Chapter 110 The Word ‘Sorry’

Chapter 110 The Word ‘Sorry’
Jaxon’s POV:

After securing a follow-up appointment with a few of the primary investors, Caleb and I walked out of the auditorium. I pulled out my phone to send a message to Elizabeth, but my fingers halted over the screen when I spotted my mother standing near the entrance. I glanced around the immediately surrounding area, but Elizabeth was nowhere to be found.
“Sir, I’ll head back to the office first if you don't mind. Do you need me for anything else?” Caleb asked, slipping his phone into his suit pocket. Today, he had done a flawless job with the Voltex presentation. I knew many people might not agree with the ruthless tactical move I pulled this afternoon, but Talon was being stubborn and hard-headed. He needed to learn his lesson the hard way.
“Did Asherkine respond to the email?” I questioned, even though I already knew the answer. I never regretted my calculated business moves, but lately, I found myself regretting my partnership with Ash. He took things entirely too personally, and mixing personal relationships with business had never yielded good results.
“He did.”
I raised a brow. “What did the email say?”
Caleb chuckled under his breath before pulling out his iPad. He scrolled for a brief second before turning the screen to face me. I smacked my lips in pure annoyance at the response. This was exactly why mixing personal and business was an absolute disaster.
Imagine sending a business partner a formal inquiry through the official company email, only for his response to be: 'Grow up.' I was fucking grown.
“Later,” I muttered, brushing past Caleb and walking over to my mother, who was standing idly by the doors. The moment I drew near, a wide smile curved onto her lips.
“Jax...”
“Where is Elizabeth?” I demanded. She was supposed to be doing just one thing right now—resting. Instead, Elizabeth was doing absolutely everything but resting.
“Uhm… she left with Ash,” my mother replied. My jaw clenched tight at the words. I didn't want her out running around with some friend, and certainly not with Ash, but of course, she never listened.
She was going to have to learn to listen to me.
I turned back and saw Caleb approaching his vehicle. “Caleb will drop you off,” I told her. My father would chew my ears off if I left his wife stranded at the auditorium, and I was far too stressed out to listen to him rant.
“I’ll ride with you,” she insisted, turning instead toward my car. I let out a sharp sigh but didn't bother trying to tell her no, knowing she had already set her mind on it.
I walked over to the driver's side and pulled open the door. She climbed into the passenger seat before I shifted into gear and drove out of the parking lot. I slipped my Bluetooth earpiece in and dialed Elizabeth’s number, waiting a few beats until it connected.
“Hey,” her voice came through.
“Hey… really?” I scoffed. The situation with Elizabeth was supposed to be simple. We were married, and I was absolutely crazy about her, but she was constantly putting the thoughts and needs of everyone else before me.
I could tell she felt something real for me, but she still hadn't fully decided if it was love or just infatuation. Because of that hesitation, I couldn't bring myself to do the things to her that I wished I could; I wanted her close to me at all times, but I feared that if I held on too tightly, I might break her.
“Uhm… do you need something?” As expected, her tone was cold. She was clearly upset about the move I’d just pulled on Talon—on her dear Talon.
“You. Send me your location.”
“Jaxon, I—”
“Now,” I interrupted with a deep frown. She let out a soft sigh on the other end and agreed before I ended the call. I kept my eyes on the road, driving toward the Sinclair mansion to drop my mother off.
“You love her, right?” my mother asked quietly. I tilted my head slightly to look at her, having almost forgotten she was even sitting in the passenger seat. “I’m really excited that you two are finally finding your way to each other. Beth is so lovely and—”
“She is not a therapist,” I blurted out, abruptly parking the car by the side of the road. If she wanted to have this conversation, then I was going to give it to her straight. “What exactly do you think you’re doing, trying to use her?”
“I...” she stuttered, but I didn't care to hear her explanations.
“Elizabeth will do absolutely anything for you, but you use her kindness all the time, and I don’t appreciate that. If you need something from me, then come to me directly and stop going through her.”
A single tear rolled down her cheek, and I quickly looked away toward the window. I didn't want to see her tears because, as strained and damaged as our relationship was, she was still my mother and I hated seeing her cry.
“You don’t pick up my calls, Jaxon. You won’t talk to me unless you’re talking to Beth. She is the only reason I am even sitting in this car with you right now… so forgive me if I am being a desperate mother.”
“If you use her one more time, you will answer to me.” I restarted the car and pulled back onto the road, impatient to drop her off so I could go pick up my wife. Right now, Elizabeth was the only person I needed.
“What do you want me to do, Jax? Will you ever forgive me one day? I would do anything.”
I let out a bitter chuckle. “You should have tried using the word ‘sorry’,” I answered bluntly. That was all I had ever needed from her and her husband—the simple word sorry. But for years, they had never uttered those words to me. Instead, they tried to mend our fractured relationship by buying me expensive gifts when I was a child.
While I was growing up, if my grandfather or grandmother wouldn't get me something because they felt I wasn't of age, my mother was willing to hand it over with a single phone call. It wasn't because she lacked strictness, but because she foolishly believed she could buy my forgiveness with material things.
The exact same way she had used Ash to get to me back when I was in school was the exact same way she was trying to use Elizabeth now. Meanwhile, all I ever wanted was a genuine apology from them. But it was already too late for that, and I was left holding this heavy burden forever.