My Werewolf Professor Read Online Free PDF Page B

tone, everything that made her seem odd was all because she was empty.
    Kimberley Dresden was completely devoid of love, and I hadn’t ever met someone like her until now.  
    “For God’s sake, Kimmy, don’t speak like that.” It was Chris, coming to us from behind, and I had never seen such despair on my grandfather’s face. Beside me, Kate drew in her breath sharply, and I knew she had seen the same thing, too.
    All of us were hurting, but my mother remained… odd. An odd stranger, able to look at Kate and Chris like they weren’t the parents who made her, raised her, loved her. In fact, my mother acted like they didn’t even exist at all, looking at me with one arched eyebrow as she asked, “Are you going to sign it or not?”
    I remembered all the days that I had dreamt about meeting her, remembered how I would imagine all sorts of things we’d be doing together as mother and daughter. I remembered telling all of it to Kate and Chris, and I wondered if that was the reason why they had allowed this meeting, why they had allowed themselves to be hurt again.
    Picking up the pen, I scrawled my name on the lines, over and over, until all twenty pages of the contract were signed. “Please don’t send us any money. We don’t need it.”
    She laughed, oddly. “You’re just like them.” She threw a disgusted look at her surroundings. “And how can you seriously say that when you’re living in this dump?”
    Chris flinched, and I knew that the insult hit him raw. My grandfather was a very traditional man, someone who thought it was his duty to be the breadwinner of the family simply because he was the man and Kate and I were women.
    “We don’t see it as a dump.” My voice drew her attention back to me. “We’re happy here, so thank you for your concern, but we really don’t need anything else.” I stood up, and Kimberley stood up as well. “Thank you for coming. Rest assured none of us will ever bother you again. But if you ever make the mistake of sending us the money, I’ll just ask the bank to give it back to my mother .”
    Her lips tightened at the threat. “ Bitch .”
    “Kimberley,” Kate cried out.
    I didn’t even flinch. It seemed her oddness was rubbing off on me. Like mother, like daughter, and all that crap.
    “Is that all?” I asked quietly.  
    “No. Not quite.” She turned to her companion. “I’d like you to take a photo with her. Make sure you look happy, too. I’m going to show it to my husband, let him know that my love child’s in a good place and we’d only be guilty of ruining her life if we let her know about the truth.”
    Without a word, I took the phone she had in her hand and came to stand beside her companion. “Please smile, ma’am.” I lifted the phone up, smiled, and took a selfie. It was pretty easy, thanks to the oddness spreading inside of me.
    And just like that, she was gone, leaving nothing but oddness behind her.
    I watched my mother drive away, in an obviously expensive car, and I felt odder and odder—
    Behind me, I heard my grandmother speak.
    “Oh, Chris.”
    I whirled around, alarmed by the tremor in Kate’s voice. My grandmother wasn’t crying, but my grandfather was, and the sight crushed me.  
    I saw it all in his face, saw that he blamed himself for the way my mother turned out, saw the way he couldn’t understand why his own flesh and blood could be like that to them.
    And Kate, my lovely, strong grandmother…
    I could see it in the way she was hugging her husband, the way she wished she could take all his pain and absorb it inside of her.
    All of this because of my mother and how odd she was.
    Rushing to them, I wrapped my arms around Kate and Chris. “ I’m sorry .” The tears started to fall, and the oddness started to disappear. “I’m so sorry you had to meet her again because of me.” The more I spoke, the harder I cried. But I didn’t stop because it also made the oddness go away, and I wanted that. I needed that.
    “I