Chapter 9
He stood there, stunned, his hand pressed against his cheek, eyes wide with disbelief. “W“You should’ve been honest with her from the very start,” Ryan muttered, his voice heavy with exhaustion. “It would’ve saved us all the trouble.“
“What? Now you’re blaming me?” Lucas snapped, his tone sharp and accusatory. “Everything that’s happened -the mess we’re in–it’s all because of you. If you had just married Maddie instead of Elise in the first place, none of this would’ve been necessary!”
His voice trembled with bitterness. “So, if anyone’s at fault, it’s you.”
Ryan’s expression twisted in disbelief and anger. “Your mother raised you, all these years. And not once did you show an ounce of gratitude–now you’re pointing fingers at me?”
“She might not be as glamorous as Maddie, but she’s still your mother!”
For a fleeting moment, Lucas’s face flickered with something resembling guilt–but it was gone in an
instant, replaced by a sneer. His words came out cold and unfeeling.
“She’s not my real mom.”
The room seemed to freeze. Ryan stood there, rooted to the spot, as though the words had struck him like a physical blow. His mouth opened, as if to argue, but then he hesitated.
He had to ask himself had Lucas known all along?
And the truth was… yes.
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Lucas wasn’t pretending anymore. “You don’t need to hide it. Dad,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion. “I’ve known for a long time.”
He folded his arms, his words now sharp and cutting. “I pieced it all together two nights ago. I was passing by your room and overheard everything you said to Maddie.”
He took a step forward, his gaze hard and accusing.
“I get it now. You two have always been in love. You had me, and yet you’re still stuck living with Elise like everything’s normal? Like this happy family act is still working?”
His words became more venomous with each passing second.
“She’s embarrassing, Dad. She’s clueless when it comes to talking to anyone. She dresses like a servant, and she always smells like she’s been cleaning the house.”
“If you’re feeling guilty for leaving her behind, fine. Let her stay at home, do whatever she does. But she doesn’t need to be your wife. And she sure as hell doesn’t deserve to be called Mrs. Caldwell.”
Ryan’s jaw clenched at the onslaught, but Lucas wasn’t finished.
“You’ve turned my real mom–the woman who’s always been there for me–into the ‘other woman.‘ I can’t even get Clara to call her ‘Mom‘ without practically begging!”
It was all too specific to be a lie. Lucas had known. All these years, he’d known the truth.
Ryan’s color drained from his face. He swayed slightly, his hand gripping the back of the chair as if he might collapse.
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“Dad?” Lucas’s voice softened, a trace of concern in it now. “Are you alright?”
“What? Is it because of what I said?” Lucas pressed,
feigning innocence. “Come on, it’s not like you still care about Elise.”
When Ryan didn’t respond, Lucas shrugged, his next words dripping with indifference.
“She’s practically invisible in this family. What does it matter?”
That was the breaking point.
In a flash of fury, Ryan’s hand shot out and landed with a loud crack across Lucas’s cheek.
Ryan’s voice trembled–not from weakness, but from rage. “How dare you–how dare you speak of her like that?!”
“She is your mother!”
Lucas stood stunned, never having imagined his father would hit him.
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hat is wrong with you?!”
“You’re the one who said Elise never contributed a penny in this house. That she didn’t do anything but clean like some maid–wasn’t that exactly what you said? And now you’re hitting me because of her? You’re the one who dismissed her efforts. You called her no better than a maid.”
He let out a bitter laugh, a hollow sound. “All she ever did was look after me a little. You, though, you were the one providing for her. I’m not even her biological child–so why should I sugarcoat it?”
Ryan, gazing into his son’s furious eyes, seemed to age by decades in that moment. His voice trembled, struggling for words.
“I was angry… I didn’t mean it that way. Sure, your mom… she didn’t have much of a career. She cleaned and cooked, and that was it. But she raised you. Have you forgotten what she did for you? She’s not your real mother, I made a mistake when I was younger, but you came from her! She carried you, gave birth to you!”
Ryan’s voice wavered, almost pleading. He could never have imagined defending me in front of our son like this. His throat tightened with emotion.
He never expected he’d have to sit Lucas down and explain how good I had been to him, to defend my role in his life.
Lucas had just gotten married. Soon, there would be countless moments when they’d need me–one of them would have to work, after all, once they had a baby.
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Madeline–so delicate, so helpless–was never going to help raise children. And hiring a nanny? Not a chance. They wouldn’t trust a stranger with that responsibility.
Ryan reasoned that if Lucas cut ties with me now, or worse, kicked me out, it would be the most foolish decision of his life.
The truth was, despite everything, Ryan still cared about me. We’d been together for a lifetime. Even if Madeline held a more significant place in his heart, I was still his wife, the one who had stood by him for all these years.
But Lucas couldn’t see that. He only saw his pride, his anger. To him, I wasn’t even human anymore–just a distant figure from the past. A woman who cooked his meals and folded his clothes.
Even a stranger might deserve more respect than I did.
When Ryan slapped him–slapped his own son–for me, it only intensified Lucas’s anger. With a sharp glare, he spat out his last words, then stormed off.
“Think whatever you want. But I’ll never accept her as my mother.”
Ryan felt the weight of those words crush him. He nearly collapsed under the weight of his own grief and rage. He had given everything to Lucas–everything–and this was the reward. But then, a thought crept in. Lucas was still young, immature. He would come around.
Even though he often claimed Madeline was his soulmate, deep down, Ryan knew that soulmates didn’t always make the best partners.
I was the one he would grow old with.
But now that Lucas knew everything, if he refused to
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support me in my later years, Ryan didn’t know what he’d do. That thought gnawed at him, the weight of it pressing down on him as he sighed again.
He’d have to talk some sense into Lucas later. Maybe get me to take on more housework, or watch the grandkids. Even if I wasn’t Lucas’s biological mother, I had raised him for decades. I didn’t deserve to be cast aside.
Still, Ryan–despite everything was determined to figure out how to make me yield. How to make me kneel and beg just so we could have a peaceful retirement.
Meanwhile, Lucas had already made up his mind.
He went straight to Madeline and bitterly declared, “Maddie, I know you’re my real mother now. Why don’t you just move in with us?”
And, as if to seal it, he added, “As for that woman, I’m kicking her out the moment I get home tomorrow.”
