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Chapter 17

Author: Anjali Sinha
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56

AMELIA

I can see that the day is affecting Neville greatly. He looks broken as he’s perching against the wall in the corridor. I watch his entire body shake with the intensity of his grief as he cries in his hands.

The corridor is empty and is not brightly lit. Everything is abundantly dark, and the scarcity of lighting makes things difficult for a passerby to realise it's actually Nev down there, sitting on the floor, with his arms hugging his knees. When I happen upon him, I wait still in my steps, thinking if I want to overstep his boundaries.

Maybe he needs this time to process his feelings.

I can’t hurt him more when he’s already hurting.

What if I say something wrong that sets him off?

If I make this anymore worse for him?

Some part of me wants to move towards him and hold him in my arms. The empathy I feel for him shocks me. I’m not the one who wants to try to make other people feel better. I’m far from that. I have always been an awkward wallflower staying as distant as I c
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    AMELIAHe just got up and left the room.The room is blazing with voices since some people find it hard to keep it down even amid someone's life falling apart.I was scared about the ticking inside Neville at first, and now it’s all gone. The ticking is far-removed from what I can see. And the explosion that I know is coming. I’m silently waiting for it.I got up and walked in the direction I saw him leaving.Where did he go?This situation must be so hard on him.This day is such a shit-show.My legs run to the back of the unlit corridor, but I don’t encounter him there. He might have left for home. I should have followed him wherever he wanted to go when he mentioned it. But I also knew nothing regarding what was about to unravel. The piece of news he got in the chapel must be so hard to process for him. He seems like a person who would want to take his dad's business forward and raise it to new heights. Otherwise, if he didn’t want to work in the family business, it wouldn't have

  • Claimed by the Alpha   Chapter 19

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  • Claimed by the Alpha   Chapter 20

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  • Claimed by the Alpha   Chapter 21

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  • Claimed by the Alpha   Chapter 22

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  • Claimed by the Alpha   Chapter 23

    AMELIAWhen we finish having our tea, we move on to making Neville's house a better place to live for him. Not that it wasn't a great place to begin with, but I should say a more livable place. I fix the couch cushions and then arrange the things in his living room. Then we move to his dad's old home office, where a lot of files sit on the table, and Neville is adamant that he won't be able to look at everything right about now since the wounds he has in his heart are still too fresh. I understand the look on his face as he stands at the threshold of his dad's study, and I move toward him to offer a gentle pat on the back."Why don't I take on from here?" I propose to him generously. "What if I cleaned out all the files and arranged them somewhere so when you are ready to look at those files, perhaps you could easily find them?"He stares at my face for a long moment, then nods his head at me."That sounds like a good idea." He coughs. "Why don't I stand here and watch you clean up?"

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    AMELIAI feel lost, not knowing what's happening behind the closed doors of Neville's library. He's been in there for a while with a tall man wearing a Hawaiian shirt. The police chief came in plain clothes, which astounded me because I'm not used to seeing them walking around like that in public without uniforms or suits.Well, it's a high-profile murder case, so it makes sense that the police don't want to stand out if someone's keeping a close watch around Neville's property.Maybe I should ask Neville to dig into police-appointed security because who knows what the murderers want?Is Neville the next target?Could this be why the police are here to find that out?As I'm thinking these thoughts sitting on the couch in the living room, my phone buzzes into my pocket. I fish the phone out in my hands to unlock the screen, and the notification centre indicates three received messages.The messages are from Jeremy. He is finally getting back to me with updates.Hey, Amelia.Larry was p

  • Claimed by the Alpha   Author's note

    Hello there!I need your help. To reach more readers, I need your support in the form of comments, gems, and coins. If you like the book, tell your fellow readers on the app and on social media, and please leave a comment in the comment section.It really encourages me to update more!Thank you for reading this update while I work on the next chapter of this book.Please check out my other books on the platform in the meantime, which you can access by tapping on the author icon, so you have something to read between the updates of this book.Love,Anjali

  • Claimed by the Alpha   Chapter 27

    NEVILLEThere's a loud knock on my bedroom door. I twist in bed, wondering who it is now. I fumble and shift under the duvet, bringing it closer to my chest. The repeat knocks on the door return. The person on the other side of the door wouldn't give up.What time is it?Running a hand over my face, I shift against the mattress, thinking if I had locked the front door last night behind me when I came home. Then I sit up against the headboard, adjusting pillows under my lower back, rubbing sleep from under my eyes.A crook wouldn't knock on the bedroom door. And there wasn't anyone inside the house last night when I went to bed. So who could this be?"You can come in." My voice comes out in waves as I shuffle my feet out of the duvet, sliding my body to the edge of the bed. "Who is it?"The person unlocks the front door, and Marge steps into the room."How are you feeling today, Nev?" She speaks with a comforting smile on her face. "I hope my absence didn't cause much disruption to yo

  • Claimed by the Alpha   Chapter 26

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    AMELIANeville stares at me from across the room with a drink in his hands. He brings the shot glass to his lips as he laughs at the joke Mason passes around to his company of friends. He's standing in the middle of a pack of the people from Ella's neighbourhood, Mason's high school friends, and the people they have come to know as young parents.When I match his gaze, he nods at Mason before walking up to me. There's a slow smile playing on his lips."It's a pleasant party," he offers as an icebreaker. "I didn't think I would enjoy it this much."I return his smile."I'm happy to know you're having a good time." His eyes mirror mine as we share a silent look. "I have to apologise. I shouldn't have brought you here by lying to you."He raises a hand in my face to stop me from the word vomiting."It's completely okay, you know? I'm enjoying my time here tonight." He laughs. "Ella made some interesting points earlier in the driveway, don't you think?"My eyes widen as I slowly lick my l

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