My Family Stole My Run I Returned A Leader Chapter 13
I didn’t have to guess. It was Stefan.
He had somehow gotten my new number.
Every so often, another text would arrive.
I didn’t even look twice. I blocked him immediately.
Later, I heard the Lombardi family hadn’t been doing well.
After I left, Bella’s issues had become more and more pronounced.
She was used to having everyone revolve around her.
If the slightest thing went wrong, she would cry, throw a tantrum, even let her shifting impulses flare until the whole family had to stop and cater to her.
Tony’s work wasn’t going well, and he still had to come home and soothe her. One day, he finally snapped.
“Can you just stop?”
“When Paloma lived here, did we ever have this many problems?”
It was the first time Tony had ever raised his voice at Bella.
My parents were starting to lose their patience with her, too.
They would look at the small, empty room I had left behind.
They would remember the rusted tin Mrs. Rossi had thrown at their feet.
Only then did they realize how much trouble I used to quietly handle, and how many burdens I had carried that were never mine.
They tried to contact me. They even had Stefan come looking for me.
But Stefan’s own life had become a mess.
He didn’t keep up with his training at the warrior academy.
He spent more and more time drinking alone in bars.
He told everyone he had lost the person he truly loved.
Every time I heard these things, I found them ridiculous.
The person who had disrespected me most was him.
The lab door opened and my colleague, Lena, walked in.
“Paloma, ready?”
“The meeting is about to start.”
“Ready.”
I set down my coffee, picked up my files, and stood.
That evening’s Northern Pack Academic Conference was being held at a neutral hotel in downtown Gray Harbor.