Chapter 143: New Friends, Old Enemies
Moana
I felt my heart sink as I saw my ex-boyfriend, Sam, staring up at me from the crowd. His eyes were wide and disbelieving; of course he knew that I wasn’t Ella’s mother. And of course he knew that I wasn’t Edrick’s real fiancee, as Sam and I had only broken up a few months prior. I could spin the story to make it seem as though Edrick and I quickly got engaged after I found out that I was pregnant, but if Sam said anything publicly about how I wasn’t really Ella’s mother, there was no way I could possibly hide that.
Although I wanted to run away and hide from embarrassment, I put on a brave face, continued smiling as Edrick asked me to, and went back to staring above the crowd just like I had been doing before. And soon, Edrick’s speech was over. We stepped down off of the gazebo as the crowd stood and made their way over to the picnic area for brunch, and now that I wasn’t standing in front of everyone, I felt a lot less anxious about Sam being here. I just hoped that he wouldn’t say anything to anyone about his past relationship with me, but at the same time, I had to have faith that Edrick would handle it if he did say something.
“See? That wasn’t so bad,” Edrick said, shooting me a smile and patting Ella’s head. We then turned to see a group of other kids who were already on the playground. A few of them had gathered at the edge of the playground area and were staring at Ella curiously. One of them waved at her, and Ella waved back.
“Can I go and play?” Ella asked, looking back and forth between Edrick and myself with wide, hopeful eyes.
Edrick nodded. “Go ahead. Come find me or Moana if you get hungry.”
Ella took off running to meet the other children, who immediately swarmed her and began asking all sorts of questions. She seemed to handle it well, which made me proud.
“She’s so good with other kids,” I said to Edrick as we watched Ella play. “She has no trouble whatsoever making friends.”
Edrick nodded. “Well, she didn’t get that trait from me, I’ll say that much,” he said with a laugh.
Suddenly, a female voice came from behind us.
“That’s a lie,” the voice said. Edrick and I both spun around to see a gorgeous woman standing behind us. She had long, black hair, tanned skin, and was tall and athletic-looking. She had on dark red lipstick and an attractive matching top and bottom set that made her look powerful and intelligent. As she spoke, she looked over at me with shining brown eyes that looked like caramel in the sunlight. “Edrick never had any trouble making friends when we were kids.”
“Well, I’ll be damned!” Edrick said with a laugh. “If it isn’t my old friend Mia. I didn’t think you would be here today.”
The woman, Mia, shrugged and smiled. “I got a little homesick. Decided to come home until I get sick of being here and get the itch to travel again.”
“And how long will that be?” Edrick asked. “A week?”
“Maybe less.” Mia’s smile widened, and then she turned to face me. She held her hand out for a handshake, and when I took it, her hand was warm. “I’m Mia. Edrick and I were friends growing up. I manage a few of his overseas branches.”
Much unlike Kelly, Mia was warm and inviting, and I immediately felt comfortable with her; although she was stunningly gorgeous, which made me a little jealous that she knew Edrick so well for so long.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I replied. “I’m Moana. Edrick’s…”
“Fiancee. I heard,” Mia interrupted with a warm smile. She then turned to look at Edrick and shot him a mischievous look, lowering her voice so no one could overhear. “I’m glad you picked her over Kelly. She’s gorgeous.”
I felt my face go red at Mia’s compliment. To hear that such a gorgeous woman also thought that I was pretty was more flattering than any compliment any man had ever given me, and it instantly made my tinge of jealousy melt away.
Edrick, however, said nothing. It seemed that even the mention of Kelly turned him cold.
“Well, it’s great seeing you, Mia,” he said. “Have a drink and something to eat. I have to speak to one of my business partners about something.” And with that, he turned on his heel and headed over to the picnic area, leaving Mia and I alone together. As I followed Edrick with my eyes, I could also see that there was a gaggle of the other wives that had formed at one of the tables, and they were all staring over their sunglasses at me like I was a complete outcast.
Mia must have seen this, because she turned to look at me and made a disgusted face.
“They’re all a bunch of bitches,” Mia said.
My eyes widened, but I couldn’t help but laugh at her candidness. They were, in fact, a bunch of bitches. I was liking Mia more and more now.
“So…” I said, clearing my throat. “You and Edrick grew up together?”
Mia nodded. “Sort of. We were in the same training program. We kind of fell off after high school, but it happens.”
I glanced over Mia’s shoulder to see Edrick talking to one of his business partners with what looked like a mimosa in his hand, then looked back at Mia. “If you don’t mind me asking, what was he like as a kid? I’ve always been curious. He’s not exactly…”
“Not exactly an open book?” Mia interrupted. I nodded. “He was a lot different then,” she continued. “He was fun. We all had a lot of fun— even Kelly. But, with a father like his, I think the pressure got to him. He went from being a little scamp who liked running around in the woods and turned into a full-grown man whose entire personality revolves around WereCorp. I don’t blame him, though. I blame his father. That man’s a jackass.”
I liked Mia’s straightforward thinking. She seemed to be the type to always say what was on her mind, and I respected that.
“It’s not just his father, though,” she continued. “Ever since his half-brother, Ethan, came into his life, I could tell that it bothered Edrick a lot. I still don’t know if it was that he felt like he had competition, or if it was something else.”
I wanted to tell Mia what Ethan had told me before: that his father’s cheating turned Edrick cold and made him lose faith in love and the power of the mate bond. But that wasn’t my place, and by that point, someone else was waving Mia over anyway.
“I should go and mingle a bit, just for business reasons,” Mia said with a smile. “It was nice meeting you, Moana. I hope we can be friends.”
I smiled as I watched Mia go. I hoped we could be friends, too. I liked her. And between her and Tyrus, I felt as though I knew a little bit more about the Alpha billionaire.
But my smile quickly faded when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Sam standing behind me with a frown on his face.
