Chapter 60 CHAPTER 60
Stones and Shadows
The sky was a pale, washed out blue when Tessa decided she and Ayisha needed to go shopping. She told herself it was necessary—groceries, household supplies, things for the kids’ new rooms. But deep down, she knew it was more than that.
She wanted to be seen.
For years, she had been painted as the absent mother, the woman who had abandoned her children to Ares and Chloe. Now, she was the one who had fought, clawed, and “won” them back. She believed she deserved acknowledgment. Respect. Even sympathy.
But the world was not ready to give her that.
The trip started normally enough. The mall’s polished floors gleamed beneath the fluorescent lights, the cool blast of air conditioning carrying the faint scent of expensive perfume and roasted coffee beans. Shoppers buzzed around, carts rolling, children tugging at their mothers’ hands.
Ayisha trailed beside Tessa, her expression unreadable, pushing the shopping cart half heartedly. She had been quieter than usual since the verdict.
“Look,” Tessa whispered, nudging her arm, “they’re staring. They know who I am. The real who I am.”
Ayisha’s eyes flicked to a group of young women standing near the cosmetics section, phones clutched tightly, eyes locked on them. The women didn’t smile, didn’t whisper in admiration. Their mouths twisted into something else…disgust.
One of them muttered loud enough for Tessa to hear. “That’s her. The snake that stole the kids.”
Ayisha’s grip on the cart tightened. “Tessa, let’s just finish up and leave.”
But Tessa refused to be rattled. She lifted her chin and kept moving, selecting bread, fruit, cartons of milk, all while ignoring the glares drilling holes into her back.
Until the first egg flew.
It came out of nowhere, smashing against her shoulder with a sickening splat. Yellow yolk and sticky white oozed down her blouse.
For a second, the world froze. Gasps rippled through the aisle. Tessa stood rigid, staring down at the mess staining her clothes. Then another egg hit her, this time on the side of her head. The goo trickled into her hair.
The group of women laughed, their phones raised to record.
“Go back to where you came from!” someone shouted from across the aisle.
“You ruined those kids’ lives!” another voice rang out.
“Justice for Ares!”
The air filled with chaos. More eggs. A half empty soda can hurled in their direction. Someone flung a handful of flour that burst into a powdery cloud around them.
Tessa screamed, ducking as Ayisha grabbed her arm. “Run!”
They bolted, abandoning the cart. The crowd followed, insults hurled like stones, phones capturing every second. Tessa stumbled, slipping on the yolk splattered across the floor, but Ayisha yanked her up, dragging her toward the exit.
By the time they burst through the sliding glass doors into the parking lot, their clothes were ruined, their hair sticky, their dignity shredded. The cameras followed them still, flashing, recording.
“Back to Ares you witch!”
“Those kids don’t want you!”
“Shame!”
Eggs splattered against their car as they scrambled inside. Ayisha slammed the doors shut, fumbling with the keys. The windshield smeared with yolk and streaks of ketchup someone had thrown.
Tessa’s chest heaved, her hands trembling as she wiped at her face. “Did you see that? They attacked me! Like I’m a criminal!”
Ayisha gritted her teeth, reversing fast and swerving out of the lot while the mob jeered and cursed behind them.
The drive home was suffocating. Tessa stared out the window, her reflection in the glass streaked with egg yolk. Her phone buzzed in her lap, notification after notification piling in. She finally swiped it open and her heart dropped.
Her follower count was plummeting in real time. Tens of thousands gone within hours. Comment sections flooded with venom.
@TessaMonroe unfit mother. Give those kids back.
Rot in hell, witch. #JusticeForAres
Imagine tearing kids from the one parent they knew. Disgusting.
Video clips of the mall attack were already trending. Her humiliation was viral.
Tessa scrolled faster, her breathing ragged. Messages entered her inbox. Some insults, some death threats.
You’ll pay for this.
Hope you can sleep at night knowing you destroyed your children.
Better watch your back.
Ayisha noticed her trembling. “Tessa. Put the phone down.”
But Tessa clutched it tighter, her knuckles pale. “No. No, they need to hear me. They need to know my side. I’ll post a video, I’ll…”
“Tessa, stop,” Ayisha cut in sharply. “This isn’t helping. They don’t want your side. Not right now.”
Tessa’s chest rose and fell in ragged bursts. She felt trapped, suffocating.
When they pulled up to the house, the nightmare wasn’t over.
A crowd had gathered outside the gates—neighbors, strangers, reporters, angry protesters. They held cardboard signs scrawled with hateful words: Give the kids back! Rot in jail with Chloe! Fake mother, fake love!
Someone hurled a stone that clanged against the gate. Another tossed a tomato that burst across the pavement.
Tessa froze in the car, her stomach sinking. “Oh my God… oh my God, they’re here too?”
Ayisha’s jaw clenched as she honked the horn, signaling the guard to open the gates. The guard hesitated, struggling against the sea of bodies pressing forward, but eventually managed to create a narrow opening.
The car crept forward, jeers and curses echoing against the metal. Another egg splattered across the rear windshield before the gates clanged shut behind them.
Inside the compound, silence fell. Artificial silence. The kind that comes after chaos, leaving ringing in your ears.
Tessa stumbled out of the car, her legs weak. She barely made it to the front door before collapsing against it, tears spilling down her face.
“This isn’t fair,” she sobbed, her voice hoarse. “I’m their mother. I fought for them. I did everything right. Why does everyone hate me now?”
Ayisha shut the door firmly behind them, locking it twice. She leaned against it, her arms crossed, watching Tessa sink to the floor.
Tessa curled on the living room rug, her hair still sticky from egg, her phone slipping from her trembling hands. She buried her face in her palms, crying until her shoulders shook violently.
The room was dark except for the glow of her discarded phone still buzzing with notifications—more unfollows, more threats, more hate.
Finally, Ayisha spoke. Her voice was calm, but sharp enough to cut through Tessa’s sobs.
“You brought this on yourself.”
Tessa’s head snapped up, eyes red and swollen. “What?”
Ayisha’s gaze didn’t waver. “You wanted this fight. You wanted the glory of winning. But you didn’t think about the kids. Or the world. Or how people would see it. You made this mess, Tessa. I had a better way we could go about this.”
Tessa’s lips parted, but no words came. She slumped forward again, her tears staining the rug.