The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate Chapter 32

The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate Chapter 32

Laila’s POV

Ava’s breathing had finally evened out, turning soft and steady.

I sat beside her bed, running my fingers through her dark hair. She looked so small in that hospital bed. Too fragile

The machines beeped around us. Heart monitor steady, but reminding me how precarious everything was.

Her surgery was next week, and there were always risks.

My phone buzzed on the bedside table. I glanced at it, expecting another text from work. They had been increasing as I spent more time at the hospital, spearheaded by a board member named Sheila, who was gossiping about how the “stress of my personal life” was preventing me from leading the company properly.

Instead, the name on the caller ID made my blood run cold.

Victor Harper. The real Vanessa Harper’s grandfather.

I met the real Vanessa Harper when she was dying tragically young. We happened to look alike each other.

At the end of her life, she still had so many things that she wanted to do, so many people she hadn’t wanted to leave alone. She gave me the precious change to become her, when I needed a new name and new identity to start fresh.

We exchanged our life and death.

I hadn’t heard from her grandfather in months. I had hoped that silence would continue indefinitely.

Nothing good ever came from the Harper family calling.

I stepped out into the hallway before answering, keeping my voice low so Ava wouldn’t hear.

“Hello?”

“Where is my money?” Victor’s voice came through sharp and demanding. No greeting. No pretense of caring about his supposed daughter or granddaughter.

Just brash and straight to the point. That was Victor Harper in a nutshell.

“I transferred the monthly dividend two weeks ago,” I said calmly. Professional. As if this were a business transaction and nothing more.

Because that’s all it was to them.

“That pittance? I’m talking about real money, girl. The kind you’ve been hoarding while your family struggles.”

My jaw clenched. Family. Right.

“The dividend agreement is generous,” I said. Each word carefully controlled, “It’s more than the company profits justify given your complete lack of involvement.”

“Don’t you dare lecture ine about involvement. That company exists because of Harper money.”

“Vanessa’s company exists because Vanessa built it from nothing.” The correction came out sharper than I’d intended. “The seed money was repaid years ago with interest.”

Victor scoffed, “Speaking about yourself in the third person, Vanessa. Really?”

Lala regretted her unconscious mistake. “You know I was talking about MY company. I’ve offered you enough

“Far from it,” Victor replied “Or maybe you like the idea of your two younger siblings living in squalor. They will be going off to

college soon. Have you given any thought to their tuitions? Maybe you just don’t care ”