"Now that I''ve finally found the person I love—a woman I want to start a family with —you keep trying, again and again, to break us apart. Tell me... how can such a mother exist, one who can''t stand to see her own son happy?"


    Anneliese felt her heart clench tightly as she listened, Jonathan''s every word stabbing painfully at her. Gently withdrawing her hand from Penelope''s grasp, she stood and walked to his side, holding his hand.


    Jonathan immediately spread his fingers and inteced them with hers, his thumb gently brushing over her skin to tell her he was fine.


    Elizabeth, on the other hand, went pale under the forceful questioning.


    How could she not know that she had repeatedly wronged him over the years? It was the reason for the long-standing tension between them. Yet, whether as an adult or as a child, he had never onceined to her about these grievances. Even back then, when she identally gave him the wrong medicine at eight years old—sending him to the ER for a stomach pump and nearly costing him his life— when she sat by the hospital bed and watched the young boy open his eyes, his face deathly pale, he only turned his head away and chose to ignore her.


    Some truths, if he never mentioned them, she acted as if she didn''t know.


    She had always pretended not to notice the grievances and resentment eating away at him, not to realize how much she owed him-just so their superficial mother-son rtionship could remain intact.


    After all, she knew her son-he was always reserved, proud, and fiercely self- respecting.


    She never imagined these wordsing from his mouth, not even once.


    How could she have expected that he would make such usations toward her in front of so many people,pletely ripping open the festering wound that had been hidden between them for years?


    A sudden wave of fear and panic flooded her at that moment.


    Her lips trembled. "No, it''s not like that! When you were little, I couldn''t raise you myself because of your father. His affair broke me mentally. At that time, I couldn''t even take care of myself; I kept wanting to hurt myself.


    "How could I possibly have taken care of you properly? How can you me me for that? As for the time I gave you the wrong medicine... I swear, it was because your fever was too high. I was anxious and terrified-you were burning up—that I made a mistake in my panic..."


    Though she rushed to defend herself, she stopped cold when she met his eyes... His cold, mocking gaze, devoid of any emotion, made her realize how flimsy, hollow, and unconvincing her excuses sounded.


    She instinctively took a step forward, reaching out to hug him.


    However, he stepped back to avoid her, pulling Anneliese with him. The small distance created by that single step felt like an invisible chasm to Elizabeth—one that made it impossible for her to ever get close to him again, leaving only estrangement between them.


    Tears filled her eyes. "I never meant to destroy your happiness. Please believe me, Jonathan. I was simply afraid you might be deceived by the wrong woman. After all, I know just how much I owe you.


    "That''s precisely why I want more than anything for you to be happy. I''m your mother, Jonathan. How could I not care? I just wanted the best for you..."


    His lips twitched at those words, curving into a thin smirk. "What about the time in Baytree, when you abandoned me in the fire and fled for your own life? Was that you ''wanting the best'' for me too?"


    Her gaze flickered at his question. She flinched and subconsciously looked away— an obvious sign of guilt.


    But she couldn''t back down now, not in this situation.


    She quickly gathered herself and looked him in the eyes again.


    "Jonathan... I''d been drinking that night when the fire broke out. You know that wasn''t clear-headed


    then. The fire was raging beyond et


    controbby the time I came to my senses. My first thought was to un outside to find you, but the door and the entire corridor were in mes by then.


    "I tried over and over... but I couldn''t get through the mes. Then, I thought about climbing into your room through the window..."


    "Enough!" He suddenly interrupted her frantic exnation, his voice cold and hard.


    Her eyes reddened, startled by the frosty indifference and sharp scorn in his gaze. "Jonathan, please..." She subconsciously stepped forward and grabbed his arm. "Believe me..."


    Lifting his hand, he slowly pulled his arm from her grasp.


    Anneliese could sense the grief and sorrow emanating from Jonathan, hidden beneath his ruthless mockery. Instinctively, she tightened her grip on his hand. Her gaze was fixed on him alone, worry in in her eyes.


    He sensed her concern, the tension


    in his arm and shoulders easing slightly in response, yet his mocking gaze never left his mother''s now? face, even as his


    visibly panicked


    Voice settled into a calm, distant


    coolness.