A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Frank avoided her gesture and placed the box on the empty passenger seat. “She’s younger–has a sweet tooth. And aren’t you watching your sugar?”

Marcia stared at him in disbelief.

He was as calm and handsome as always, as if nothing about him had changed.

She stood there, frozen, thinking for a long moment–then, suddenly, it hit

her.

Maybe what had changed was his heart.

He kept insisting he saw Elissa as a little sister, but what if–what if he was falling for her and didn’t even realize it?

Her fingernails dug deep into her palm. She shot Frank an unhappy look, but this time, she didn’t bother to question whether he’d caught feelings

for Elissa.

“So, do you treat every friend’s kid sister this well?”

“She burned bridges with Rowan just to marry me.”

Frank glanced over, clearly thinking her question was unnecessary. “Is it wrong to be a little nicer to her?”

Back home, Elissa stepped out of a hot shower.

She was drying her hair when Tanya Foster came in, balancing a plate of dark cherries, and popped one into Elissa’s mouth. “Come on, spill. What happened?”

“Hm?”

“You might not look miserable,” Tanya said, handing her a napkin for the pit, “but trust me–my eagle eyes can tell when something’s off.”

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Chapter

Elissa couldn’t help but laugh.

Sometimes, she thought, her life really wasn’t so bad.

Her mentor and Jacqueline treated her kindly, and she had Tanya as her best friend.

She set the hairdryer aside. “Guess who I ran into after leaving my mentor’s place?”

“Who?”

“Frank and Marcia.”

Elissa’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “Frank was there, paving the way for Marcia–trying to get my mentor to take her on as a student.”

She wasn’t even sure how she felt about it.

Mostly, it left her feeling stuck.

Frank had only gotten close to her mentor because of her, and now he was using that connection to help the woman he truly cared for.

It didn’t even make her sad, exactly-

“What’s Frank thinking? Is he trying to slap you in the face? Honestly, you two aren’t even officially divorced, and here he is, parading it around.” Tanya was indignant.

Exactly.

It was like getting slapped in public.

It stung, no matter how she tried to brush it off.

But once she said it out loud, Elissa felt a little better. She let out a long breath, “Probably only Marcia knows what he’s thinking.”

“The divorce papers?”

Tanya looked as if she’d love to drag Elissa out of her wreck of a marriage herself. “When is his mother finally going to send them over?”

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Chapter 47

“I asked today. Should be soon.”

“She’s not stringing you along?”

“No.”

Carmela always acted warm and easygoing, but she was sharp and decisive underneath.

Elissa had made her own intentions perfectly clear–she was definitely not the kind of daughter–in–law Carmela wanted.

If anything, Carmela was probably even more eager to get the divorce finalized than she was.

Just then, Tanya’s phone, left forgotten on the living room couch, started ringing. Tanya dashed out to answer it.

Elissa picked up her hairdryer, about to finish drying her hair, when her own phone buzzed on the table.

The caller ID made her body tense up instantly. She traced her fingernail along her fingertip several times before finally answering.

“Hi, Grandma.”

On the other end, the old woman’s voice was impatient and sharp. “What took you so long?”

Elissa drew in a silent breath. “I was just getting out of the shower…”

“Elissa,”

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