AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The male’s eyebrow rose when he saw the state of my undress, but he asked no questions. Once I showed my ID, the guard let me in and sent someone to notify Helen. Left alone, resting my back against the wall, I look at the reflection of me in a large mirror occupying the wall. I’m a hot mess. Besides tucking in the blouse to hide my bodice, I refused to do anything else. Perhaps I want to embarrass her, to make Helen flinch, get furious, lose her perfect façade.
The fire smoldering inside of me needs an outlet. And the target of that anger saunters into the room in her high heels and privileged aura, sticking to her designer clothes. Her hips move with grace as if she’s dancing as she strides toward me.
Perfectly painted lips stretch into a broad, plastic smile. “Thank you, Hans.”
He bows and waits on her.
I can’t take my eyes off her, perhaps because I have a sick fascination with her mannerisms that’s so outlandish to me. To watch her move or talk is like watching an old movie, with a strange language, spilling from people’s lips and gestures that look more artistic than natural.
Her perfect face glows with youthful beauty that makeup accentuates as her dress swishes around her long legs, emphasizing her lean figure.
“Cassandra, what a surprise to see you here.” She casts her gaze over me, and her mouth snaps shut in a tight line of distaste she fast hides under the mask of indifference.
“Could you please leave us alone?” She politely dismisses the concierge, who closes the door, leaving us both in a room decorated for the queen to lounge.
“This place is very high-end, Cassandra. You can’t walk in here less than perfect,” she stresses to me, pouring some drink from the bar that’s conveniently set up in the corner.
“Why not?” I taunt, needing her without those marble shields hiding the real person. I’m done talking to the fashion mannequin. It’s time to make her livid.
“Perhaps you grew up without any manners instilled in you, but you’re no longer poor Sandra, without money or respectable name. You are a Cade now, and you won’t be embarrassing our family, sauntering in with your clothes wrinkled and the smudged face of a prostitute.” She chugs the drink, coming closer.
“I would start acting like one the moment you start treating me as the Mrs. Cade I am.”
Helen flinches, cheek muscles twisting into a patronizing smile.
“We are a breed, Cassandra. You can’t do anything about your roots, just mimic us.” My mother-in-law is really pushing it today. I can feel the sharp edge in her voice, the subtle tremble in her hands, rage hiding under the refined mask. “Our family has standards, the name to uphold. You’re already threatening to stain it with your activities.”
“Is this why you decided to fight for my children because I don’t fit in your perfectly made world? Afraid I’ll taint them with my less than refined manners?”
Surprise crosses her attractive features before she masks it but not fast enough for me not to catch it.
“You’re unstable. Grief made you reckless and—”
“Aren’t you also a grieving mother? Aren’t you hurting, Helen?”
“How dare you!” she seethes.
“No, how dare you even try to separate me from my babies?” I raise my voice, pointing a finger at her with my eyes full of fire. “You’re not a better option for my kids. They lost one parent already, don’t you fucking dare to try to push me out of their lives, shatter their world. They deserve better than this!”
“We are not the same. Don’t you compare us!” she shouts, and then flinches, realizing she has done it.
When Helen’s eyes fill up with angry tears, she sneers at me. “You’re a walking disaster, and you earned this pain! You walked away from your dying sons, didn’t you? You don’t deserve my grandkids!” She twists a knife in my chest. “You don’t deserve to be their mother!”
Before her words can unmake me, I probe, “And you do?”
She steps back like I hit her in the chest.
“Tell me, Helen, why your sons ran away from the magnificent life you gave them.” I step closer, and she steps back. “Why did Lucas and Leif choose a life away from your empire, royal life, and pretentious society?”
Her gaze darkens, but soon her face twists in contempt, and she straightens her spine as if she’s about to launch an arrow.
“You don’t know a thing about my family.” Helen’s gaze fills up with shadows, but I still can’t understand the secrets hidden in their depths. “So, don’t pretend you know who we are. You don’t know my sons the way I do. I gave them everything. I was there for them.”
She’s running, refusing to face the truth and hitting me where it hurts because she doesn’t want to feel her own agony. She wants mine. That’s why she demonizes me. Because otherwise, she’ll have to accept responsibility, deal with guilt, learn to forgive.
My spine is straight like a rod and my gaze zeroes in on her, needing to make her bleed too. I’m not done with her just yet, and before she can counter me, I nail the last nail in that proverbial coffin.
“Your sons ran straight here, to me, away from you, for a reason. And you know what that reason is, isn’t it? Whatever it is, guilt’s weighing you down.”
