NOVEL WEB Chapter 513: Early pictures
The girls woke up late. When they found the energy to walk out of bed, they found Nate and Jaden at the table, reading the titles of the newspapers.
A couple newspapers would be delivered every morning to Nate's house, together with an issue of a weekly magazine. He had added the last one when Lara had moved in. However, the titles of the newspaper were bigger and dark instead of being written with a thousand colours like in the magazine. As such, Jaden liked reading those more.
They were commenting on the first page, and Nate would explain to his son the meaning of the rarest words. They had been awake for a couple hours already, so their brains were fully working.
Lara and Scarlet sat at the table, noticing the bags.
«Cake?» Scarlet said, licking her lips. Her daddy always knew how to make a good breakfast!
Then, her eyes stopped on the magazine. She sat at her place and decided - just for that day - not to trouble her parents with continuous requests. She would get her cake very soon either way.
She could kill time while watching the funny dresses people in magazines would have.
She reached out for the paper and turned the pages as if in search of something specific. In truth, she just wanted to find a nice dress. Maybe one for her mommy.
She was sure her daddy would retrieve it no matter how rare.
She wasn't done searching when, suddenly, she stopped turning pages.
«Oh,» she muttered, and her small fingers tore the page apart from the rest of the magazine. Nate and Jaden halted their reading and observed her, curious.
«What are you doing, Scarlet?» Nate inquired, helping Lara set the table and unwrapping the sweet breakfast he and Jaden had found in the city.
«I'm keeping the picture; I want this to be with the other pictures...»
«The other?»
«Yes, the other pictures of mommy,» she said, simply.
Nate moved behind her and peeked at the article. He ignored the title for the sake of his nerves and focused on the picture that had charmed Scarlet.
«See? My mommy is so pretty!» she exclaimed, showing him the picture of a five-year-old girl with brown eyes and hair. She was smiling at the photographer with her shy expression, almost feeling overwhelmed by the attention on her.
She was wearing a pretty dress, pink like candy and full of ribbons. Her hair was tied up in a strict bun, and her hands were elegantly on her lap. It wasn't a natural pose for a kid, but it looked so relaxed when Lara was the one doing it.
Even though, how could they be sure it was Lara? Nate had talked about her pictures with Jaden just that morning. How could their words turn true so fast?
His first reaction was to say she was pretty. But then, he wondered how did that picture get there, whether Lara would suffer to know everyone saw her as a kid and then asked himself how could he be so sure it was actually her.
«Oh, my picture,» Lara said, peeking behind them. «How could it get to here, by the way? This is a serious magazine!»
It wasn't a tabloid, in fact. How could Gracelyn get to manipulate people writing for a fashion magazine? How could she convince them to publish her picture? Did she have that kind of influence?
Nate sighed, worrying. There was someone else with influence in his pocket. Maybe not enough to destroy his brother's company with just a word, but he could surely push for a picture to be printed. Many owed him a favour or two, after all.
But... What reason could Luther have to do that? It didn't bring any issues to Grace and Steve Clayton, so it didn't bring him closer to his goal.
«How did you recognise me, Scarlet?» Lara inquired while Nate was still lost in his thoughts and questions.
«My mommy is most pretty,» Scarlet said, her cheeks rosy.
«Just that?»
«No, it's also written.»
The little girl pointed at the word Lara in the subtitle.
«You know how to read, now?» Nate exclaimed. When had she learned without him noticing?
Was she as smart as to learn alone? Or did Jaden teach her?
«No, I just know mommy's name,» Scarlet said.
«And yours?»
«No, why do I need to know my name?» Continue reading stories on empire
«Your list of priorities is odd, Scarlet.»
«I learned from daddy,» she pointed out.
That reply was too smart and witty to come from her, so Nate crossed his arms and asked for more details.
«I learnt that I can't have everything so I need to choose,» Scarlet said. «And I will choose to read mommy.»
«You're unbelievable.»
«Grandpa said I am special,» she giggled, all happy. «He said girls like me are rare.»
«He's right about that, but I'm not sure how much it's a compliment.»
«No, grandpa said many nice things about me! And he taught me the names of some flowers together with grandma.»
Once ensured his daughter had nothing more to hide, Nate focused on Lara. She seemed fine from the outside, but he wanted to ensure she wouldn't have any crisis or panic attacks. It was just a picture, and he was sure there wasn't a single bad word in the article. That magazine knew they would end on one of his tables, after all.
How dared they publish an old picture of Lara without asking for permission? And how dare that woman to provide the picture just like that?
«Hey, are you okay?» he asked.
«I'm fine,» Lara said but her lips were crooked in a worried grimace. If her mother could publish an old photo, she could also take out old ghosts about her younger ears. Especially about that night with a stranger.
She wasn't ready to face that. Not yet: she had just started enjoying her new life in a pack. And a family who wouldn't turn their back on her first chance.