Chapter 41
Who?
Holly
This cannot be happening.
This has to be a prank or something, because my parents cannot be standing in front of me right now.
My heart drops into my stomach. My chest tightens.
Of course they had to interrupt me telling my husband that I love him.
It’s like everything is getting in the way of our relationship, and I’m tired of it.
My mother’s high-pitched, sugary-sweet voice washes over me, sending a chill down my back. “Holly, sweetie, it’s so good to see you.”
I’ve always hated that voice—her fake society voice she uses to seem more elegant and polished. Too bad I know it’s fake. I’ve heard her screaming while drunk, spewing curse words like a sailor.
I fold my arms and turn to face them head-on. Mateo’s hand drops to my lower back, and I savor the peace just his simple touch brings. He’s grounding me in the storm that is about to break loose, and I couldn’t love him more right now if I tried.
“Mother. Father." I keep my tone even and calm, even though a hurricane rages inside me. "What are you doing here?”
Mother titters and waves her hand in the air. “Oh, Axel invited us. We’ve been such good friends, so when we told him we were in town, he said we should come.”
My eyebrows draw together. “Who is Axel?”
Mother titters again, the noise grating on my nerves.
“Oh, of course you probably know him as Rodney. We’ve called him Axel since your dad went to university with him.
Now he goes by Rodney in the professional field.
” She lets out a dramatic sigh, and it takes a herculean effort to hold in my eye roll.
Mother flips her hair before resuming talking, and the movement sends a wave of musky perfume over me.
“But you can never forget your friendships from college. That’s why Axel Rodney Miles is the person we trusted to watch over you when you stopped answering our phone calls.
He’s been keeping us updated and manipulating your clientele for us.
He’s so very kind, unlike our own son and daughter.
” Her words are laced with venom. Her eyes narrow at me as her facade drops.
I’m frozen, processing the atomic bomb worth of information she just casually threw out into my life.
Rodney is best friends with my father?
I look at my father, who’s sipping an amber liquid and not paying attention to the conversation.
My parents asked Rodney to look after me.
They asked Rodney to be my mentor, and he’s been a part of my life because of them.
My parents have been spying, meddling, and manipulating me through Rodney.
My hands shake and my knees wobble like they’re Jell-o.
An arm wraps around my waist, and I’m pulled back into Mateo’s chest. His warmth soaks into my back, thawing my shocked body and calming the anxiety racing through me.
I lean on his strength as my professional world collapses into my personal life.
I had tried to keep myself distant from my parents.
Turns out they never left me alone.
My throat hitches. I hold back tears even as my eyes burn. “Why?”
Mother takes a sip from her champagne glass.
“When your brother decided to be independent and take charge of his own career, we didn’t think anything of it.
It wouldn’t hurt for him to take care of you while we traveled and networked.
Why do you think it was so easy for him to get custody of you when he turned eighteen? ”
She laughs as if that decision hadn’t been traumatizing for a young teenage girl.
“When you turned eighteen, we realized we might have made a mistake. You didn’t listen to us anymore.
” She rolls her eyes before smirking. “We asked Axel to pose as your mentor so we could feed him ideas and suggestions to help you grow in your field. Saying we’re connected to you, one of the best public relations reps out there, opened doors for us.
We’ve been invested in your career ever since. ”
I want to vomit right here on this granite floor all over my mother’s eight-hundred-dollar suede shoes.
Rodney’s betrayal is like a poison, knowledge forced down my throat and paralyzing me with its implications.
Mother continues talking and sipping her champagne, as if she hasn’t just shattered my reality.
“When Alex made it big in that dumb soccer movie, we noticed you started getting more attention. We’ve been picking out men you should marry and having Rodney set you up with them.
Too bad you ruined it all by marrying this hillbilly.
He does nothing for you, Holly. Divorce him and marry one of the men we’ve chosen.
Jorge was my favorite choice, wasn’t he, darling husband? ”
My father tunes back in only to grunt a response before my mother’s viper smile returns.
I’m a volcano, rumbling and prepared to spew every ounce of hurt and pain this woman has ever inflicted upon me right back on her. To think she was the one who set me up with Jorge fills my mouth with bile.
“Holly,” Mateo whispers in my ear, his voice filled with love and care.
I melt into him as his arms tighten around my waist. I focus on his touch, grounding myself in this embrace.
I block everything out as I focus on my heart and my God who will guide me through everything.
I force my anger down, and only then do I hear a whisper and a deep feeling of love.
Forgive.
My mind protests even as my heart calms.
Forgive as I have forgiven.
It’s as if cold water washes over me, cooling the heat of my rage. I look at my mother and see her for who she is. A woman who doesn’t know how to be a mother. A woman who craves riches more than relationships.
She is someone I don’t know and don’t want to become.
I made the right decision cutting her out of my life.
I tap on Mateo's arms around my waist and he loosens his hold. I take a step forward and square my shoulders. “Mother, I forgive you. I forgive you for not knowing how to be a mother, or a decent human being. I don’t understand you. I don’t understand how you could be this way, but I forgive you anyway.
That being said, I never want to see you again.
Stay away from me and my life. Goodbye.”
Mother’s mouth closes, and her eyes widen. I nod at my father. Mateo grabs my hand, looping my arm through his, and leads me down the hallway back toward the ballroom.
“You okay, Holly?”
I muster a smile. “I will be. I need to talk to Rodney, and then we’re leaving.”
He nods, his lips thin, and there’s a tightness around his eyes. “Okay, I’ll find him.”
My heart pounds as he scours the crowd. Adrenaline fuels me as I rehearse the words I need to say to the man who’s been manipulating me for six years.