Chapter 53 Chapter 53
Hailey’s POV
I felt my face flush with humiliation, but before I could respond, my mother stepped directly into Isabella’s path.
“Excuse me?” Barbara said, her voice cold and clear. “What did you just call my daughter?”
Isabella raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “I believe you heard me.”
“Then let me be equally clear,” my mother said, standing straighter despite being several inches shorter than Isabella. “My daughter is no gold digger. She didn’t ask for any of this, didn’t plan to get pregnant, and certainly didn’t scheme her way into your son’s life. So before you make accusations about someone you don’t know, perhaps you should examine your own family’s role in this situation.”
For a moment, Isabella just stared at my mother, surprise flickering across her usually composed features.
Then something that might have been respect, or at least intrigue, crossed her face.
“Feisty,” Isabella murmured. “I can see where your daughter gets it from.”
With that, she turned and walked out, leaving us in stunned silence.
“Mom,” I said quietly, touching her arm. “Let’s go somewhere private. You need to rest. And explain what you’re doing here.”
She nodded, and I led her away from the dining room, past the guards who watched us with curiosity, down the hallway to one of the guest rooms.
The moment the door closed behind us, I turned to her. “How did you find this place? How did you even know where I was?”
“I have my ways,” she said, sinking onto the edge of the bed with a wince. Now that we were alone, I could see she was more injured than she’d let on. There were bruises on her arms, and she was favoring her left side.
“Mom, you’re hurt,” I said, moving closer. “What happened?”
“The guards didn’t go easy on me when I tried to get in,” she said with a weak smile. “But I’ve had worse.”
“Why would you fight your way in here?” I asked, sitting beside her. “You could have just called me. I would have explained where I was.”
“Your phone was off,” she said. “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. And after our last conversation, after you hung up on me…” She trailed off, her eyes filling with tears. “I got scared, Hailey. Really scared. So I did some digging, found out where Damien Alejandro lives, and came here to get you.”
“To get me?” I repeated slowly.
“Yes,” she said, grabbing my hands urgently. “To bring you home. Away from all this.”
“Mom, I already told you, I can’t…..”
“No, you don’t understand,” she interrupted, her voice rising with panic. She glanced around the room as if checking for listening devices, then lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. “We need to leave. Now. While I’m here. This is our chance.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, confusion and worry flooding through me.
“Is that the only reason you came?” I pressed. “Just to try to convince me to leave again?”
My mother’s face went pale, and she gripped my hands tighter, hard enough to hurt.
“You’ll die if you don’t listen to me,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Die?” I repeated, the word hanging in the air between us like a threat. “What do you mean I’ll die?”
My mother’s face crumpled, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I can’t lose you,” she sobbed. “I already lost your father. You’re my only daughter, Hailey. My only child. I can’t watch you get killed too.”
“I’m not going to get killed,” I said, though the conviction in my voice was shaky at best. “Damien will protect me. He’s already doubled security, he’s handling the threats….”
“He couldn’t even protect his first wife,” Barbara interrupted sharply. “And you believe he can protect you?”
The words hit like a slap, and I felt my breath catch.
“How do you know about Elena?” I asked slowly, a cold feeling spreading through my chest.
My mother went silent, her eyes dropping to her hands.
“Mom,” I pressed, moving closer. “How do you know about Damien’s first wife?”
She didn’t answer, just kept staring at her hands like they held the secrets of the universe.
“Did Dad know her?” I asked, my voice rising. “Did my father have some kind of relationship with Elena Alejandro?”
Still nothing. Just that damning silence that confirmed everything I was afraid to know.
“Answer me!” I shouted, frustration and fear boiling over. “You come here, you tell me I’m going to die, you seem to know all about Elena, and now you won’t explain anything? How is that fair?”
“Hailey…..”
“No,” I interrupted, standing up and backing away from her. “You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to show up, terrify me, hint at things you know, and then refuse to explain. Either tell me the truth right now, all of it, or leave.”
“It’s not that simple,” she said desperately. “The answers aren’t easy, and knowing them might put you in even more danger.”
“I’m already in danger!” I shouted. “People are trying to kill me! Someone leaked my medical records! I’ve been shot at, threatened, stalked! How much worse can it possibly get?”
“You don’t understand…..”
“Then make me understand!” I demanded.
But she just sat there, shaking her head, tears still falling.
“Fine,” I said, my voice breaking. “If you’re not going to tell me anything, if you’re going to treat me like a child who can’t handle the truth, then you can leave. Without me.”
“Hailey, please…”
But I was already walking toward the door, my hands shaking with anger and hurt and betrayal.
“Wait,” she called after me, but I didn’t stop.
I yanked open the door and nearly collided with someone standing in the hallway.
Benita.
“Oh thank God,” I breathed, pulling her into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here. My mother just showed up and she’s being completely impossible and…..”
I pulled back and finally looked at her face.
Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks streaked with tears. She looked devastated.
“Benita?” I said, my anger at my mother immediately forgotten. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“I came to see you,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “I needed my best friend.”
“Come on,” I said, guiding her down the hallway away. “Let’s go somewhere private.”
We made it to my room, and I closed the door behind us, then pulled Benita over to sit on the bed.
“Talk to me,” I said gently. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Marco,” she said, fresh tears spilling over. “We had a fight. A bad one.”
“About what?”
“I asked him to quit,” she admitted, wiping at her eyes. “I asked him to leave Damien’s organization, to find a normal job, so we could have a quiet life together. Away from all this violence and danger.”
My heart sank, because I understood exactly what she was feeling.
“And what did he say?” I asked quietly.
“He said he couldn’t,” Benita said, her voice breaking. “He said this is his life, his family, and he can’t just walk away. He said I knew what I was getting into when we started dating.”
“But you didn’t,” I said softly. “Not really. Neither of us did.”
“I love him, Hailey,” she sobbed. “But I’m so scared all the time. Scared he’s going to get killed. Scared I’m going to get killed because of his connections. I can’t live like this.”