Chapter 232: Creepy Aunty

Angel and Anita were inside the elevator, heading towards the upper floors of the Goodland Building. According to Anita, she was about to show Angel the rest of her family, although Angel had no idea what the woman wants. All she wanted was to see April and Lucy May, take them home, and never have to deal with Anita Goodman again.

Ocean was already awake in her arms, her wide eyes following the green-haired Alpha standing beside them. The little Omega seemed to recognize that something was wrong because she kept staring at Anita with a suspicious look on her face. She knew Aunty Benny, who had the same face as this woman, but there was something creepy about the person standing in front of her.

Anita, meanwhile, seemed to find Ocean’s reaction amusing. She kept smiling, making facees at the toddler, occasionally tilting her head as though she were trying to get a better look at her.

Angel watched the interaction for a moment before she finally lost patience.

"Stop doing that, you are creeping my daughter," she said, shifting Ocean slightly in her arms.

Anita glanced at her before returning her attention to the little girl, her smile growing even wider.

"Your genes are really like you, huh? The other one is really fierce, just like you, and this one is the Omega version of you. So cute," she remarked, looking at Ocean as though she had just discovered something fascinating.

The little girl pressed closer to Angel, her eyes still fixed on the strange woman. She didn’t understand what Anita was saying, but she knew she didn’t like that smile.

Angel sighed, wondering how someone could be so annoying without even trying. She had barely spent any time with Anita since their reunion, yet the woman was already testing her patience in ways she hadn’t experienced in years.

Thankfully, Anita eventually stopped staring at Ocean and turned her attention to her cell phone. Her fingers moved across the screen as she searched for something, although the smile never completely disappeared from her face.

"I still can’t believe I am standing next to the Angel Morningstar. This is like a dream come true, you know."

"And I still cannot believe you don’t know how to shut up," Angel replied, looking at the elevator doors.

Anita let out a small laugh, apparently taking the insult as a compliment.

"Trust me, Angel Morningstar, I do like talking. It is fun to talk, so tell me, how has life been treating you since we last saw one another? We were seventeen back then."

Angel slowly turned her head to look at her.

"Seriously, why do you have my wife and daughter?"

She wasn’t interested in discussing their teenage years or listening to Anita reminisce about the past. The woman had kidnapped her family, or at the very least, knew exactly where they were being kept. That was the only conversation Angel wanted to have.

"Isn’t it obvious? I needed my pal back, and Tessa, that girl is always desperate to prove herself," Anita replied with a chuckle, her eyes still focused on her phone.

Angel’s expression hardened at the mention of Tessa. She had already had enough trouble finding April and Lucy May, and now Anita was talking about people as though their lives were pieces on a board she could move around whenever she felt like it.

"We are almost there. You will soon reunite with your other family, and after seeing them and maybe having some family time, we will have the discussion about our future," Anita continued, finally lifting her eyes from the screen.

"Our future?" Angel repeated, her voice filled with disbelief.

She couldn’t imagine what kind of future Anita thought they would have together, especially after everything that had happened. They had not seen each other in years, and Angel had no intention of allowing an old friend to suddenly decide what her life should look like.

"I am taking my family back home," she stated firmly.

Anita’s smile faded just enough for Angel to notice the change in her expression. She slipped her phone away and turned to face the other Alpha, looking as though Angel had just said something incredibly stupid.

"Home? This is your home. The last time I checked, this district belonged to Sloane Morningstar, and you happen to be her heir. The girl who is going to inherit this district," Anita said, speaking as though the matter had already been settled.

Angel stared at her. For a moment, she wondered whether Anita had completely lost her mind. Why would she care about the Morningstar family, the district, or whatever inheritance her Alpha mother had left behind? Angel had spent years building a life that had nothing to do with her Alpha mother’s family, and she wasn’t about to abandon it because someone else had decided she belonged here.

"I am no longer a Morningstar. I am a Del Rosario," Angel replied.

Anita blinked at her before letting out a short, disbelieving laugh.

"What the fuck is a Del Rosario? You are a Morningstar, this little one is a Morningstar, and that little Alpha is also a Morningstar."

Her gaze briefly shifted towards Ocean before returning to Angel, as though she expected the other woman to suddenly understand what she was saying.

Angel said nothing. There was no point arguing with Anita Goodman. The woman had always been crazy, and judging by their conversation so far, 12 years had done absolutely nothing to change her. No matter what Angel said, Anita would always find something else to argue about, and Angel had more important things to worry about than wasting her breath on a woman who refused to listen.

Still, she couldn’t help wondering why Anita was so concerned about the Morningstar name and the district. The Anita Goodman she remembered had always cared about herself first, last, and everything in between. She had never known her to go out of her way for someone else’s family, especially when there was nothing obvious for her to gain.

So why was she suddenly acting as though the future of the Morningstar family depended on Angel?

Before she could think any further about it, the elevator finally slowed to a stop.

The doors slid open, and Anita stepped out first, her polished black shoes making a faint sound against the floor as she walked ahead. Angel followed with Ocean in her arms, keeping a close eye on the woman who had somehow managed to turn what should have been a simple rescue into another headache.

"Okay, let’s go meet Mama April and the little Alpha girl," Anita announced cheerfully, as though she were taking Angel to a family gathering instead of reuniting her with a wife and daughter she had been desperately searching for.

Angel tightened her hold on Ocean and followed her towards a door at the end of the hallway. Her heart had already begun to beat faster at the thought of seeing April again. She wanted to hold her wife, check that Lucy May was safe, and get both of them away from this place.

She didn’t care what Anita wanted to discuss afterward. Once her family was back with her, they were leaving.

Anita stopped in front of the door and glanced over her shoulder, her cheerful expression returning as though she had suddenly remembered something important.

"By the way, Angel, you better learn to accept your old home. Don’t try leaving if you don’t want me to put a bullet hole into their heads."

The words came out so casually that, for a second, Angel simply stared at her.

Then the meaning sank in. Anita was threatening her family. The same family Angel had travelled across the country to find, the same wife and daughter she had been worrying about since their disappearance, were now being used as a way to keep her under Anita’s control.

Angel didn’t think twice.

With Ocean safely supported in one arm, she reached out with her free hand, grabbed Anita, and slammed the Alpha against the wall. The sudden impact did not wiped the smile off Anita’s face as Angel leaned closer, her crimson eyes burning with anger.

"If you dare touch my family, I won’t hesitate to cut you into tiny pieces and feed you to the dogs," Angel threatened.

Then the door opened.

"Mommy!"