<b>Chapter </b><b>116 </b>
Mason
Lydia’s words echoed in my head as I drove home. What could she mean?
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I know I left her in prison, but that’s because of what she did. Granted, I should not have done that, I shouldn’t have divorced her when she was at her lowest, but you can’t me me.
My emotions were triggered, and I acted on them. Anyone in my position would have done the same.
I am a better man now, with more control over my needs and emotions.
My phone began ringing again. Why the fuck was Mom calling? I contemted ending the call for a brief moment. But decided against it. She will not give it a rest until I speak with her, so I did just that.
I am now on the highway leading to my penthouse.
“Mason, what is this I am hearing?” She yelled from her end, anger drenched in her voice. “Come over right now.
“Mom, can we do this some other time?” I requested, already mentally exhausted.
“No, we are doing this right now.”
“I can not,” I said, fixed on my decision not to go to her.
“If you have even the tiniest bit of respect for me and you’ve still regarded me as your mother,e to the house right this moment.”
She pulled that final card. She knows the right way to get me in a moment like this. She is my mother, and she knows I will never go against
those words.
I turnednes and drove down to the mansion.
Immediately, I stepped in, and I was weed by sobs from Julia. She is seated on the couch with mom seated beside her, hands wrapped over her shoulder,forting her.
I <i>flexed </i>my jaw as I stepped forward. A part of me knew this was the reason she called for me. It had to be Julia.
“He is finally here.” Mom said, and Julia lifted her head.
“Mason,e over here.” Mom’s face was devoid of any smile as she stared at me. She wiped the tears on Julia’s cheeks with her hands, “Sit over there.” She gestured towards the coach opposite her.
From the way we are seated, it would be easy to mistake Mom for Julia’s mother instead of mine.
“Mom, why did you call for me?” I asked, trying to be calm<b>, </b>not sparing Julia a look.
“Mason,” she began, “you know, I do not try to interfere in your rtionship or your love life.”
Okay, that’s not true. Even when I was dating Lydia, I remembered my mom being so against it.
“But this time I feel like I should. It’s normal for couples to have misunderstandings and fights, but that doesn’t mean it should always end in
a breakup. “At this point, I can only wonder what Julia told her.
I leaned into the couch and tugged on my tie before slowly taking it off.
“Mam, this time it wasn’t just a misunderstan.”
“Mason, we can resolve this.” Julia cut me short. Her voice seemed to bring the smile back to my mom’s face.
She smoothed her hair with both hands like a little girl. “I’ll leave you guys to talk about it.” She said, “You are both adults, so fix this” She walked away, leaving Julia and me in the sitting room by ourselves.
Mom sat at the dining room table, a te of grapes on the table in front of her. From the corner of my eye, I caught her popping one into her mouth. I knew she might pretend to be busy, but she is actually listening to our conversation.
“Mason, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. Please, can you let this go? At least just this time.” She pleased.
“We’ve spoken about this before.” Did she forget my words? She must have probably thought my mom had a lot to say about this. At the beginning, she did.
The only reason I dated Julia for such a long time is because of my mom; she kept pointing out the benefits of dating her. Honestly, I did benefit a lot.
“You can’t just call off what we have.” She touched her stomach. “I am carrying your child.” She said.
I shook my head, refusing to be tied down by a child.
“I don’t care,” I stated matter–of–factly, and I mean it. It is not that I don’t care about the child, I do care about the child, after all, it’s my child, what I don’t care about is the mother. Julia.
“What about the business? My dad isn’t just going to let this go. Have you thought of the impact it’ll have on your stock and al-”
“I’m done with this. We are over, and that’s final, and nothing will change my mind.” I am now standing on my feet. “Please leave, and appreciate it if you don’te back or try to see my mom,” I stated. Mom was already standing.
“Even she won’t be able to change my mind.”
“Mason, what’s going on? Why are you-”
“Mom, Julia wants to leave; she feels weak. She could use some rest.” I said.
Mom walked with Julia to the door, after which she returned to where I was seated.
“Mason, how can you throw this opportunity away? Why will you even think about breaking up with her, especially at this stage?”
“People date and break up, Mom,” I said, walking to the dining room. She followed behind me.
“You aren’t people, and you are engaged. You are both different from the usual.”
“Even married couples get divorced; this is nothing new. In fact, I am divorced, and I remember how happy my divorce brought you; why isn’t this the same?” I asked, suddenly feeling angry towards her. I took a water bottle from the fridge.
I ced the open bottle to my lips and downed the contents. “That’s because Lydia wasn’t worth you.”
“There you go again,” I yelled, squeezing the now–empty bottle. “What do you mean, Lydia wasn’t worthy of me?” I want to me her; she caused it, can’t she see that Lydia is better than Julia or any other girl out there?
And she already has my twins.
“I know what’s best for you, Mason, and I know Lydia isn’t.‘
1 shook my head. cing the now quashed bottle on the table, “you don’t know, You know absolutely nothing about me
“do, that’s why I’d make sure this works. I’ll meet with Mrs. Everett if I need to and make sure they don’t get too upset with this call off. You are just acting on your emotions. I can’t allow you to ruin all you’ve been working on simply because of all this.” I pushed my hand over my
hait.
“I care about you, Mason,” she said, trying to hold my hand, but I moved it away.
“No, you don’t. You care about yourself, Mom, not me.” She has never cared about me. If she had, she wouldn’t have made me divorce Lydia because she would have seen that I needed her to live.
All she cared about was being the mother of a sessful son and nothing more.
“Is this because of her?” She asked, tears filling her eyes now, “Is she why you are behaving like this and disobeying your mom?” She asked.
“This is why I do not want you spending so much time with her. She’d ruin you.” She screamed.
“This isn’t about obedience, Mom. It’s about what I want, and it breaks my heart that you’ve never considered that.” My voice is weak now.
“I’ve never loved Julia. For over five years, no day went by without me yearning for Lydia and for what we’ve always had.” I looked at my mom, disappointed.
Was it that she never noticed, or did she ignore it?
“But I’ve always pushed my feelings aside because I wanted to see you happy, but I’m done doing that. I love you and respect you, but this time, I’m choosing myself.”
Choosing Lydia didn’t mean I loved Mom less. It’s me choosing my own family the way she’d do if she were in my shoes. She’d always pick me and Zoe, and I’m doing the same.
I’m choosing Liam, Mnie, and Lydia.
“Good, Mom,” I said.
It was past 11 pm at this point, and I know I shouldn’t be leaving, but I can’t stay under the same roof as Mom right now.
“Mason,e back. Don’t leave.” She screamed at me, but I didn’t listen to her. It’s decided.
I was about to leave when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Zoe.
“Can you please not go today? Stay home. I have something to talk to you about. It’s important.” She said, her eyes moved around as if watching for someone.
“I’m sorry, Zoe. Can we do this some other time? I’m pretty busy.” Busy with my emotions.
“It’s really important. It’s something you need to know.”
I shook my head, “Some other time, please.” I ced a kiss on her head, “goodnight. I love you.” I said and walked out.
As I drove back to my penthouse, all I could think of was how to fix all this.
Was it possible to do so without anyone getting hurt?