Chapter 67

Agnes

The sunlight poured through the large windows of the shopping mall, glinting off the polished tiles and creating a light, cheerful atmosphere. It was hard to feel anxious here, surrounded by the happy hum of families and the occasional laughter from kids darting past us. And yet my nerves were as tightly wound as ever.

Today, we weren’t just going out to buy a new phone after I had shattered mine. We were going to the police station afterwards to reopen the case on my missing child.

My heart was pounding just at the thought.

Elijah walked beside me while Thea skipped ahead, her little hands clutching a colorful flyer advertising Create-a-Plush. I tried not to overthink everything, but it was hard not to. Elijah seemed so certain that she wasn’t my biological child, and honestly, I wanted to believe him.

I also wanted to believe him when he said that he would help me find my actual daughter. But for all I knew, nothing would come of this search; maybe my daughter really was dead, and the authorities had been right all those years ago.

But she had to be alive. I could feel it in my bones, the same way I could feel an ache in my right knee whenever it rained. And Elijah was going to help me. Finally, after all these years, someone was going to help me.

Everything would work out in the end. At least, that was what I told myself. Because if I spent too long dwelling on the possibility that it would all end horribly, that I would again have to face the reality that my child was no longer out there, then I wasn’t sure if I could keep going.

“You don’t have to go overboard, for what it’s worth,” I said softly as we stepped into the electronics store. Elijah raised an eyebrow, glancing at me with a hint of amusement. “I just need something functional. Nothing fancy.”

He didn’t reply, simply steering Thea toward the counter where rows of gleaming phones were displayed under bright lights. She pressed her hands against the glass, her eyes going as wide as saucers as she took in the options.

“Daddy, that one’s pink!” she exclaimed, pointing to a sparkly phone case nestled in the center of the display.

Elijah chuckled. “That’s a case, sweetheart, not the phone itself.”

“Well, whatever it is, I like it,” she said firmly before turning to me. “You like it too, right?”

I managed a small chuckle and shrugged one shoulder. “It’s very pretty. I like it.”

“Noted,” Elijah replied with a smile before turning to the salesperson. Without so much as hesitating, he pointed to the most expensive phone in the case—a brand new top-of-the-line model in a sleek rose gold color. “We’ll take this model, and can we add the pink case?”

I blinked at him, startled not only by the price tag but by his quick decision. “Elijah, that’s too much. I don’t need—”

He cut me off with a look. “Agnes, let me do this. Please.”

Something in his tone made me fall silent, the words dying on my tongue. I watched as he paid for the phone, handing over his card without so much as a second thought, and I couldn’t help the way my chest tightened. It wasn’t just about the phone. It was the way he handled everything, the quiet way he took care of me, even when I felt like I didn’t deserve it.

And maybe I didn’t exactly deserve it—not when I had gone behind his back to take those DNA samples to the testing center. And yet here he was, acting like I was the best wife in the entire world.

Thea beamed when the salesperson handed her the pink case. She turned to me, holding it up like a trophy. “Look, Mommy! It’s so pretty!”

“It is,” I said with a small smile. “It’s perfect.”

With our bags in hand, we left the store, and Thea’s excitement seemed to grow with every step as we approached the Create-a-Plush workshop. The colorful storefront practically sparkled as we walked up to it, and Thea’s squeals of delight drew a few amused glances from passersby.

Elijah held the door open for us, his hand brushing lightly against my back as I stepped inside. The contact sent a small jolt through me, but I pushed the feeling aside, focusing instead on Thea as she darted toward the bins of plush animal skins.

“Which one are you going to pick?” I asked, crouching down beside her.

She held up a soft teddy bear with a big smile stitched onto its face. “This one! He’s going to be my new best friend!”

“Good choice,” Elijah said. “What’s his name?”

Thea frowned thoughtfully. “Hmm… I’ll decide later.”

She was soon fully immersed in the process of creating her own stuffed animal, choosing a heart for her bear and selecting the fluff level she wanted. When the employee brought over the small recording device for the voice message, Thea’s eyes lit up.

“Can we do one?” she asked eagerly, turning to Elijah and me. “I want you and Mommy to say, ‘Mommy and Daddy love you, Thea!’”

The request caught me off guard, my cheeks flushing with unexpected heat. Elijah stiffened beside me, his eyes darting to mine for the briefest of moments. But Thea’s excitement was impossible to ignore.

“Please?” she pleaded, holding the bear close to her chest.

Elijah sighed softly, his shoulders relaxing as he crouched beside her. “Alright, sweetheart. Let’s do it.”

I hesitated, feeling my pulse quicken even more as the employee handed us the recording device. Mommy and Daddy. Just like a real family.

If only that were truly the case.

Elijah held the recording device up, his fingers brushing against mine as he positioned it between us.

“Ready?” he asked, his voice low.

I nodded, swallowing hard. “Ready.”

We spoke together, our voices intertwining in the small recording: “Mommy and Daddy love you, Thea.”

Something sparked in the air between us as we said the words, something that lingered long after the recording was done. My chest tightened as I glanced at Elijah, only to find his eyes already on me. For a moment, the world seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of us in the warmth of that shared moment.

“Perfect!” Thea declared, snapping us both out of our thoughts. She hugged the bear so tightly to her chest that it made it impossible not to smile. “I’m going to love my new teddy forever and ever.”

Elijah straightened, his expression strangely unreadable as he ruffled Thea’s hair. “Good. He’ll keep you company from now on so you quit crawling into my bed in the middle of the night.”

Thea grinned impishly. “Don’t worry. We’ll all fit in the bed together, even with my new teddy!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

The rest of the trip passed in a blur of laughter and little moments that felt almost normal, like we were a real family. By the time we left the mall, Thea was clutching her new bear and chattering non-stop about all the adventures the two of them would have together.

But as we pulled into the parking lot of the police station, the lighthearted mood shifted. My heart pounded as Elijah parked the car, his hand briefly brushing against mine as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

“You ready?” he asked quietly, glancing over at me.

I nodded stiffly. “Yeah.” That was a lie, of course; I felt like I was going to explode from my nerves.

Elijah led the way inside. Normally, his presence beside me was steadying, but now I felt anything but. My hands felt clammy as we approached the desk, but I kept my head high, hoping desperately that my anxiety wouldn’t show on my face.

The officer behind the desk glanced up as we approached, and his eyebrows shot up as he recognized us. “Alpha Elijah.” He then paused, his eyes flicking to me, and I felt my stomach do a little flip as I saw the faintest furrow form between his brows. “Luna Agnes. How can I help you?”

Elijah stepped forward before I could. “I’d like to reopen the case concerning Agnes’s missing child.”