?Chapter 0519


    I call for the bill and the waiter that had tried to convince Neah to get some wine hurries over. His cheeks are already the colour of beetroot. He could barely look us in the eye. Neah presses her lips into a thin line but I see her shoulders jigging up and down as she tries not tough.


    As we walk to the car, Neah links her arm with mine, almost pestering me like a small child, asking me where we are going.


    "You will see."


    I drive for another hour or so down to the coast. It had been a long time since I had been here. I used to take Jenson and Raven all the time when they were little, but as they grew up, the trip became just for me. A ce where I could clear my head. A ce of peace as I listened to the sea crash along the sand before it dragged itself out again.N?velDrama.Org ? 2024.


    It had been almost four years since I had been here.


    Nesh is silent as the cares to a stop. She slowly unclips her seatbelt and leans forward on the dash, smiling at the waves.


    "The beach." She whispers


    "I haven''t been here for a while, but I thought you might appreciate it as much as I do."


    I''ve never been." She starts pulling off the trainers. Excitement flooding through her and a strange pang of happiness hits my heart.


    She gets out of the car before I have a chance to say anything and runs down onto the sand.


    For a moment, she just stands there. Wiggling her toes in the soft sand as she stares up at the crescent and stars that light up the night sky.


    Looking back at me, she smiles and stretches out her hand in my direction. "Coming?"


    I take her hand and she pulls me towards the water. Stopping a few feet away. Nervousness radiates from her. It was different, new and not something that was purposely trying to cause her trouble.


    She hikes the long ck dress up to her knees and lets out a small giggle as she steps forward, letting the cold waves wash over her feet.


    Slowly, she turns around to face me,ughing as a wave crashes into the back of her legs, sending her stumbling towards me.


    "You''ve never told me about this ce." She looks up and down the deserted beach. "The boys will like it here."


    "My father used to bring me here. Before the twins came along. To teach me about the power of the ocean. After he died, I tried to do the same with Jenson and Raven, but they missed the point. Raven had her own ideas for her future and Jenson just wanted what everyone else had. Maybe that was part of their downfall."


    I wrap my arms around her, holding her flush to my chest. "Father used to tell me how easy it


    is to lose power. To keep it, you had to stay alert and own it. Constantly fight for it."


    "He used the sea to teach you a lesson?" She asks as the water licks our feet.


    "He did."


    "You think that''s why Ss is really here. To take your ce, just how ir thought she could take mine?"


    "I won''t let him. ck Shadow is mine. Always has been and always will be until the boys are ready to take over."


    "He called me family." She mumbles into my chest. "I was just going to walk right past him and he asked me if I always ignore family. He didn''t want to interrupt us, that''s why he didn''t make himself known. Maybe I got the wrong impression" She shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head.Cóntent belongs to NovélDráma. Org


    "To me, that doesn''t sound like he ising for what he thinks is his. Not everyone we meet has to be bad. Not everyone can have a secret reason for showing up. I refuse to believe that, because otherwise, what kind of world are we bringing children into?"