A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 250

It took her a long time before fragments of that memory finally floated back.

It must have been outside their apartment complex.

Her father had just returned from an assignment that day. She’d been so overjoyed, tugging him along to buy her some cotton candy.

He’d already paid, and while the vendor was still spinning the candy, a sudden, thunderous explosion rang out.

Neither of them waited for the treat. All they could think about was running to help.

After that day, she never tasted the cotton candy her father bought for her again.

Or her mother’s, either.

They both died on the way home after finishing their next assignment.

From that moment on, her life was turned completely upside down.

Frank watched as her eyes reddened, his large hand gently covering her smaller one. He asked, hesitantly, “You remember now, don’t you?”

“So—”

Elissa missed her parents terribly. She sniffed, pushing down the sting in her eyes, and forced a crooked smile. “Are you about to tell me—you were that little boy back then?”

If that was true, it was almost laughable.

Fate really had a cruel sense of humor.

The person she’d saved with her own hands had gone on to shatter all her illusions about marriage.

He’d been the one to push her, time and again, right to the very edge.

Frank heard the sarcasm in her voice. Inside, it felt like thousands of ants were gnawing away at his chest. His voice was strained as he admitted, “It was me.”

“Little Nine, I… I’ve been looking for you for so many years.” His eyes shone, glistening with tears.

The person he’d been searching for had been beside him all along.

Anything at all.

Even if she asked for everything in his name, he wouldn’t hesitate.

He was willing to pay any price for his past mistakes, desperate to make it right.

Elissa let out a quiet sigh, her voice calm. “I don’t need anything from you. I just want you to understand that our divorce is final. That’s all.”

Frank stared at her, at a loss. What did she mean, it was final?

He parted his lips, thinking she must have misspoken, and said helplessly, “I told you, I won’t divorce you.”

“I’m telling you, we’re already divorced.”

There was no point hiding it anymore. Elissa had no desire to keep playing along with the Atwater family’s charade. She decided to lay everything bare.

Meeting Frank’s stunned gaze, she enunciated every word with icy clarity: “Our divorce papers are already signed. Your copy is at Atwater Manor. You can pick it up whenever you want.”