“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. Excuse me, I have to go.”

“I’m still proud of all you have done, son.” I nod, walking away, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. It’s nearly time for me to give my generic speech, and I do with little to no zeal as I would normally have. Something in me has lost the angry way I’ve approached my world that has driven me to succeed.

I head home to my penthouse, feeling empty. I’m going to see my mother first thing in the morning whether she likes it or not.

I toss and turn all night thinking about the years since we left the house in Wisconsin. I remember feeling so angry and lost. My mother kept me in line and one day introduced me to a new man that I’d never met before, although I felt like we had a resemblance. Two years later, I learned he was my birth father. We never had a bond, but in his will, he left so much to me it made no sense. I’ve chalked it up to none of my life being normal.

When the sun’s up, I rush over to my mother’s dressed in a suit, shaving having been all but forgotten. I didn’t have time for that. My head needed the answers that were burning in my heart.

I speed through the streets of New York City and make my way to her condo. It's the best of the best, too much of my hard-earned money spent on it, but until yesterday, I felt like she'd kept me when I'd been abandoned, so that was the least I could do. I take the elevator up and bring out my key.

She's on her sixth husband, always looking for another meal ticket. She's the reason I stay away from women altogether. When I was younger, I might have completely understood what she did to Mr. Edwards, but as I grew and started liking girls, I found them always with another guy. I’d never made it to second base because they’d already moved on, cheated on me, and my mother was always there to stick by my side, reminding me that women are only out to ruin a man like me. I stayed away from them. When I thought about how she tricked my father into raising someone else’s kid, I realized even the woman I trusted was corrupt. No woman could be trusted. Now, if what Mr. Edwards—the man I once called my father—is telling me is the truth, I don’t know if I’ll ever trust a woman again.

As soon as I enter her house, I hear the telltale signs that she has snagged another sucker. I step back outside because I don’t want to hear my mother fucking, something I could have lived without all these years—forced to sit in the room next to hers while she faked orgasms to win her men. Another knock against women: fake orgasms. I shudder and want to pop my own eardrums. I wait another two minutes because I know the charade is over. Then I saunter in and see him. Pathetic. He’s my former step-uncle from stepdad number four. “Wow, vying for stepdaddy number six?”

“Nah. Keep your mouth shut.”

“Roman won’t say a thing. See you soon.” She kisses his cheek and pats his ass.

“Like a good Mama’s boy.”

“Get the fuck out of here before I bust your head. And she faked it, by the way. I got here a few minutes ago, but I gave you your privacy.”

“I didn’t fake it.”

“Who gives a fuck, boy? I got off. I don’t give two fucks if she does.” He winks and walks out.

“Mother, so charming. We need to talk.”

“What’s the matter, son? You seem a little grumpier than usual,” she says, pinching my cheek before walking over to her bar in the corner of her living room. The house is white on white with glass tables and shelves everywhere.

“I ran into Theodore Edwards last night.”

She gasps and stops in her tracks. “What?”

“Yes. Funny thing. He showed me this.” I pull out the copy of the restraining order I requested from the police department that was sent over to me first thing this morning. I had no idea that it existed, which is strange because it should have come up somehow, some way.

“He probably faked it. You can get anything off the internet these days.”

“Really? You mean like this copy I got from the police department here? You know, it’s funny that I’ve just seen this for the first time, and yet here is my signature. Well, a knockoff of my signature. Care to explain?”

“He’s crazy, and I was worried about you. He poisoned himself and tried to blame me. He tried to steal you away when we left.”

“Why would he want to do that, Mother?”

Tags: C.M. Steele Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net