much for me\u00a0<\/p>\n
the fact that\u00a0<\/p>\n
If I really thought about it, there wasn\u2019t a single day when I hadn\u2019t considered creating tension between her and Baxter or ruining their lives, as if there had been anything left to ruin. They were living on top of a mountain with nothing, yet she spoke only in praise of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you used us. You used us to get over your feelings for that loser of a man,\u201d Elgin questioned first, his voice hinting at the rage he was feeling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned slightly toward him and noticed his eyes were filled with tears. They were real tears of pain and heartbreak. I couldn\u2019t understand what had led her to believe it was acceptable to play with our hearts, yet she didn\u2019t look guilty at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019m glad I did, because it made it easy to get over you two,\u201d Madeline replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her words made my fists clench.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that point, I started not to believe her anymore. She had to be lying. She was only saying this to hurt us, because we had hurt her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you two are done embarrassing yourselves, please stop, because we have to look for her daughter. It\u2019s been days now, and every single minute counts,\u201d Ron snapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can help too,\u201d I said. 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeline rolled her eyes and gently tapped Ron\u2019s elbow, signaling him to move on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWait. This time, I\u2019m looking for my daughter too. And the moment I find her, you better believe it, Madeline, you\u2019re losing custody,\u201d I added. 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
My voice carried more strain than I meant it to. It bothered me how quickly she dis acted as if I had never mattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They didn\u2019t stop. They kept moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
how easily she\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard you\u2019re looking for someone who might know something about the monster, or if anyone else has seen it,\u201d I continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They stopped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done some research, and I found someone who\u2019s known to be a victim,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both Ron and Madeline snapped their heads toward me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to make that person talk,\u201d I added, giving them just enough hope to keep them listening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
940 Our farve Through the Aud\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m keeping my daughter when I find her,\u201d I finished, making sure Madeline met my eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned away and started walking, Elgin falling into step beside me. The wind carried their voices farther than I expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s probably bluffing,\u201d Ron muttered behind me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t turn back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once we got back home, I realized Silver had come to stay with Elgin, along with her daughters. I dropped onto the couch, anxiety and anger crashing into me at once. I could tell Elgin felt the same way, because for the first time, we hadn\u2019t spoken at all during the car ride.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy is here. Go talk to him,\u201d Silver insisted as she walked into the living room, gently pushing Hailey and Hannah toward Elgin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He straightened in his seat, clearly exhausted, but still forcing himself to focus on them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, how are my two little angels?\u201d he asked, his voice dry, though I could tell he was trying to sound cheerful. \u201cThey\u2019ve been very upset since they came home from school,\u201d Silver explained as she sat beside him and began talking right away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thankfully, Kaylee wasn\u2019t there. I didn\u2019t have the strength to speak to anyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy? Did something happen at school?\u201d Elgin asked, pulling both girls close.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking at his daughters made my chest tighten. It reminded me of Gina.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were the ones who chose an unborn child over Gina. How could we confront Madeline after that? Weren\u2019t we being completely blind?\u201d My wolf woke up inside me, reminding me that Madeline was right. (1)\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew what he meant, but I stayed silent. Accepting it would hurt too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, today at school, everyone was saying that my daddy goes to the rogue community to hurt people,\u201d Hailey said through tears. \u201cThey said you went there to attack the woman who was helping the children. They even said you tried to force yourself on her.\u201d (1)\u00a0<\/p>\n
As she spoke, my head started to pound. I didn\u2019t know how Elgin was holding it to, managing. Hearing it out loud, being reminded of that night and how badly we beha almost managed to forget it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
use I was barely\u00a0<\/p>\n
me hard. I had\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not true. People are lying,\u201d Elgin said sharply. \u201cYou tell me the names of those kids, and I\u2019ll handle it. They won\u2019t talk to you like that again. Their parents will hear from me.\u201d (1)\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stumbled over his words, anger spilling out of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As for me, I was suddenly grateful my child hadn\u2019t been born yet. Then my thoughts went straight back to Gina. Did she hate me when she was taken? Were her last memories of me like this?\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes burned as tears gathered. I stood up without saying a word. I couldn\u2019t stay there. I needed to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
36 Our Nomes Through The Mud\u00a0<\/p>\n
I needed to visit the old woman and get information about the monster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
363\u2013Our Names Through The Mud\u00a0 Graham:\u00a0 +25 Bonus\u00a0 Not only did I listen to the same warrior who told me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-no-daddy-novel-by-novelnozi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19564"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19732,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19564\/revisions\/19732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}