Chapter 281

Chapter 0281

Nora and Theo arrive around thirty minutes later. Like I said, I haven’t been outside since that short trip

from the hospital

I was dying to see how the city had changed. Four years is a lot of time for a fast–moving city like this

one

to stay the same.

When the doorbell rings, I get up excitedly and open the door.

“Are you and lo

you and Iris ready?” Nora asks.

She was buzzing with the same excitement as me. I let both of them hug me. Being in their arms felt so

wonderful and familiar. Like it was something I constantly got from them.

“Yes, let me just get her.”

I turn around and head back to the living room. Picking up my daughter, I say a hurried goodbye to

Teresa,

then leave the house.

I was about to climb into their car when a bodyguard stops me.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t let you leave,” he says, dampening the excitement.

I didn’t know his name, though I’ve seen him a couple of times while he was patrolling the compound.

“Why not?”

“I’m just following orders,” he replies kindly, but it honestly pisses me off.

“Call him,” I demand, my voice harder than I’d expected,

Almost reluctantly, he takes his phone from his pocket and dials it. I would have called Rowan myself, but

I didn’t want to admit to anyone that I was struggling to read the names saved on my phone.

“What’s going on? Theo asks from behind.

I raise my hand to stop him. I wasn’t coming off as rude; I was just frustrated. I hated feeling like I was

caged. Like I was a prisoner in my own house.

The guard then hands over his phone.

What? His voice is hard and gruff,

Rowen, why is the bodyguard preventing me from leaving? I ask in imitation,

“Where do you want to go? You can send him or he can drive you.”

“Nora invited me for lunch with her and Theo… I have nothing to do so I want to leave with them.”

I expected him to put up a fight, but he doesn’t. Instead, he just sighs and asks to speak to Theo. I hand

over the phone to him. He walks a couple of meters from us. When he is done, he comes back and

hands

over the phone to the bodyguard.

“Well?” Nora asks her husband.

“He has agreed, just as long as we take extra bodyguards with us.” He then turns to the guard. “Take at

couple of you, men. You’ll take one car. My bodyguards will drive in front of us and you’ll be in the rear.”

He nods. “Yes sir”

It doesn’t take long for them to organize themselves. A few minutes later, we are on the road.

The drive is silent, and before I know it, we pull up at a fancy restaurant. The driver parks the car, and

Theo helps Nora and me out of the car.

“Is it okay if I hold her?” Nora asks as we walk.

I don’t see a problem with it, so I hand Iris over to her. She smiles wide as she stares at me, daughter.

Her

granddaughter.

Theo leads us inside. Some of the bodyguards stay outside, while a few enter with us.

The moment the hostess sees us, she directs us to a VIP section. It was obvious that the couple had

money and were well known. It reminded me of Rowan’s family.

“Can you tell me more about Ethan?” I ask them the moment that the hostess leaves after she’s made

sure we’re settled

Theo and Nora exchange looks before they both turn to face me.

“So Rowan told you about him?”

“Yes, but only that he is your adopted son, Iris’s father and that he’s in prison.”

Given Rowan didn’t really like him. I knew that he couldn’t have known Ethan well. These two have

raised

him. Maybe I can get to know him better through them.

What do you want to know about him?” Nora asks.

Do you visit him??

I

They both nod their heads. Iris was now awake, but I didn’t take her from her grandmother. She wasn’t

crying, so there wasn’t any need.

“Yes, and I know most people wouldn’t agree

but he’s still our son despite what he did. All I pray is that

don’t hate. He was wrong but I swear he isn’t a bad person.”

you

To be honest, I can’t really hate him. It’s hard to hate someone you don’t know and have no recollection

of. Right now, my opiniof him is based on what others have told me.

I listen carefully as they tell me all about their Ethan. They also tell me what happened and how I ended

up with the Sharp’s.

I did pay

y attention throughout, but by the time they’re done, I’m still confused about Rowan. They went on

and on about how he was a good man. If I’m being honest, I feel like they were trying to sell me a pitch.

Highlighting all of Ethan’s good qualities without telling me who he truly is.

All these just made me more desperate to see him. If I wanted to know what kind of man he is, then it’s

better to see him face–to–face rather than ask others about him.

“Please excuse me.” I tell them needing to take a breather.

Leaving them with Iris, I ask the hostess to guide me to where the bathrooms are. My head was

pounding.

It’s like I had an overload of information and didn’t know what to do with it.

I get to the

opens.

washroom and splash water on my face. Taking a deep breath, I release it just as the door

“What are you doing here?” I was surprised to see Emma.

I’m even more surprised to see her with Christine. I didn’t know they were friends. Did Emma know that

Christine has been after Rowan for years?

“I’m here to warn you,” she replies, both of them staring at me with hateful looks.

“So you decided the best way to do that is to corner me in the washroom?”

“We were here having lunch when you and your parents walked in,” Christine shrugs.

Remembering how disrespectful Emma was that day, I dry my hands and move to leave. She grabs my

hand and stops me.

Rowan is mine. Ava: stay away from him,” she snarls, bitterness clouding her voice.

right? enquing. Then why isn’t he with you? Why is it that he comes home to me every day? How

he sleeps holding every night and not you?

To be honest, I’m surprised at my own boldness. This is so unlike me. I would have usually bowed to her

because I didn’t want conflict.

She shoves me hard, and I knock my head against the wall.

“I know you planned all this to trap him again. To make him feel sorry for you so he can come back to

you. I’m warning you, though, that it won’t work. I’ll expose you for faking your amnesia and once I do,

Rowan

will come running back to me.”

I couldn’t pay attention to what she was saying because pain shot throughout my head right before I

collapsed to the ground.

The last thing I see is Emma’s worried and panicked face looking down at me, and Christine’s devious.

and evil smirk.