<b>Chapter </b><b>105 </b>


    Elna’s POV


    “I got an email announced, the words feeling both momentous and terrifying as they let my lips.


    Mom looked up, her brow furrowing slightly. “About what?” she questioned. She set her spoon down on the side of her bowl, giving me her!


    me her full attention.


    “Remember the internship I applied for at Legacy Motors?” I said, watching her face carefully, searching for a flicker of recognition. Her eyes widened, genuine smile beginning to bloom. “You got it!?” she asked.


    I <b>nodded</b>, my lips pressed together as I tried to contain the mix of tion and apprehension swirling inside me. it’s paid. And it’s for six months” The words tumbled out.


    Without hesitation, Mom pushed back her chair, got up, and moved around the small table to embrace me, her arms wrapping around me in a familiar,forting hug, “Oh my God, Elena! That’s wonderful, honey, Congrattions” she eximed<b>, </b>her voice filled with genuine excitement.


    1 bit my lip, holding back a sigh, my heart hammering against my rits


    “But…“I finally said. I pulled back slightly from her embrace, looking into her eyes, bracing myself for her reaction.“‘s in Maxcester City.” The bombshell dropped. Mom’s arms tightened around me for a brief second, then she wentpletely still, her body stiffening in my grasp as she slowly pulled away, her initial joding into a more neutral, thoughtful expression.


    Thad expected a different reaction, perhaps sadness at the thought of me leaving, but her silence was somehow more unsettling


    Then, to my surprise, her hands came up to cup my face, her thumbs gently stroking my cheeks. “That’s still great, honey,” she said, her voice surprisingly bright, her eyes filled with <b>a </b>resolute optimism that caught me off guard. I swallowed, the lump in my throat <b>refusing </b>topletely dissolve


    “Ehave to move over there for a while if I decide to do the internship, “I nded, stating the obvious, needing her to understand the practical implications of this opportunity. Of course I couldmute six hours daily Mom chuckled, a soft, knowing sound.


    “Don’t tell me you’re worried about me?” she questioned, her lips curving into a teasing smile as she <b>walked </b>back to her chair and settled down, reaching for thedle to serve the soup into our bowls


    But I <b>nodded</b>, a quick, involuntary movement, then shook my head, the confusion sailing within me. I nodded again, unsure what I <b>was </b><b>even </b>doing


    She shook her head gently, a fond exasperation in her eyes. “Well, don’t be. This is good, actually, I’d been talking with Rosaline on the phonest week, and she’s going to being back into the country next week after her retirement in Portugal. <b>Since </b><b>Fiona </b><b>is </b><b>staying </b>in her dorm at the university, and Rose is going to be all alone in that big house, I was thinking of inviting her to <b>live </b>with me.” Her words washed over me, <b>a </b>sudden wave of relief so profound it almost buckled my knees. My heart, which had been clenched right with worry, seemed to unclench, a weight lifting from my chest


    “That’s great, Mom, I breathed, a genuine smile finally breaking through my apprehension “it’s been song since Aunt Rose came to visit….and” i <b>sighed</b>, the implications of this new arrangement sinking in. This meant Mom would’t be all alone while I was away. The image of the two of them, catching up after years apart, filled me with a sense of peace.


    That was such a huge burden off my shoulders.


    Then she added, her eyes sparkling with a <b>mischievous </b>glint, “Yeah…so you should definitely go. Do that internship and impress the boss so well that she ends up hiring you permanently” She winked. That brought <b>a </b>small smile to my own lips, and huffed. “There is a very low chance of that happening. Mom,” I said, the pragmatist in me surfacing And it was true. The eptance rate of the internship was minusculi nament job felt like an even


    more distant dream


    “You got the internship, right?” she countered, raising a questioning eyebrow as I blew gently at the steaming soup in my bowl before taking a tentative sip.


    “That was different…I trailed off


    She tutted “Just try your best, darling I know you’re capable. We all do. If they don’t hire you after six months, then it’s their loss.” She shrugged, casually dismissing any potential negative <b>oue</b>, and I smiled, a genuine, heartfelt curve <b>of </b>my lips this time. Her unwavering belief in me was a


    constant source of strength. It had always been.


    I <b>loved </b>my mom. More than words could say


    “Also she added, her tone shitting to something more serious, her eyes meeting mine across the table, “uiner you n on doing the internship, then you should probably get the abortion done soon, before you leave.” The words instantly turned thefortable atmosphere icy, I diffened, the soup I had just swallowed catching in my throat, going down the wrong way.


    A violent coughing lit seized me, my body wracking with the force of it. My face flushed, turning hot and red, and a sharp pain stabbed through my abdomen, it felt like an eternity before I could finally gasp for air, the coughing subsiding into painful hups.


    Mom, her face etched with concern, quickly handed me a ss of water, her hand patting my <b>back </b>gently.


    “Look at you…so worried,” she sighed. I shook my head, trying to regain myposure, my throat still burning, “it’s alright, Mom. I’m okay,” I managed to say, my <b>voice </b>raspy, and swallowed another sip of water


    “Actually,”1began, my heart pounding in my ears, a nervous Butter in my stomach, “I wanted to talk to you about that.“I met her gaze, my own eyes filled with a mixture of fear and determination. She paused, her hand hovering over her soup bowl


    “About what?” she said, her voice carefully neutral, but I <b>could </b>sense the tension radiating from her.


    I took a deep breath, the air catching slightly in my lungs, and just went out with it, the words tumbling out in a rush before could second guess myself. “I’ve thought about it…a lot…and (ve decided not to get an abortion”


    I waited for her reaction, my gaze fixed on her <b>face</b><b>, </b>bracing myself for the storm knew wasing. Her initial expression was one of stunned disbel her eyes wide and unblinking. Then, slowly, a frown creased her forehead, and she shook her head, a gesture of clear disagreement. “But you said that neither of you wanted kids,” she finally said, her voice low and incredulous, her eyes searching mine for an exnation.


    I pursed my lips. “Well, I’ve changed my mind.” Mom seemed to physically dete at my simple, yet resolute statement. She slowly set her spoon down on the table, the clink echoing in the <b>sudden </b>silence. “Elena.. <b>having </b>a child is a <b>huge </b><b>responsibility</b>, and did you even consult with the father of this child?” she questioned, her voiceced with concem, a hint of disapproval underlying her words.


    I took another <b>doop </b>breath, trying to quell the rising tide of anxiety. “I know <b>it’s </b><b>a </b>huge responsibility, Mom. And I’m willing to take it. As for Nik…I will tell him when the timees.” The words felt inadequate, a flimsy shield against the barrage of questions I knew she had.


    Mom seemed utterly baffled by my response, her eyebrows shooting up in disbelief. “When the timees? Elena, do you even have any idea what you’re saying? Tell him when the timees? What time? When you’re delivering the baby?!” Her voice rose an octave higher. A sharp cough escaped her lips, a sign of her rising agitation


    I moved instinctively to pour her <b>a </b>ss of water, but she waved her hand dismissively, her eyes still fixed on me, demanding an exnation. “Answe me, Elena. How do you n on taking on this responsibility with nothing but an internship? A six–month internship at that you aren’t even guaranteed a job afterwards.” Her words hit home, each one a sharp jab, and I bit my lip, my heart thumping erfatically against my ribs.


    “Mom, 11 handle it, okay? I insisted, my voiceced with a confidence I didn’t entirely felt have a decent amount saved up from the past few years, and the internship pays 59500 per month. That’s more than enough to get by for the next several months, even if I don’tnd a job immediately after. Then, I figure things out. I get a job once the baby turns six months old, and I find a good nursery while I work” answered,ying <b>out </b>my hastily constructed, somewhat shaky n She looked at me, her arms crossed over her chest, waiting for me to continue, her skepticism radiating across the


    small table.


    <b>So </b>I did, my voice dropping slightly as I confessed the real reason behind my hesitation in telling Niki. “As for Niki..I don’t want him to think i baby- trapped him, <b>okay</b>?” The fear of his potential reaction, the possibility of him feeling obligated or resentful, was


    “Yeah, but it’s his child too, Elena Mom countered, her voice firm.


    “He doesn’t want a child!” I blurted out, the exasperation finally <b>bubbling </b>to the surface,


    He’d made it clear on multiple asions when <b>he’d </b>asked about birth–control.


    Mom didn’t know. She didn’t understand.


    my wright in my heart.


    This was never a real marriage for him. I was just contract.