Chapter 190

Judy’s POV

I was nervous as I pulled up to my parents’ house. I hadn’t seen my father in months. We returned to the territory late last night; I went home to the mansion to sleep and then first thing this morning I went straight to my parents’ house; the one Gavin had purchased for them right after he got my father out of prison by paying off his entire debt.

I was honestly surprised my father let it happen, but then again, maybe he didn’t have a choice. I knew they were hurting him in prison; they were beating him until the brink of death, and then they would heal him and do it all over again. This was because of Ethan and his manipulation. He convinced the guards and other inmates to target my father.

The thought made my blood boil; I hated Ethan for what he did to my family, and I was determined to make him pay for this. I was relieved that Irene now saw the monster she was once engaged to and had enough sense to end things with him.

I raised my hand to knock on the door, a nervous bubble in the pit of my stomach. As I knocked, I realized how ridiculous it was because technically, this was my house too. Nothing had changed about me; I grew up here. I had a key to the place despite being owned by the Cash family for a short while, but I don’t think they ever stepped foot in this home. They only bought it to get under my family’s skin.

As the door opened, my mother stood on the other side with a big frown on her face.

“Why on earth are you knocking?” She asked, pulling me into a tight hug. “Oh, sweetie, we’ve missed you. And we are so unbelievably proud of you! I knew you could do it!”

“You were watching?” I asked.

“Of course!” My mom breathed, pulling me into the house and shutting the door. “The entire pack was watching. I’m sure the whole shifter world was watching.”

I blushed at her words, imagining everybody seeing my face on their TVs.

“There she is,” I heard my father’s deep voice as he walked into the living room. He had a slight limp, and his face was a bit swollen from all the beatings he’d received. His injuries were so extensive that his wolf hadn’t healed him properly yet. But I could tell he was still in the process of healing some of his major injuries before healing his minor ones.

My stomach twisted when I saw that he was also thin.

“Dad…” I whispered, tears in my eyes.

I rushed into his arms and held me like I was a little girl again.

“Oh, sweetheart. I’m okay,” he whispered, trying to soothe my sobs. “You don’t need to worry for me anymore.”

“Were they starving you?” I asked, pulling back to take a better look at you, I couldn’t help the tears that streamed down my cheeks.

“Amongst other things,” my father murmured. “But it’s nothing you need to concern yourself with. I’m okay, honestly…”

My mother had a frown on her face as she stepped towards us.

“We aren’t going to let them get away with this,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “What the Cash family did wasn’t okay.”

I raised my brows and stared at her in shock; she knew that the Cash family was involved in his arrest.

“How did you know?” I asked. “I mean… how did you find out?”

She narrowed her eyes at me.

“My question is, why didn’t you tell me?” My mother countered. “I would have never made a deal with them if I knew of their manipulations.”

“Because you worshipped the ground that Ethan walked on,” I reminded her. “I didn’t want to poke a hole in your fantasy about him. I’m sorry I kept it to myself. But he’s a monster mom, They all are.”

She nodded, her eyes flashing with anger.

“We know that now,” she said, shaking her head.

“How?”

“Beta Taylor called,” my father was the one who explained. “He told me that Gavin Landry wanted to pay off the debt that I owed. At first, I was going to refuse, despite the fact that I was hanging onto death, but then Taylor explained everything that had been happening. Ethan’s manipulation and how he used you in a pawn to get whawt he wanted… how he blackmailed you… How this debt isn’t fair and that they have the power to waive. I wasn’t stupid enough to deny his help.”

I nodded thoughtfully, my stomach still twisting in a tight knot.

“I see,” I breathed. “You have no idea how badly I’ve missed you, Dad. I’ve been worried every day.”

“Well, I’m home now and we don’t have to worry about something like that ever happening again. Alpha Landry made it so I won’t lose my company and we are back up and running.”

Relief flooded me; things seemed as if they were back to normal.

“I’m glad that things are working out and they seem to be going back to normal,” I said, a small smile lighting up my face.

My mother nodded in agreement as she wrapped an arm around her mate, kissing his cheek gently. They might be my adoptive parents, but they were the only family I ever knew, and they never made me feel like anything less than their true daughter. I would do anything for my family and loved them so much… I knew they would do anything for me too.

“Perhaps we should go out tonight,” my mother suggested. “Just us three. We can go to dinner at Whimsical Whisk, the new fancy restaurant that has just opened.

I nodded in agreement.

“That would be great,” I told her.

She smiled thoughtfully and my father nodded as well; he looked tired, I knew it was because of the healing his wolf was doing, it was not only healing him but also draining him.

A few hours later, we went to the Whimsical Whisk. It was nice going out as a family, something I didn’t think we’d ever get to do again. My father wore a nice suit and had a smile on his face as my mother clung to his arm. My heart swelled at the sight of them. I hope that one day I’ll get to have a love like theirs.

The waitress brought us over to a table and after we thanked her, we took our seats with the menus.

We kept getting passing by looks by curious bystanders; or rather, I was getting passing by looks by bystanders. I’m assuming they must have seen me in the competition and had a ton of questions for me.

As I scanned the nice restaurant, my eyes found a familiar person across the room at a booth.

Daisy Baldwin.

She was with an older woman with greying brown hair and an elegant shimmering black dress that hugged her curves perfectly. She had familiar looking eyes, and she honestly looked as if she had never smiled a day in her life. There was something about that woman that looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“So, how’s your tutoring job going?” My father asked, bringing me back to the current moment. “Tell me everything I’ve missed and don’t leave anything out.”

I told him most everything about my job, including how much I loved it. But as I spoke, my eyes kept flickering back to Daisy and that woman. Who was she?

Daisy was talking her ear off, and she seemed to be hanging onto each word that Daisy spoke. I wished I could get closer so I could hear them.

Soon, our meals arrived, and I had forgotten about Daisy or that woman. But midway through dinner, I had to use the restroom, so I excused myself. That must have been when Daisy found the prime opportunity because she was blocking my way to the bathroom with her body once I reached the hallway.

“Oh, Judy. Didn’t expect to see you here,” Daisy said, raising her perfectly trimmed eyebrows. “No Gavin?”

I pressed my lips together in a thin line.

“I’m with my family. I need to use the rest room,” I told her as I tried to get around her. I knew I could fight her if I had to, but I didn’t want to cause a scene in the middle of this fancy restaurant.

“Oh, but we have talked properly yet. I hope there are no hard feelings about what happened the other day,” she said, a fake smile lighting up her face.

“Of course not,” I said with my own sarcastic and forced smile.

The woman Daisy had dinner with stepped beside her, her lips turned down in a thin frown as she studied me.

“Judy, have you met Donna yet?” Daisy asked.

I looked at the woman; she was even more familiar up close.

“I don’t believe so,” I said, studying her.

The woman held out her hand, dismissively.

“Donna Landry,” she introduced, making my heart drop into my stomach.

That was how she looked familiar, she was a Landry. She had Gavin and Irene’s eyes.

Daisy grinned when she noticed the shocked expression on my face.

“Donna is Gavin’s mother.