Chapter 49 Adeline
Adeline's POV
I park in front of my mother's apartment building and stare up at her window. My hands are gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles are white.
"You don't have to do this," Percy had told me this morning, watching me dress for my confrontation with my mother. "We can just send her an invite and let her decide."
"I do have to," I told him. "I need to know why. I know there's more to it than this color speech she gave me. There's more than she's telling me."
I get out of the car, and I'm almost blinded by my ring as it catches the light. After some attempts to talk myself out of it, I ring her bell, and the door opens.
My mother stands there in a silk robe with a cup of tea in her hand. Even this early in the morning, her makeup is perfect, but her hair is slightly disheveled.
"Adeline," she says, her voice flat. She doesn't step aside to let me in. "To what do I owe the pleasure? Did you come to tell me you returned the ring?"
"Can I come in, Mom?"
She sighs dramatically before stepping back.
"I’m not returning the ring," I say, turning to face her. "I’m keeping it, and I’m marrying him."
She tightens the sash of her robe. "Then why are you here?"
"Because you walked out of my engagement dinner. Because you’ve been ignoring my calls for two weeks. Because I’m your daughter and I’m happy, and you look at me like I’ve committed a crime."
"You have," she snaps, walking into the living room. She sits on the sofa and curls her legs under her. "You’ve committed the crime of stupidity. I thought I raised you better. I thought I raised you to be independent."
"I am independent!" I argue, following her. "I’m a lawyer. I survived a hit-and-run. I survived Mason. I’m not some damsel, Mom. Percy doesn't want to save me because I'm not looking to be saved."
"He’s an Akilov," she spits the name like a curse. "Do you know what that name means, Adeline? It means you will always be the second most important thing in the room, right after the firm."
"That was your relationship," I counter. "That was you and Richard. Not me and Percy."
"It’s in the blood!" she shouts. "Richard was charming too, in the beginning. He bought me jewelry, and he promised me the world, and then he left me stranded. I lost myself, and now I have to watch you do the exact same thing?"
"It’s not the same thing," I say quietly. "Percy is different."
"Is he?" She laughs bitterly. "He bought you a bike, didn't he? He manages your medical care. He handled the Sienna situation. He’s already managing you, Adeline, and you’re letting him because you’re tired."
"I’m letting him because I trust him," I say, stepping closer. "Why does that make you so angry? Why can't you just be happy that I found someone who actually stays? Richard left. Dad left. Percy stayed."
She flinches and looks away. Her shoulders slump to reveal the real emotion she's feeling, and it's not anger.
"You think I’m angry because he’s controlling?" she whispers.
"Aren't you?"
"No," she admits, her voice trembling. She turns back to me, and her eyes are wet. "I’m angry because he’s an Akilov and he loves you."
I blink in confusion. "What?"
"Richard never looked at me the way Percy looks at you," she says, the words tearing out of her. "Richard looked at me like a trophy wife, but Percy? He looks at you like you're the air he needs to breathe. " She wipes a tear from her cheek furiously.
"What?"
"You know what I would have given for Richard to look at me like that. If he looked at me like that, I would have forgiven his cheating, but he doesn't, and for my daughter to wear his ring and his love. To watch you get the fairy tale I was promised is hard."
My own mother is jealous of me, and I don't know how to feel anything other than indignation.
"Mom," I breathe. "You’re jealous."
"I’m human," she snaps in defense. "It hurts, Adeline. It hurts to see you get the version of the life I wanted with the son of the man who broke me. Did you think about me at all? How could you do this to your own mother?"
"Why would I be thinking of you with my happiness when you never do the same for me? If my happiness doesn't make you happy, then you can't be a part of it."
For a second, I see a flicker of regret, but she blinks, and then it is gone.
"I can't watch it," she says coldly. "I can't sit in the front row and clap while you become Mrs. Akilov. It’s too much to ask of anyone."
"You're not anyone!" I shriek. "You're my mother!"
"Then you should listen to me when I tell you to run!" She yells back, and we both stare back at each other in shock. It's then that I realize that she's not going to change.
"I’m done running," I tell her. I turn around and walk to the door. "Goodbye, Mom." She doesn't call me back, and I don't look back either. I maintain my stance until I get back to my car.
The penthouse is quiet when I return. Percy is sitting on the sofa with a file open on his lap when I open the door. He looks up and immediately sees the defeat on my face.
"Adeline." He crosses the room in three strides and just pulls me into his arms.
I bury my face in his chest and inhale the scent of him. I would cry if I wasn't feeling so spent.
"She’s not coming," I whisper into his shirt. "She’s... she’s stuck, Percy, and she's refusing to be happy for me.
"I’m sorry," he says, his hand stroking my hair. "I know you wanted to fix it."
"I did, but I can't fix her. I can only fix me. She said I’m making a mistake, and I’m just doomed history waiting to happen."
"You know that’s not true," he says fiercely, cupping my face. "We are nothing like them."
"I know." I lean into his touch, closing my eyes. "I just... I don't want to be alone in this."
"You aren't alone," he promises. "You have me. You have Richard, and we have each other."
I nod and let him lead me to the sofa, but sitting here, surrounded by the sleek, modern furniture of Percy’s bachelor life and the view of his penthouse apartment, makes me feel like a guest.
"Are you okay, baby?"
"Yes," I lie, not having the words to express myself to him just here. "I will be fine."
Percy sits next to me and watches me for a long moment with a thoughtful expression before he takes my hand.
"Adeline," he says softly.
"Hmm?"
"Move in with me."
"I... I am here. My toothbrush is here, and my clothes are here. I sleep here every night."
"No," he corrects me gently. "I mean move in with me officially. Give up your lease and put your name on the deed."