A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 104

Frank rubbed his fingers together, brow furrowing slightly. “She just acted out of desperation. That’s all.”

“Are you sure it was just desperation?” Elissa’s tone was dry. “Or was it something she planned all along? Don’t you already know the answer?”

She couldn’t help but admire his talent for self–deception.

Her clear eyes held his, unblinking, until Frank finally gave in, sighing in resignation. “Little Elissa, I know she crossed a line. I can make it up to you for her…”

He didn’t finish; his phone–resting on the table–began to ring.

Elissa didn’t bother to check the caller ID. From the weary look on Frank’s face, she already knew it was Marcia.

‘Sorry, I need to take this.”

Elissa gave a half–hearted smile. “Go ahead.”

He’d invited her out to dinner and promised an apology, but before the food even arrived, he was already answering a call from the very person

who’d started all this.

She couldn’t help but feel how pointless it all was.

“Ma’am? Excuse me, ma’am?”

The waiter had to call her twice before Elissa snapped out of her thoughts. She saw a dish had been set on their table. “Sorry, what was that?”

“This pendant,” the waiter said, holding out a delicate green pendant. “I believe the gentleman you’re with left it on his chair. Would you mind keeping it for him? Just so it doesn’t get lost.”

“Of course. Thank you.”

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Chapter 104

Elissa took the pendant automatically, about to set it down on the table. But when she glanced at it, her mind went blank.

It was her pendant.

The very same one that had been stolen from her all those years ago at the orphanage.

She’d thought about finding it, but she’d been at the orphanage such a short time, she couldn’t even remember the girl’s name who’d taken it. When she’d gone back once, the place had already been shut down.

She’d wanted to look, but there was nowhere to start. She never imagined it would land back in her hands so suddenly.

Before she could process it, the pendant was snatched away.

Her instincts took over; she lunged to get it back.

As a child, she had never been able to win these fights.

But she wasn’t a child anymore. She wouldn’t lose the one thing her parents had left her.

“Give it back!”

“Give it back?” Frank looked at her, startled by her intensity, his brow creasing. “That’s Marcia’s. She’s had it since she was a kid. I can’t just give it to you.”

Elissa forced herself to breathe. “It’s Marcia’s?”

“Yes,” Frank said, assuming she was just interested in jewelry. He placed a piece of cod on her plate. “There’s a charity auction in a couple of days. Come with me. If you see something you like, I’ll make sure you get it. My treat, all right?”

But Elissa couldn’t hear a word he was saying. Her mind was spinning, focused solely on the pendant.

“Can I see it again?” she asked, her gaze burning.

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Chapter 104

“Of course.” Frank placed it back in her palm.

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