Alle Kapitel von The Alpaca Fake Heiress: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 8

Leo panicked. "No!" he shouted.Julian's expression shifted too, and he rushed to smooth things over. "It's Sugar's first time meeting you. She's probably just not used to you yet. Give it a few days, and you two will get along fine. Leo picked her out especially for you. Don't let it go to waste."I looked between the two of them. Both were tense, both clearly worried their little plan might fall apart.I nodded. "Mommy loves this present. Her name's Sugar, right? I'll take good care of her."Leo let out a breath of relief, and the tightness in Julian's shoulders eased.I smiled and crouched down, ruffling my son's hair. "Why don't you two go get her a place to stay? She likes you both, so I'm sure she'll be happy with whatever room you set up. Let me spend some time alone with Sugar first—just the two of us, to get to know each other."I herded father and son into the study, then led the alpaca out to the yard. We'd barely taken two steps before it opened its mouth to spit agai

I went back inside, shut the bedroom door, and pulled a bottle of potion out of a drawer.If the alpaca drank it, the backlash would hit her hard. Every time she spat, a piece of Nadia's soul dissolved—and the more she spat, the faster it would happen.But the alpaca was smart. Anything I tried to feed her, she kicked over without fail. She only ate obediently once Julian and Leo were around. When they weren't home, she'd rather go hungry and thirsty than touch anything I offered.My son accused me, "You're obviously not being patient with Sugar. That's why she doesn't like you!"Julian backed him up. "Spend more time bonding with her instead of scowling all the time. If she doesn't like you, then figure out how to win her over. This is the anniversary gift our son picked out for you. If you two can't get along, think how upset that'll make Leo."I sneered inwardly while outwardly playing the picture of humble compliance. "I understand. I'll be gentler with her."I crouched down

Day three. The male alpaca showed no signs of slowing down. The female was forced to run circles around the pen, and whenever she couldn't keep going, he pinned her to the ground. Blood stained the dirt. Mr. Reed had a water trough brought in, worried she might die of thirst.Day four. The female could no longer stand. The male mounted her anyway. She couldn't even manage a sound anymore.Day five. The vet came and said she had severe injuries—a fractured hind leg that needed treatment. Mr. Reed asked what I wanted to do."Treat her," I said. "Once she's better, keep going."Day six. The hospital called. Nadia's original body, still in a vegetative state, was rapidly failing. I hung up and looked at the female in the pen. She lay there, eyes half-closed, the fur around her mouth soaked through—not from spitting, but from drooling. She no longer had the strength left to spit.Day seven. The male finally settled down. Not because his rut had ended—because the female had stopped movi

I found the foundation's office myself—the twelfth floor of an aging office building on the south side of the city. It wasn't large, about eight hundred and sixty square feet, split into two rooms: a reception area out front, and my office in back.The day I moved in, I bought three pots of pothos—one for the front desk, two for the windowsill.I hung a whiteboard on the wall and started writing down the names of the women who came to us for help.The first was a twenty-three-year-old girl, pregnant out of wedlock, whose child had been taken by the father's family. We won the case in the end, and she got her child back.The second name belonged to a twenty-eight-year-old woman, five years married with two daughters, whose in-laws were pressuring her into a third pregnancy she didn't want. They tormented her daily over it. Her eyes were swollen from crying the day she came to me. I found her a lawyer, gave her counseling, and connected her with the local women's rights office. Thr