Chapter 73 Chapter 73
Mrs David Pov
The cold had settled in. It wasn’t just in the wind outside or in the pale afternoon light slipping through the blinds, it was in my bones. In the quiet that had hung in this house lately like an extra layer of frost.
I wrapped my shawl tighter around me and went into the kitchen. The tiles were biting into my heels, and I moved slowly, rubbing my hands together to warm them.
What I needed was coffee. Cappuccino, specifically.
Something creamy and warm, like friendship in a cup.
The kettle whirred into action as I picked out my favorite mug, the one Cam had crafted on Mother's Day three years previously, with its drippy swirls and pink heart bearing my name just legibly in the center. I smiled every time I used it.
The sachet tore open easily, and I poured it into the mug as steam erupted behind me. Just then, I heard the clicking of heels from behind, slowly approaching me. She did not usually walk that slowly.
Liana entered the kitchen wearing a lightweight coat over her slacks, her hands rubbing tiredly at her temple. Her hair was pulled back, but several strands had escaped. Her lipstick was all but gone and her eyes appeared shadowed, with dark circles under them.
"You're up," she said indistinctly.
"It's nearly four, darling." I stirred my coffee gently. "You just think I should always be in bed but in the real sense you should, because you haven't been sleeping."
She smiled tiredly and reached toward one of the mugs. I handed it to her before she needed to ask.
"You've got dark circles under your eyes," I said, not accusatorily but just as an observation even though deep down I was actually accusing her.
She laughed in a breathy way. "It is that obvious?"
"To me, yeah. What's going on?"
"It is just work." She exhaled, curling her fingers around the cup. "Trying to get Smith Group back on track, and still handling Z-core and it's many demands, and investors are breathing down my neck. It's like I'm juggling fire with one hand and ice with the other."
I nodded, resting against the counter beside her. "You need to slow down. You're not a machine."
Her smile fell but it didn't stop me from going on. "Speaking of slowing down. I haven't seen Stanley around in a while. What's going on? Slowing things down?"
Her fingers tightened on her cup that was now in her hands. She took a sip before she answered. "Nothing."
I tilted my head. "Liana." She sighed deep, her eyes fixed on the floor tiles. "Don't lie to me," I said gently.
She looked up then. Her face was soft and she looked defeated and tired.
"There's something I didn't tell you. About Stanley."
I perked up straight suddenly curious. "What is it?"
She hesitated for a moment. "He's... Stanly is Dominic's half-brother."
I froze for a moment, I thought I hadn't heard right. "Excuse me?"
She let out a small mirthless laugh. "Yeah. That was my exact reaction. I didn't believe it either when he told me. But it's true. He's Dominic's brother. Half-brother. Same father."
I stared at her. "How is that possible?"
"It's a long story. Complicated and very ugly." Her voice cracked a little and I stretched out my palm, rubbing it against her palm in a comforting way. "But yes, he is. And it changes a lot of things. It changed everything, actually."
I lowered myself onto the kitchen island stool, abruptly needing to. "And you didn't tell me this before because.?"
She looked down at her hands. "He was using me as a bait mum and I didn't want to tell you that. I didn't want to contribute to your stress. After everything with your health, after all you've gone through lately, I just… I didn't want to put this on you."
"Oh, baby." I shook my head. "That's not a burden. That's your life. Your heart."
She sat down next to me, at last, shoulders slumping like she'd let go of a weight she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "He's been trying to reach me," she whispered. "He has been trying to apologize. He even came by the office last week."
"Last week?" I raised an eyebrow. "This has been going on for that long?"
"Yes," she admitted, rubbing her hands up and down her knees. "It's been going on for a while now."
"You've been pushing him away and he still came by? After all that?"
"Yeah. He said he's sorry for everything. That he's sorry for how it all played out, he didn't mean to fall in love and blah blah blah.”
“ What do you think?" I asked softly.
"I don't know," she whispered. "Part of me wants to forgive him. Part of me misses him so much I can barely breathe at night. And another part… another part is just scared."
"Scared of what?"
"That if I let him back in, I'll be sorry. That I'll fall and he won't catch me. I have had a rough life mum, I can't make thesame mistake with two brothers. I won't let any of them put me through pain again.” She finished off sniffing.
I held her hand across the island. Her fingers were strained. "Perhaps," I said gently, "he really does care for you now. Sometimes feelings sneak up on people when they least expect them. Particularly men."
She weakly smiled. "I don't want to disbelieve him, I do. But this isn't a petty lie. It's big, it's betrayal, Mom. It changed the way I look at everything we had."
I held her hand tight. "And yet you're still considering him." She closed her eyes for a moment. "That's what love does, sometimes. It pulls even when it hurts."
I let her sit with that.
"Listen to your instincts," I counseled after a long pause. "Whatever they tell you, listen to them. If they tell you to stay away, by all means stay away. But if there's a whisper somewhere that says, 'maybe,' then maybe it is worth the try."
She nodded slowly, then looked at me with glittering eyes. "Thank you, Mom."
I ran a hand down her cheek, my own voice gentle. "For what?"
"For being exactly what I needed. Even when I didn't know I needed it."
"I love you."
"I love you too." She wasn’t free yet but maybe, just maybe, she's ready to make peace with the war in her heart.
The kettle had long since ceased boiling. But the warmth in the kitchen lingered. Sometimes, love, especially a mother's was all the cappuccino a person needed.