Chapter 229
Third Person POV
Irene was lost in thought, lying in the parlor, doom-scrolling through her phone. She frowned when she came across a recent article that featured her father and Judy out on what seemed like a date. Irene wasn’t stupid, she knew that there was something going on between the two of them. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it; Judy was her age, and her father was… well… her father was old. At least to her, he was old.
Plus, that was her father.
But at the same time, Judy seemed to make him happy. She had never seen Gavin Landry crack a smile before, but Judy somehow brought out his playful and attentive side. Now, he pays attention to his family and constantly grins from ear to ear. It was a strange sight for sure, and Irene could get used to it.
It was unsettling to think that people were actually following her father and Judy and taking these pictures. They were pictures that weren’t known, which made things worse. It gave stalker vibes.
On top of that, Irene also worried about Matt. She hadn’t spoken to her father, even after knowing he was home last night with Judy. He was too afraid of what her father would say to her if he did say to her, and he didn’t want to trigger Matt’s wolf again.
Her little brother hated her, and she had no one but herself to blame.
She pressed her knees to her chest and continued to scroll through her phone, desperate to distract herself.
She barely even heard the knock on the front door around the corner from the parlor, or Alex approaching the parlor doors. She didn’t look up until she heard something that wasn’t usually heard in the villa… Something she never thought she would ever hear in the Villa.
A crying baby.
She glanced up from her phone and frowned when she spotted Alex, the butler, standing in the archway of the front parlor, a car seat in his grasp.
“Alex…” Irene said, narrowing her eyes. “Did you have a baby and not tell me?”
His frown was deep, and the annoyance on his face would have been laughable if she weren’t so confused.
“Funny,” he murmured as he walked towards her. “No, I did not have a baby, Miss Irene. This baby was at our doorstep. Care to explain why it was there?”
“That’s a pink blanket, so she is a girl,” Irene said, annoyed by Alex calling the baby an “it.”
Alex rolled his eyes, not caring one bit about the gender of this baby.
“Not the point,” he murmured. “Why is she here?”
Irene folded her arms across her chest.
“How would I know?”
Alex pressed his lips in a thin line and lifted something out of the carrier. It was an envelope. When he turned it over for her to see the front of it, she sucked in a sharp breath.
“It has your name on it,” Alex told her, raising her brows.
“Did you read it?” Irene asked, walking towards him and stretching her hand out to grab the letter from him.
“Of course not,” he replied.
She opened the letter, her fingers trembling as she pulled out the paper.
Dear Irene,
I know you don’t want to hear from me. I took your advice and left town. Leaving Ethan was the healthiest choice for me. He was a true monster. He found out about my pregnancy and tried to force me to abort; he threatened both me and my baby. I had no choice but to leave. I have no one to protect me; I have no family, no friends, and I no longer have a pack. I am a rogue wolf, and I worry that Ethan will come searching for me. If he finds me, there’s no doubt in my mind that he will kill me.
I finally gave birth a couple of weeks ago, and I worry for my baby’s safety. I worry that Ethan will find out about her and do what he can to get rid of her. I can’t give her a good life. I’m not fit to be a mother, and I can’t protect her.
But you come from a good family, and you are kind… I knew it the moment we spoke in that coffee shop. You can protect her better than I ever could. So, I ask that you give my little girl a good life, and maybe one day I’ll be able to be in her life again.
Her name is Emalyn.
Stella.
Irene stared at the letter, dumbfounded, her hands trembling as she continued to read the letter over and over again.
“What is it?” Alex finally asked after a long while of silence.
“I need to call my father,” Irene said, still in a daze.
She grabbed her phone and swiped across the screen until she got to Gavin’s contact number. Then she pressed the call button, her breathing shaky. She’s hoping that her tone doesn’t sound as frantic as her mind.
She stared down at the small baby, still in the carrier and wrapped in a pink blanket. She was so tiny; it was clear that she was born early.
Irene’s heart tugged at the sight of her, knowing that she was Ethan’s baby, made it difficult, but this baby was innocent and adorable.
“This is not a good time, Irene,” Gavin’s voice cut through her inner monologue.
Irene winced at the harshness of his tone, and she knew she had to be quick or else he would hang up on her.
“Dad, it’s an emergency,” she went on to say in a single breath. “Ethan’s baby is here, and I don’t know what to do.”
Tears broke free from her eyes before she could stop them.
She could feel Alex stiffening as he listened to the phone conversation.
“What are you talking about?” Gavin’s voice was still harsh, but had lost some of its depth.
“I mean, there is a baby in the villa right now with a note from Ethan’s mistress saying that she couldn’t give the baby a good life and that she’s worried Ethan will find out about her. She knows I come from a good family and wants me to raise this baby… Dad, I’m so confused. I don’t know what I’m going to do. There’s a literal baby in the parlor right now.”
Her voice cracked at her last sentence, her entire body trembling as she suppressed the sobs that wanted to consume her.
There was a long stretch of silence at the other end as Gavin processed her words.
“On my way.”
The line went dead after that, and Irene couldn’t keep it in anymore; she sat on the couch as a sob escaped her lips.
“Is this really Ethan Cash’s baby?” Alex asked, watching Irene warily as she cried awkwardly in front of him.
She nodded, wiping her flushed and wet cheeks with the back of her hand.
Alex shifted in his spot, feeling the tension in the air.
“Well, this was left next to the carrier,” he told her, lifting a backpack in the air for her to see. “It’s filled with diapers, wipes, baby formula, a bottle, and some extra clothes.”
Irene could barely listen to what he was saying, she was numb as she remained on the couch, her eyes glued to the baby. Alex awkwardly placed the bag next to the couch and then cleared his throat.
“I’ll leave you alone now,” Alex said as he walked towards the door. “I’ll keep a lookout for the Alpha.”
Irene slowly nodded as more tears fell down her cheeks. Once Irene was alone, she let herself break down for a few minutes. She couldn’t seem to stop the tears. But once she had her share of crying and was able to calm herself down, she looked down at the baby who was starting to get fussy. Her heart started to beat faster; she blinked away the remaining tears in her eyes and scooped the small bundle into her arms.
“Hey…” Irene whispered. “It’s okay… don’t cry.”
She rocked the baby gently in her arms, surprised that she started to subside in her crying.
“That’s it, baby girl,” Irene said, her heart melting a little.
Just then, she heard someone enter the parlor. She lifted her gaze to see her father’s stunned face, beside him stood Judy who was equally stunned if not Moreso.
“Is that a baby?” Judy asked, her eyes fixed on the small bundle in Irene’s arms.
Irene bit her lower lip.
“Yes,” Irene replied. “This is Emalyn…”
“Emalyn?” Gavin asked. “She has a name?”
“According to this letter, yes,” Irene said, holding up the letter for Gavin to take.
He took the letter and read it with a deep frown. Once he finished, he let out a deep sigh.
“So, it’s true…” he murmured. “She expects you to raise this baby?”
“It seems so,” Irene said, rocking the baby in her arms again.
“Whose baby is that?” Judy finally asked, her voice loud and confused as she stared from the baby to Irene, and then finally to Gavin.
After a beat of silence, he turned to her, his expression softened, and his voice gentle.
“It’s Ethan’s.”
