<Chapter 36: Visit to the Pa..


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    <b>Chapter </b><b>36</b><b>: </b><b>Visit to </b><b>the </b>Past<b>–</b>2


    “But when she fell in love with your father,” Dorothy continued, “she came to me and begged me to teach her cooking. Said she wanted to win his heart through his stomach.” She chuckled fondly. “A proud Alpha’s daughter, willing to learn cooking just for love.”


    This revtion stirredplicated feelings within me. As a child, I’d believed my parents‘ love was deep and true. My father had fallen into a severe depression after my mother died from a rare wolfsbane poisoning.


    Yet he’d remarried just two yearster–to my mother’s best friend, Natalie.


    “Grandma Dorothy,” I asked quietly, “do you know Natalie Winters?”


    Dorothy’s brow furrowed in thought. “Is she your mother’s good friend? Yes, they were close ssmates in Riverdale University. They visited often together.”


    I swallowed hard. “She is now my stepmother.”


    Dorothy paused, her cloudy eyes growing distant with memory. After a moment, she spoke softly. “Before your mother passed, Natalie visited her many times in the hospital.”


    My heart clenched painfully.


    “Sarah told your father and Natalie that if Richard were to remarry, she only trusted Natalie to care for her daughter,” Dorothy continued gently. “Not any other woman. It was your mother’s dying wish that Natalie be a mother figure to you, so you wouldn’t grow up without maternal guidance.”


    The revtion hit me like a physical blow. My face paled as the implications sank in.


    All this time, what I’d interpreted as betrayal had actually been my mother’s final wish


    -that her beloved daughter would always have someone to love her as a mother


    should.


    Tears rimmed my eyes, myshes trembling with the effort of holding them back. The resentment I’d harbored for years suddenly felt misced, leaving a hollow ache in its


    wake.


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    < Chapter 36 Visit to the Pa…..


    Quietly, Connor took my hand, his rough thumb gently stroking my palm in silentfort. I clung to his touch like an anchor in the storm of my emotions.


    Dorothy busied herself in the kitchen, tactfully giving me space to process this revtion. Soon, delicious aromas filled the small cabin.


    Foeta


    When lunch was served, the table wasden with dishes that looked and smelled exactly like the ones my mother used to make–venison stew with winter vegetables, herb–infused rice, and a special moonlight broth that brought back a flood of childhood memories.


    Not wanting to ruin the moment with my emotional turmoil, I forced a bright smile. “This is amazing, Grandma Dorothy. It tastes exactly like my mother’s cooking.”


    The old womanughed joyfully. “You may not know, Livvy, but Connor alwayses here to learn cooking from me.”


    Surprised, I turned to Connor, my eyes still misty. “Youe here to learn cooking?”


    He nodded, his ice–blue eyes softening as they met mine. “To cook for you.”


    “But why?” I pressed, my voice tinged with confusion and a nasal note from holding


    back tears.


    Connor turned fully toward me, meeting my gaze earnestly. “When your mother passed away, you refused to eat properly. I was worried.”


    Dorothy sighed, setting down her spoon. “Those were sorrowful days. I was already retired due to illness, but I had gone to visit Sarah in the hospital. That’s where I met young <i>Connor</i>.<i>” </i>


    She smiled fondly at him. “He saw how Livvy was wasting away with grief, refusing to eat. So he came to me, asking to learn Sarah’s recipes.”


    “He was a quick learner,” Dorothy continued. “Mastered them in no time, just to coax


    you to eat again.”


    I stared at Connor<i>, </i>stunned by this revtion.


    “He even paid all my medical expenses,” Dorothy added. “Called it his ‘tuition fee.”


    Suddenly, fragments of memory clicked into ce–Martha bringing me meals after


    my mother’s death, insisting they were special deliveries from the kitchen. The


    < Chapter 36: Visit to the Pa…


    familiar taste that had coaxed me back from the brink of starvation.


    + Points <b>> </b>


    My amber eyes widened in shock as realization dawned. My voice trembled with disbelief: “So, the meals Martha brought me after my mother passed away… were


    actually cooked by you?”


    “Yes,” Connor answered in his usual understated way.


    That single word resonated deeply in my heart, stirring a thousand waves of emotion.


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