Wrongfully Claimed

Chapter Eleven

Warning: highly explicit, trigger warning content ahead that may be sensitive to certain readers. Please read with caution.

                        Ryder

Ryder couldn't stand there and wait any longer. The suspense and uncertainty of not knowing what was going on had been driving him to the brink of insanity. He had to know who Aurora had been talking to and he had to know now.

He sprinted over to her, almost tripping over the rug on the floor, fighting to get to her, his heart hammering in his chest, the closer he made it towards her, worried that he'd come too late.

The first thing he planned on doing was pulling her aside and asking her what was going on. But something told him to look in the doorway first before he went in to see who she was speaking to.

He was glad he did because it was then that he realized it was only Cassidy -- his ex-wife's mother and his son. It wasn't the police and he had been worrying about nothing.

They had seemed to have arrived there an hour earlier than he expected, standing there, speaking with Aurora.

His son hadn't seen him yet and was still clinging onto Cassidy's thick arms, timidly looking up at Aurora, his protuberant, green eyes, wide and filled with curiosity.

Ryder's jaw trembled the closer he approached them, worried about what Aurora could have told her in his absence.

Creeping up to Aurora when she least expected like he was forever so good at doing, Ryder played it cool and placed his hand on her, before snatching her waist from behind.

This had caused her to jump instantly as he pulled into her so unexpectedly.

"There ya are," he said giving Aurora a friendly grin, relieved to see her beautiful face again after he'd thought he'd almost lost her a few seconds ago. "Is everythin' okay, darlin'? You look as if you just saw a ghost."

Aurora froze once she saw Ryder standing there and just glared at him, speechless and pale-faced with a look of complete disgust.

She backed into the corner behind the door, Cassidy looking at him with the same, usual scornful look, she would always give him and Sebastian jumping about it excitedly at the sight of him.

" Daddy!" he exclaimed, his bright green Ninja Turtles backpack, strapped to his back, relentlessly bobbing up and down on top of his shoulders as he fought to free his hand from his grandmother's firm grip locked onto his.

"Heya, kiddo. I sure have missed ya," Ryder said bending down to hug his son. Cassidy intervened by gripping onto his tiny hand harder and pulled him away from Ryder, the second Sebastian tried to take off.

He knew he was in for it, as soon as Cassidy, cleared her throat, battering her long, thick, false eyelashes, and her fiery grey-brown eyes, glaring at him in persecution much like his bitchy ex would do. The apple never fell far from the tree.

"What is going on here?" " she said to Ryder as she flicked her frizzy, coloured red hair from her haggard, mottled face and directed her attention to the petrified woman standing in the corner.

"Why is this woman crying? I just arrived here with Sebastian and found this woman at the door in tears. You have ten seconds to explain yourself, or I else am gonna call the police!"

Ryder knew he had to act fast, so he pretended to comfort Aurora by tightening his grip around her thin waist, but the more she pulled away from him, the harder he would squeeze her, holding her close to him.

It was clear as day that Aurora didn't want to be near him. He could see Cassidy wasn't buying it either at first, by the way, she stood in front of them with her arms folded, her, mouth forming into a hard line, unconvinced and growing increasingly suspicious by the second.