Chapter 1853:


    A wave of pure rage tightened Joselyn’s chest until it was difficult to breathe. She thought back to the years when Brendon was still with Christina — when he had done everything she asked without question. He had been apletely different man then. Obedient. Considerate. Hers.


    She found herself, to her own surprise, missing the days when Christina had been part of the Dawson family. If Christina hadn’t grown so stubborn after the divorce, Joselyn might have been willing to let Brendon pursue her again. With Christina as his wife, he had followed her guidance without hesitation. Nothing about their dynamic now, with Ynda, came close to that.


    Ynda continued to cry, her voice soft and trembling. “Please don’t be angry with Joselyn on my ount. If she hates me this much, I’ll pack my things and leave right now.”


    “You’re not going anywhere,” Brendon said, his expression hard. “This is our home. You can stay here as long as you like, and no one has the authority to drive you out.” He held up a hand before Ynda could protest. “Don’t say another word. Stop worrying — I’ll handle this.”


    He turned to Joselyn, his gaze cool and t. “Mom, if living here with Ynda is truly so unbearable, you could always move out and join Dad. He already has his own ce. It’s a perfectlyfortable house.”


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    “What did you just say?” Joselyn’s voice shook. “Are you actually telling your own mother to leave?”


    “No,” Brendon replied evenly. “I’m simply pointing out that you and Dad could be together. He’s already settled elsewhere. You’d befortable there.”


    “Brendon!” Joselyn’s voice broke. “I have lived in this house since the day I was married. This is my home — not yours!”


    In the past, Brendon had walked out of this very house to be with Ynda. Now that he was back, he was trying to push his own mother out the door to please her. The bitterness of it was almost more than Joselyn could bear. She wished, in that raw and unguarded moment, that she had never had a son at all.


    “Mom, this is the Dawson family home,” Brendon said, his voice devoid of warmth. “Dawson isn’t even your birth name. You married into this family. That doesn’t give you the right to dictate how things run here.”


    Joselyn’s eyes filled with tears. The words struck somewhere deep and tender.


    She thought of the times she had stood beside Brendon and Katie when they argued that Bethel was nothing more than an outsider — that because she had only married into the Dawson family, she had no real im to its name or its wealth. Joselyn had agreed with them then, fully and without hesitation. Now that same logic had turned and cut her to the bone, and she understood, for the first time, how wrong she had been.


    She had poured her entire life into Brendon. And he was throwing her away.


    “Joselyn, please don’t be upset.” Vickie stepped forward and took her hand gently. “Brendon only said those things because he’s angry. He doesn’t mean them.”


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