We Want Mommy, Not You, Daddy!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 77\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedars POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a hectic afternoon coordinating exhibition layouts with the planning team, I dragged myself up the stairs to my Wicker Park apartment. The silence his me like a physical force as soon as I opened the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Oliver, Mommy\u2019s home!\u2018 I called automatically, then froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nothing but emptiness answered me. No excited little boy, no scattered toys\u2013just stillness that seemed to echo off the walls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled ruefully as I closed the door behind me. Day one without Oliver, and I was already talking to ghosts. Kicking off my heels, I collapsed onto my vintage sofa, feeling his absence like a physical ache.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My fingers hovered over his contact on my phone. He\u2019d promised to call me himself once he settled in at his father\u2019s house. I didn\u2019t want to seem clingy. Better to wait.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Three sharp knocks startled me from my thoughts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oliver!\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart leapt as I flew to the door, yanking it open with a smile that instantly vanished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, I was greeted by Elara\u2019s perfectly made\u2013up face and my adoptive sister Selena\u2019s flawless features. I hadn\u2019t seen either of them since Selena got completely roasted at the gala until now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCedar, darling. We should talk inside,\u201d Elara said smoothly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated, then stepped aside. The Wright women settled onto my sofa like royalty slumming in a peasant\u2019s hut, Selena\u2019s eyes narrowing at my IKEA\u00a0<\/p>\n
tumblers when I offered water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCedar, sweetheart,\u201d Elara began, settling herself primly, \u201cwe\u2019ve been good to you all these years, haven\u2019t we?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pulled my hand from her grip. \u201cI paid back the $800,000 loan. I\u2019d say we\u2019re even.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Your life was saved by this family,\u201d Selena snapped. \u2018Is that all it\u2019s worth to you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018We agreed on a figure, and I paid it,\u201d I said coolly. \u201cIf you\u2019ve come to reopen old accounts, you can leave now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here about the business,\u201d Elara continued, her diamond bracelet catching the light as she gestured. \u2018Wright Creatives has lost several major contracts. We\u2019ll be bankrupt soon.\u201d She leaned forward. \u201cYou\u2019re still family. We need your help.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does this have to do with me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t pretend innocence!\u201d Selena\u2019s face flushed an angry pink. \u201cYou poisoned Ridley Sterling against us! Our company is collapsing because of you!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I laughed, genuinely amused by her delusion. \u201cYou think Sterling Group\u2019s CEO would target a company just because I asked?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
2:48 pm P\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 77\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is revenge for how we treated you!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So you admit how I was treated? I felt ice in my veins. For twenty\u2013six years, I was less than your household staff. Yet somehow I still owe you undying\u00a0<\/p>\n
gratitude?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We saved your life!\u201d Selena practically screamed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease leave,\u201d I stood firmly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elara\u2019s expression shifted, seeing her usual tactics failing. \u201cCedar, honey, we need to meet with Sterling, but can\u2019t get past his assistant. You work for Nest Design. Help us arrange something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I don\u2019t have his ear,\u201d I said flatly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFind a way!\u201d Elara\u2019s voice hardened. \u201cJonathan\u2019s hair is turning white from stress. Help your family just this once!\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was eight,\u201d I said quietly, \u201cyou locked me in the basement because I accidentally broke one of Selena\u2019s favorite cups. I had welts from Jonathan\u2019s belt and a 104\u2013degree fever. You were desperate then too\u2013desperate to silence my cries.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My back still bore those scars.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease leave before I call security.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elara\u2019s mask dropped completely. \u201cCedar Wright, don\u2019t think climbing onto Sterling\u2019s ship means you can disrespect the woman who raised you.\u201d Her voice lowered. \u201cDon\u2019t you want to know about your birth parents?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words struck like lightning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My birth parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For twenty\u2013six years, I\u2019d wondered who they were. Why they\u2019d abandoned me that snowy night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I found you,\u201d Elara continued, \u201cthere was a letter in your blanket. And a keepsake. Talk to Sterling on our behalf, and I\u2019ll give you the letter and the\u00a0<\/p>\n
item.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I bit my lip hard. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me before? In twenty\u2013six years, you never mentioned this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA meaningless note and a cheap necklace?\u201d Selena sneered, examining her perfect manicure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her contempt convinced me Elara was telling truth. My parents had left something for me. They hadn\u2019t just thrown me away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe they\u2019d had no choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019ll try,\u201d I said finally. \u201cBut Ridley might not listen to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll we ask is that you try.\u201d Elara smiled victoriously. \u201cOnce we\u2019re back on our feet, I\u2019ll give you your parents\u2018 things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As they left, I slumped against the wall, feeling the cool plaster against my forehead. I\u2019d made a deal with the devil. But for a chance to know my real parents\u2013to understand why they\u2019d given me up\u2013I\u2019d risk far more than a conversation with Ridley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even if it meant playing into Elara\u2019s hands one last time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
2:48 pm P\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 77\u00a0<\/p>\n
I collapsed back onto the sofa, my body heavy with the weight of the bargain I\u2019d just made, le kely wysp\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d finally broken free from the Wrights manipulation, here i was, dancing to their take again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My fingers traced invisible patterns on the worn fabric of my sofa as I imagined holding that better toring something my both parente haut wreaths wid A connection across twenty\u2013six years of emptiness. What might it say? Maybe there was a resum, an explanation that would finally make sense of me like\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the familiar darkness crept in, whispering doubts. What if the letter was just an apology with no return addres? Or worse what if the de\u00a0<\/p>\n
explanation at all?\u00a0<\/p>\n
If I truly was abandoned\u2013just another unwanted child left in the snow\u2013why bother searching for birth parents who threw me away? What does cont that possibly bring except confirmation of what I\u2019d always feared most: that I was never meant to be loved!\u00a0<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed against the coffee table, interrupting my spiral of questions. A video call notification lit up the screen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing the caller ID, I felt the tension in my shoulders instantly release, and a genuine smile spread across my face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sky Remembered the Touch of Our Unfinished Goodbyes by Lysa Orion Rehn 77 We Want Mommy, Not You, Daddy!\u00a0 […]<\/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":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zero-stars-for-daddy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30476","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=30476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}