Chapter 123: Christmas Play
Athena’s day has been filled with making appreciation calls, sending appreciation gifts, and playing around with her children and Gianna.
She didn’t even waste a second thinking about Ewan. There wasn’t even room for that, as calls had poured in from everywhere, especially from her patients and associates wishing her a beautiful Christmas season—Kendra and her aunt, Stella, among them. Athena couldn’t help but feel a bit fulfilled.
Right now, she was on a video call with Chelsea and Areso while Gianna and the kids lounged around her on the bed, talking and laughing as they stared at the phone screen.
"We are so happy that the plan worked," Areso was saying, but Athena felt more than happy. Even now, hearing her friends—who only knew bits and pieces of her story—speak, she was almost moved to tears.
Crying had become a recurrent feature for Athena today; her emotional restraint was extremely low. Ordering and sending thoughtful gifts had been emotional, just as playing with her kids around the Christmas tree had been. She wished the day wouldn’t end, and she had her circle to thank for it. She would always be grateful to them.
When the call with her two friends ended and her children retired to the floor with Gianna to play some games, Athena removed her phone from its stand to check for another call, stopping when a message popped up.
When she noticed it was a credit alert, she hurriedly checked her socials to see who had sent this one. She had received so much money—some from people she didn’t know, some from hidden senders. Athena wasn’t in need of money, but it felt good to be remembered today.
However, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she saw a message from Ewan tainting her inbox.
Breathing deeply for control, she opened the message, sneering when she saw its contents.
"Since you won’t accept my gifts, then accept the money. If you won’t use it for yourself, then use it for the kids. Put it in your account or something; you don’t have to tell them."
The amount of money he sent was several thousand dollars. Did he think she was in need of money? Athena wondered.