“It’s okay,” I start. “I mean … It would have gotten out somehow, right? Does it really matter who let it out?”
She looks at me curiously. “You’re not angry with whoever did this?”
I shake my head after a moment of thought. “I’d rather they hadn’t done this, but it’s too late now. Live and let live.”
That’s one of my favorite pieces of wisdom from Colleen.
Learning to forgive and move on stopped me from dwelling on things whenever the guards bullied me out of the gardens at night. I can’t imagine how much worse things could have gotten for me if I hadn’t let them chase me back into the house. Thosemen were looking for a fight, and I never gave them a chance to start one.
Lana nods slowly. “Sure. If someone has a big mouth and didn’t mean for it to get out, that’s one thing. A real apology and they can be given another chance to show they can be trusted. If they went straight to a reporter, then they’ll have to be fired.”
“That … sounds fair.”
“If you change your mind about seeing your father, just let me know,” she says. “I’ll let you get on with your day.”
“Great, thanks,” I murmur, waving as she leaves.
After she’s gone, I close the door and turn the key in the lock.
My hands are a little shaky, but my stomach is calming down.
I’m not going to change my mind.
There’s no reason for me to want to see that man.
I don’t know him, and I don’t want to know him.
As far as I’m concerned, he may as well not exist.
Chapter Twenty
Robin
Did fate really bring me here?
After everything Lana told me yesterday, I can’t help but wonder. I did nothing but live my life, and, somehow, I ended up in an elite academy building, feeling healthy and content for the first time in a very long time, if not ever.
I didn’t ask for any of this. It all just happened.
Did it? Or did Colleen make sure it happened?
That woman had more control over my life than I understood while I was with her.
She could be harsh, and she could make me cry, but whatever her feelings were for me, she kept me safe from the men in that house. She protected me, always.
She’s the one who pushed me into that corridor.
I’m not sure how she knew what was coming, but she knew.
And she knew if she didn’t do something, I would hide like she was going to until the Alpha Alliance left. She wanted me to be rescued.
I didn’t even know it was what I needed.
But I’m starting to understand now.
And I’m grateful.
“Thank you, Colleen,” I murmur as I get out of bed.
