Betrayed

☾Chapter Thirty-Two☽

Vladimira's P.O.V

Snow had nestled itself on trees, bushes, grass and some of it had even landed in my red hair.

Despite my multiple layers of jackets, my body still shivered, subject to the cold weather of Aspen, Colorado.

"I'm sorry, Strawberry, for the cold," I whisper to my stomach as I rub it, almost as if I'm comforting my unborn child even though I know he can't feel the cold.

Suddenly, the door to the warm house opens to reveal a tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed, stiff, emotionless Dmitri Volchinov.

My hand stops rubbing my stomach when shock crosses his face almost immediately.

"Mira? You're back?" He asks while simultaneously shooing me into the warm house.

I nod slowly. "Yep."

A hot bubble bath sounds nice. Maybe even snuggle up with a blanket and read a book.

"Why didn't you call?" He asks as he walks up behind me.

Don't touch me please, I think unhappily.

He moves in front of me, so I can look in his eyes. "Doesn't matter, I'm happy you're back," He says before taking me into a hug.

Stiffening, I ignore how my sensitive skin tingles. "Don't push it," I mutter under my breath.

My father pulls back and cups my cheeks. "We can fix this, Mira. I can be a better father and we'll be a better family. Just you, Strawberry and me." He ignores what I said before.

For just a second, I imagine me with a bundle in my arms, a baby boy that's cooing to two people: Titus and me.

My father, in the vision, smiling at both of us, saying something about how the baby looks so happy.

That will never happen.

"Don't you think it's too late? It would've been better if you realized this-"

He cuts me off. "I know! Before I killed Adam, before I sacrificed your love for the kingdom, before I turned my emotions off towards you, before I let Xavier hurt you. I know I should have realized earlier but I didn't, and I want to make it up right now," He pleads with me.

What if I don't want to cooperate with you, Father?

"Please," He continues, "tell me what I can do."

Rolling my eyes, I accept that he will continue to bother me until I let him back in. But, I refuse to just welcome him back in with open arms.

No, he must beg for my forgiveness.

"Fine. Take me out to dinner tomorrow, and tell me about my mother," I bargain.

He falters, his blue eyes catching an ounce of sadness before disappearing. "If... if that's what you want," He agrees uncertainly.

I smile. "Great. I'm going to take a bath and then go to bed. It's late and I need a good buffer before I can fall asleep," I inform him before climbing the stairs to my bedroom.

My room is the same. Everything is in place and untouched, meaning my room is still a mess from my crazy packing.

Getting my bags out of my car will just have to wait. I'm too lazy, swollen and achy to care about them right now.