Page 24 of A Second Chance for the Beta

I stare at the two of them, my curiosity growing bigger and bigger. “You searched for me?” I ask. No one has ever even called or looked for me. Some of the kids here are only staying temporarily; some still get calls from their distant relatives, but no one ever looks at me. No one wanted to foster me either, at least not for long.

“Yes,” Ella says, looking genuinely happy. “And we are so happy we found you.” She takes a deep breath. “Alright, do you want to be smoothed into it, or do you prefer the brutal truth?”

“Brutal truth!” I exclaim. I hate people beating around the bush.

Ella nods and then begins to tell me about my mom. How they were half-sisters but never knew each other. Ella only found out I existed recently. She seems to be leaving out some parts, but I get the overall image, and oh my fuck… WHAT!?

“You…” I jump up. “Wait, you’re my fucking aunt!?”

“Charlotte,” Lorenzo groans, looking slightly flustered.

Ella doesn’t seem to mind, though. “Yes, I guess I’m your aunt.”

My mouth drops open. I have family! Blood-related family and they came to meet me? Wait, what if they are traffickers and want to take me away from here to sell me off to a creepy prince? To become his child bride.

As if she reads my mind, she shows me her birth certificate, and my mom’s, plus all the documents she could find about my mom giving birth. Granted they have been altered, it seems, and hid a lot of information like my gender or my whereabouts. I wonder who did it? Lorenzo maybe. “Why did you only come now?” I mutter.

“I’m so sorry,” Ella says quietly. “I’ve only learned about you last week.”

“Wait, you pulled this off in a week?” the man next to Lorenzo, an older guy, asks in shock.

“Once I knew I had family out there, I knew I needed to do everything to find you,” Ella tells me.

“This is the biggest mindfuck ever,” I mutter.

Usually adults tend to get annoyed at my piss-poor language, but Ella doesn’t seem to care. Part of me wants to turn around and run, just leave, but there is something so strong pulling me to her, and it makes my fears and doubts dim. “And now?” I ask nervously. “You have seen me. Are you leaving again?”

“No way,” Ella blurts out. “Right, D?”

Dante nods, smiling at me. He doesn’t seem to talk a lot, and he looks serious as fuck, but also kind. “We are not going anywhere without you.”

“If you say anywhere, does this mean we are going somewhere?” I ask.

“Do you want to leave?” Ella asks. “I’m not going to lie, Dante and I would love it if you joined us and came with us. But we want to do it at your pace.”

“I can leave this place!?” I blurt out.

“Do you hate it that much?” Lorenzo asks sadly.

“That’s not it,” I mutter. “I just don’t feel like I belong.” I turn to look at Ella. “Ella, you seem cool, so before I get my hopes up, I need to tell you I have a medical record.”

“A medical record?” Dante asks, sounding surprised. A bit too surprised. Is it that unusual for a kid to have a medical record?

“Mental illness,” I say. Let’s rip the band-aid off immediately so my cool aunt and her nice husband can say they don’t want me and leave me behind like everyone does.

“What do you mean?” Ella asks softly.

“I hallucinate sometimes,” I tell her. “They think it might be schizophrenia. I see things.”

Dante tosses Lorenzo a gaze, and he looks angry. “I didn’t know that,” Lorenzo says. “I promise, Bet… Mr. Dante… Messina-Hargrove. It’s the first time I heard about it or I would have intervened.”

Wow, Lorenzo sounds like he is about to turn into a bag of panic-induced sweat. Seems like the mental issues with me are really going to be a problem. To my surprise, Dante turns to look at me, and he doesn’t look angry at all anymore. “Do you dream of wolves?” he asks.

“How the fuck do you know!?” I blurt out. “Did you spy on me? Oh my god, this is all a trick, isn’t it? I’m going into the mental ward.”

Dante raises his brows, but Ella nudges him, and he doesn’t say anymore.

“What do you dream of?” she asks.