When She Walks Away (Teresa) novel Chapter 144

Zack turned to Troy, his face scrunched up in annoyance. “Mr. Hamilton, Miss Sullivan said no. Why are you mad at me?”

Troy, a bit irritated, shot Zack a look. “You think those cheese sticks were free?”

Zack shot back, “If you’re so tough, why don’t you go talk to her yourself?”

Troy sat down next to him and gently tugged on Zack’s ear. “You’re too young to be talking back to adults. Did your dad teach He’s a lawyer, so I guess you’re turning into a little argumentative brat.”

you that?

Zack didn’t feel any pain but pretended to, letting out a couple of yelps before sticking out his tongue. “It wasn’t Dad. It was you, Mr. Hamilton.”

Troy let go of Zack’s ear and cupped his face, putting on a mock fierce look. “Come on, kid, I never chicken out in front of women. Unlike you–scared of a little girl like Monica.“,

Zack huffed, “Monica’s just a tomboy. There’s nothing girly about her at all.”

Troy released Zack and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes lazily. “Excuses, excuses. Just admit it and stop trying to cover for yourself.”

Hearing that, Zack just started bawling.

Troy shot upright, scrambling to calm him down, but his hands just hovered awkwardly in the air.

Zack only cried harder and louder. Troy, totally at a loss, barked, “Keep it up, and I’ll let Monica come over and sort you out.”

Instantly, Zack clammed up. He spun around, glaring angrily at Troy. “Hmph, I’m telling my dad.”

Just then, a smooth, deep voice called out from behind them. “What’s going on?”

Hearing his dad’s voice, Zack jumped off the couch, grinning from ear to ear. “Dad, you’re back?”

Peyton Peterson walked over and scooped Zack into his arms. Looking down at his son, he asked, “What’s wrong? Did Mr. Hamilton get on your nerves again?”

Before Zack could say anything, Troy cut in, “Your kid’s just like you–no shame at all.”

Peyton didn’t get upset. He just let out a soft laugh, sat down on the couch with Zack in his arms, and looked over at Troy. “Honestly, I think he takes after you.”

Peyton was throwing shade at Troy, basically calling him shameless in his way.

Troy caught the jab, raised an eyebrow, and acted like he didn’t care. “Hey, I never taught him to go chasing after girls.”

Peyton, still teasing Zack, replied, “Oh yeah? Then what did you teach him?”

Peyton turned to Troy, his eyes calm and unreadable, making Troy feel like he couldn’t hide a thing from him.

Troy squirmed under Peyton’s stare, looking away. “You’re a lawyer; no way I’m getting into a debate with you.”

With that, Troy got up. “I’m outta here. Don’t miss me too much.”

Peyton didn’t try to stop Troy. He just looked down at Zack and said, “Hey, let’s go to the park and paint some fall scenes.”

Troy, who had already turned to leave, spun back around, looking confused. “Paint fall?”

Peyton looked up at him and explained, “It’s Zack’s kindergarten homework. He has to turn it in tomorrow.”

Troy’s eyes lit up, and he quickly said, “Well, why don’t you ask the teacher to plan a field trip next week? I’ll go with Zack.”

Peyton knew exactly what Troy was up to and sighed, a bit annoyed, “You-”

Troy cut him off. “Done. You set it up. Relax. I swear I won’t corrupt your son.”

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10:33 AM

Chapter 144

Troy shot Peyton a wicked grin while he said it, making Peyton want to sock him right in the face.

Still, after all these years, Peyton knew he could trust Troy. Troy talked a big game, but behind the scenes, he’d never actually done anything shady.

After leaving Peyton’s place, Troy made his way to the parking lot. He got into his car but just sat there, not even bothering to start the engine.

Troy pulled out his phone, opened Teresa’s WhatsApp chat, and kept typing out messages only to delete them over and over. In the end, he didn’t send anything at all.

Troy’s eyes flickered as a mischievous idea suddenly popped into his head. He searched online for a super–realistic photo of a finger injury, saved it, and posted it to his Instagram.

He cranked up the music, singing and dancing along to cover up the turmoil churning inside him.

But when Troy unlocked it, all he saw was just a generic push notification–not a message from Teresa. His smile instantly stiffened, and he tossed the phone aside in frustration.

The notification just said that a friend had liked his post. It was not Teresa.

Troy was so pissed that he just deleted that friend without a second thought.

He kept checking his phone over and over, but Teresa never messaged or even cared.

Finally, Troy gave up, slammed his hand on the steering wheel, and grumbled, “Teresa, you’re so heartless. Your heart must be made of stone.”

Troy was fuming. He’d only complained about her defending Charles, and now she didn’t even care if he was dead or alive.

now

If it had been Charles who posted that post, Teresa would’ve probably blown up his phone by now.

But when Troy got hurt, Teresa didn’t even say a single word of concern.

At Sullivan Mansion, Teresa was fixing Monica’s hair. Just as Teresa finished, she couldn’t help but sneeze twice.

Monica looked at herself in the mirror, swinging her legs and snacking on an egg tart, her smile sweet. “Aunt Teresa, you’re awesome. Your hairdos are just as pretty as Mom’s.”

Teresa absentmindedly stroked Monica’s bun and said, “Yolanda loves this hairstyle, too. I always did this for her.”

Monica saw Teresa looking down in the mirror and quickly said, “Aunt Teresa, you’re so great. It’s just that Yolanda doesn’t appreciate you now. She’ll definitely regret it someday.”

Teresa managed a small smile. “It’s fine. I’m over it now.”

Teresa wondered, ‘Some things just aren’t worth forcing. It’s better to just go with the flow.

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10:33 AM P P ·

Chapter 144

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Monica hopped off the stool and hugged Teresa. “When you have your own kids someday, you can just forget about Yolanda.”

Teresa didn’t reply. She just softly patted Monica’s head. There were things Teresa just couldn’t say out loud.

After they’d hugged for a bit, Teresa finally spoke up, saying she was going to change her clothes.

Monica said she’d keep her company and stay in the room.

As Teresa was changing, her phone buzzed with a message from Wendy. [Want to go shopping this afternoon?]

Teresa thought about helping Monica paint some fall scenes, so she replied: [Let’s do it next time. I have to help Monica with her art this afternoon.]

Wendy replied: [Okay.]

Teresa didn’t reply, but she noticed a notification on her Instagram. She had a habit of scrolling through her post updates. So, without thinking, she tapped on it.

After scrolling through a couple of posts, she saw Troy’s post.

Teresa tapped on the photo, and when she saw the injured finger, her brow furrowed. She dropped a comment right on Troy’s post.

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