Chapter 30
Thirty
FRANCINE
“Francine? Earth to Francine?” Carmen waves her hand in front of my face, her perfect brows furrowed in concern. “You’ve been staring at your feet for ten minutes straight.”
I blink, forcing myself back to the present moment.
The spa smells of eucalyptus and lavender, with soft music playing in the background as the pedicurists work diligently on our feet.
Carmen insisted we have this “sister day” .
Little did she know I was hiding in my apartment, crying over alphas who don’t want me anymore and staring at a positive pregnancy test.
“Sorry,” I mumble, tucking a strand of red hair behind my ear. “Just tired.”
Lena, always the sweet one, reaches across the space between our pedicure chairs to squeeze my hand. “You look like you haven’t slept in days. I know Mother’s death is hard.”
If only they knew how angry I was at Mother for destroying my life even in death.
I haven’t slept properly since Kieran found those newspaper clippings and threw me out of his house and his life.
The rejection burns like acid in my chest, a constant, gnawing pain that makes it hard to breathe.
And now, with the baby... I press a hand to my still-flat stomach, the reality of it all threatening to overwhelm me.
“I’m fine,” I lie, forcing a smile that feels more like a grimace. “Just a lot going on at work.”
“How’s it going with your new alpha boyfriends?” asks Carmen with a wink, and Lena gasps her eyes wide at the unexpected news.
“No, they’re not my boyfriends,” I say. My throat suddenly turns dry. “I actually got fired.”
The words hang in the air between us. Lena gasps, her hand flying to her mouth. Carmen’s eyes narrow dangerously, her protective big sister instincts flaring instantly.
“What?” she demands, sitting up so suddenly the pedicurist has to jerk her hands away to avoid smearing polish everywhere. “That asshole fired you? What for?”
I shrug, unable to meet her eyes. “It’s complicated.”
“Uncomplicate it,” Carmen says, her voice sharp with anger. “Did he do something to you? I swear to god, Francine, if he laid a hand on you…”
“No!” I cut her off, panic rising at the thought of my sister confronting Kieran. “No, it wasn’t like that. It was…personal.”
“Personal how?” Lena asks softly. Her pedicurist has finished, and she carefully places her feet on the floor, leaning forward to study my face. “Franny, what aren’t you telling us?”
My heart pounds against my ribs like it’s trying to escape. I’ve kept the truth about our mother from them for months, ever since her deathbed confession. How do I tell them now? How do I explain everything that’s happened?
“I...” I start, but the words stick in my throat.
The flat-screen TV mounted on the spa’s wall suddenly increases in volume, drawing our attention. The afternoon news is on, a serious-looking anchor staring into the camera:
“Breaking news today as authorities have finally identified the arsonist responsible for the deadly Corporate Building fire that claimed the lives of twelve.”
My blood turns to ice in my veins. The room seems to tilt sideways as I stare at the screen, unable to look away.
“According to an anonymous tip from a private investigator, the arsonist was Margaret, who died recently after a long battle with cancer.”
My mother’s face appears on the screen, an old photo from her company ID. She looks so normal, so ordinary. Not like someone who could burn down a building with people inside. Not like a murderer.
“Margaret is survived by her three daughters,” the reporter continues, and suddenly our faces flash across the screen—recent photos pulled from social media.
My photo for Tiny Paws, Carmen’s professional headshot, and Lena’s graduation picture.
“Sources say the motive was insurance fraud, as she collected substantial payouts after the deaths of her mates in the company, who also perished in the fire.”
I can’t breathe. The room spins around me as I watch our family’s darkest secret broadcast to the entire city. The technician painting my toes has stopped, her eyes darting between the screen and my face.
Slowly, I turn to look at my sisters. Carmen’s face has gone completely white, her knuckles bleached from gripping the armrests of her chair. Lena’s eyes fill with tears, her lips trembling as she stares at the TV in horror.
“Is this true?” Carmen whispers, turning to me. Her voice sounds strange, hollow. “Did Mom really...?”
The question hangs between us, heavy as lead. I can’t lie anymore. I nod, a single tear tracking down my cheek.
“You knew?” Lena gasps, her voice breaking on the words. “You knew about this?”
“She told me,” I confess, the words tumbling out now that the dam has broken. “When she was dying. She confessed everything. She said... she said she wanted me to forgive her before she died.”
“And did you?” Carmen asks, her voice tight with suppressed emotion.
I shake my head. “No. I couldn’t.”
Carmen nods once, sharply. “Good. Because I won’t either.”
Lena makes a soft, wounded sound, tears streaming down her face now. “Our dads... they didn’t just abandon us?”
“No,” I whisper. “She killed them for the insurance money. Just like the reporter said. She admitted it.”
The technicians have all moved away, giving us space as we absorb this public revelation of our family trauma. The news has moved on to another story, but the damage is done. Everyone in the room, everyone in the city, now knows what our mother did.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Carmen demands, her eyes flashing with hurt and betrayal. “All this time, you’ve known, and you said nothing?”
“I couldn’t,” I say, my voice cracking.
“We’re not children, Francine,” Carmen snaps. “We deserved to know.”
“I know,” I admit, wiping at my tears. “I know you did. I just... I couldn’t process it myself. And then when I started working for Kieran his sister told me…”
I stop abruptly, realizing I was talking too much.
“What about Kieran?” Lena asks, catching my slip. “What does he have to do with this?”
“His parents,” I whisper, the pieces clicking into place for my sisters. “They died in the fire, too. That’s why he fired me. He found out who my mother was.”
Understanding dawns on Carmen’s face, her anger giving way to sympathy. “Oh, Franny.”
“It wasn’t just that,” I continue, needing to get everything out now that I’ve started. “I... something happened between us. Before he found out. And now...”
My hand drifts unconsciously to my stomach, a gesture both Carmen and Lena catch immediately. Their eyes widen in identical expressions of shock.
“You’re pregnant,” Carmen breathes, not a question but a statement.
I nod, fresh tears spilling down my cheeks. “I just found out yesterday. After he kicked me out.”
Lena is out of her chair in an instant, wrapping her arms around me. “Oh Franny,” she murmurs against my hair. “I’m so sorry.”
Carmen’s face hardens with determination. “Does he know?”
“No,” I shake my head. “And he’s not going to. Not yet. Maybe not ever.”
“Francine—” Carmen starts, but I cut her off.
“He rejected me, Carmen. He looked at me like I was tainted. Like I was responsible for what Mom did. Why would I tell him about the baby? So he can reject it too?”
“Because it’s his child,” Carmen argues. “He has a right to know.”
“And I have a right to protect myself and my baby from being hurt again,” I counter as anger rises inside of me. “I’m not ready to face him. Not now.”
Carmen sighs, running a hand through her dark hair. “Fine. But we’re talking about this more later. I’m here for you, Franny. Whatever you need. We both are.”
Lena nods vigorously against my shoulder. “Always.”
For the first time in days, I feel a tiny spark of hope. Maybe I can do this. Maybe with my sisters by my side, I can get through this nightmare. Raise this baby. Build a life for us.
“I still can’t believe Mom did this,” Lena says after a moment, pulling back to wipe her eyes. “All these years, we thought it was an accident.”
“She was sick,” I say, not to excuse her but to explain. “Not just the cancer. Something was wrong with her for a long time before that. We just didn’t see it.”
Carmen takes my hand, squeezing it tightly. “I’ll never forgive her.”
I nod, understanding her anger all too well. “I thought the same thing. I still do, most days. But sometimes I wonder if holding onto that hatred is hurting me more instead.”
“Maybe one day,” Lena says softly, always the optimist. “Not today, but someday, we might find a way to forgive what happened for our sake.”
I think of Kieran, of the pain and rage in his eyes when he told me to leave. Of how that same inability to forgive destroyed whatever was growing between us. I don’t want to be like that. I don’t want to let hatred shape my life the way it’s shaped his.
“Maybe.”
While driving home, I’m stressed. The more I think about Kieran rejecting me out of the blue, the angrier I get. I can’t stop the tears from rolling down my face every time I remember Kieran’s angry face and his last words telling me that I was no longer Nora’s nanny.
I rub my tears away angrily with the back of my hand.
The pregnancy test sits heavily in my mind, its positive result both a miracle and a curse. I’m carrying the pack’s baby. The pack bond I felt forming during my heat was just an illusion, shattered by the sins of my mother.
A car honks behind me, and I realize I’ve been sitting at a green light too long. I press the gas, wiping furiously at my eyes with one hand.
I need to pull myself together. For the baby, if nothing else.
The sudden vibration of my phone makes me jump. It’s sitting in the cup holder, the screen lighting up with an incoming call. Kieran’s name flashes across the display, and my heart lurches painfully in my chest.
Why is he calling? To twist the knife deeper? To fire me again? To remind me that I’m no longer his omega?
I stare at the screen, torn between the desperate hope that he’s calling to apologize and the fear that he’ll only hurt me more. My hand hovers over the phone, trembling with indecision.
My fingers reach for the phone, brushing against the smooth surface just as my car drifts over the center line.
I glance up, startled by a flash of headlights.
Everything happens so fast after that.
The blare of a horn. Bright lights flood my vision. The violent jerk of the steering wheel as I desperately try to correct my path—the sickening crunch of metal colliding with metal. The world spins, glass shatters, and pain erupts everywhere at once.
My body slams against the restraint of the seatbelt, then whips forward as the airbag deploys, punching the air from my lungs. Something hot and wet trickles down my face. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth as my teeth sink into my tongue.
“No!” I scream, feeling myself fading as darkness suddenly claims me.