Chapter 46 - 47
Elodie’s POV~
I hugged her and kissed her, whispering, “Okay, don’t be angry...”
But the second my lips brushed against Liora’s soft cheek, I felt her trembling. The kind of trembling that comes not from fear, but from hurt that’s been building up too long, like a storm begging to break.
Her tiny hands fisted against my blouse, her face scrunching up, and then suddenly she started crying. Not the quiet kind, but the heart-shattering sobs that made my chest tighten and my throat ache.
“Then... you can’t hug her anymore,” she hiccupped between sobs, her words wobbling with pain. “And you can’t say she’s cute either!”
That was when I understood.
She wasn’t just throwing a tantrum. She was jealous.
The realization hit me harder than I expected. It wasn’t about Tommy or anyone else. It was about me. I’d been so busy juggling meetings at the Bellini Pack’s HQ, so busy trying to balance being Dante’s Luna, that I hadn’t realized my daughter, my beautiful, fiery little Liora was fighting for a space in my heart she already owned.
I crouched down to her level, brushing away her tears with trembling fingers. “Liora...” I tried to smile, but my voice cracked halfway through. “Sweetheart, is that why you’re upset?”
Her bottom lip quivered, and she refused to meet my eyes. She just nodded, her shoulders shaking as she whispered, “You used to only hug me, Mama. You used to only say I was cute.”
My heart broke.
The noise of the Pack’s gathering faded away, the laughter, the chatter, the distant sound of music, all of it blurred until it was just us. Just me, holding my daughter’s heart in my hands and realizing I had crushed it without meaning to.