Chapter 229

Chapter 229: The Truth

Edrick

I stayed up almost all night thinking about things.

Moana was right about Ella needing to know the truth about her mother. Especially if bad things

were about to happen, I felt as though I needed to finally tell her everything. And besides,

Moana was angry with me; maybe this would remind her that I wasn’t all that bad, and that I was

trying my best.

“Ella, can you come here, please?”

Ella sighed and pushed her chair back, causing it to scrape against the floor in an unpleasant

way. She was upset with me, too, because she didn’t understand why we had to leave the

penthouse so suddenly. But nonetheless, she came over to me and sat in my lap.

I caught a glimpse of Moana standing in the kitchen. Her green eyes met mine, and as I held

Ella, I saw them soften as they looked at the two of us.

“Ella, there’s something that I haven’t told you. And I think you deserve to know the truth.”

“What is it?” Ella asked, looking up at me with a pout on her face.

I took a sharp breath. I wasn’t mentally prepared to have this conversation, but it needed to be

done.

“Ella…” I saw Moana lingering in the doorway. It seemed as though she didn’t want to make it too

obvious that she was listening, but if I was being honest, I wanted her here by my side for this. I just

hoped that Ella would understand why I kept the truth from her for so long… And I hoped that she

wouldn’t resent me.

“Daddy? What is it?” Ella was getting impatient, and looked up at me with wide eyes.

I sighed. “I haven’t been telling you the truth,” I finally said. “Your mom… Your real mom… She isn’t

dead. Actually, she’s alive. The reason why I told you all this time that your mom isn’t alive anymore is

because she isn’t very nice. See, when you were born, she didn’t want you. Or me.”

Ella’s eyes widened. “Really?” she asked quietly.

I nodded. “It has nothing to do with you, Princess,” I said gently. “Your mom is someone who has a lot

of problems in her life. She doesn’t feel things the way the rest of us do. When you were born, she only

did it because she wanted the nice life that I could give her, and nothing else.”

At this time, I could not only see Moana out of the corner of my eye standing in the kitchen doorway,

but I could see Selina and the maids, too.

But I kept going.

“When I realized that your mom was just using you and me to get money and a fancy life, I decided to

send her away. That’s why it was always just you and me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but…”

“Is it because sometimes, adults don’t have things all figured out?”

I felt my eyes go a little wide at Ella’s wise words, and I nodded. “That’s exactly it. When you’re little,

like you are, you think that you’ll have everything figured out when you grow up. But you never do,

because that’s just not how life works. And that’s okay. I’m just sorry that I didn’t figure this out sooner.”

Ella was silent for a long time. She seemed to be processing. I heard a sniff from the doorway, and

looked up to see Selina dabbing at her eyes with her apron and scurrying away. Moana, however,

stood steadfast and just looked at me with what almost seemed like adoration on her face.

“Daddy?” Ella finally asked.

“Yes, Princess?”

Ella took in a deep breath. “I think I already sort of knew that my real mommy was alive all this time.”

I felt my eyes go even wider. “What are you talking about, sweetheart?” I asked.

Ella simply shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes, when I’m dreaming at night, I have dreams about what

it was like when I was a baby, before I could remember things. And one time, I had a dream that you

and my real mommy were fighting, and you told her to leave and not come back and hurt us anymore.

That’s what you said. In my dream, at least.”

I was taken aback. That was exactly what I had said to Olivia years ago…

“Here! Just take this money, and get out! I don’t want you to hurt us anymore!”

Just hearing those words brought that whole memory rushing back like a train hitting me. I felt my heart

practically stop, and all I could do was look in shock up at Moana, whose eyes were just as wide as

mine.

I always knew that Ella would have stronger powers than the other kids. She was an Alpha, after all,

and it seemed now that she had the ability of Hindsight, or being able to see into the past.

Since she was so young, it was probably only showing itself in sporadic dreams like that. But maybe,

when she was older, it would manifest more solidly. Powers like that sometimes dissipated as kids got

older, but I could at least hold out hope.

But I kept going.

“When I realized that your mom was just using you and me to get money and a fancy life, I decided to

send her away. That’s why it was always just you and me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but…”

I couldn’t dwell on that right now, though. I just needed to know that Ella was okay with this,

and that she wouldn’t resent me.

“Well?” I asked gently, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Is that okay with you? Is it

okay that your real mom is alive? I’d understand if you want to meet her someday.”

Ella shrugged again. “Maybe,” she said. “I think I’m okay not meeting her, though. Moana is my

real mommy now, and I’m happy… When I first saw Moana, my wolf said, That’s our mommy,

and that’s why I’ve always loved her so much.”

I looked up at Moana again. This time, there were tears in her green eyes. But she was smiling,

and I couldn’t help but smile, too.

Moana didn’t say a word. She just came over from the doorway. I stood, still holding Ella, and

pulled Moana into my other arm.

“I love you too, Ella,” Moana said with a tearful laugh as she pinched Ella’s cheek. Ella giggled.

The three of us hugged for a long time. I buried my face in Moana’s red hair, and felt the stress

melting away. During those moments, I felt as though no matter what was thrown at us next, we

could handle it if we were all together. And that was comforting.

When we finally pulled away, I set Ella down on the floor and then crouched down to her level.

“I really am sorry for not telling you the truth,” I said. “I know I always tell you that you should

always tell the truth. I guess I didn’t follow my own rules.”

Ella nodded matter-of-factly. “That’s okay. I forgive you. Just don’t do it again, okay? Promise?”

Ella stuck her pinky finger out. I smiled and intertwined mine with hers. “I promise. I’ll never lie

to you again.”

After that, Ella ran off to play in the garden. I looked up at Moana, who was now standing by the

window. The smile that was on her face before had faded, and she was looking outside with a

wistful expression on her face.

I wanted to go to her, but I wasn’t sure if she was in the right mood yet. All I could do was watch

her slender form as she touched her belly and sighed, looking out at the trees.