Chapter 197 INDIFFERENCE IS THE BEST WEAPON

Chapter 197 INDIFFERENCE IS THE BEST WEAPON
NOAH’S POV

Silence answers me but I appreciate how she doesn't even try to deny or defend herself.

At least I respect her for that.

My lips curve slightly at the irony of my mother belonging to a family that has caused both Shawn and I misery and near death a couple of times.

I don’t wait for her to respond and I don’t particularly care for whatever excuse she’s about to give.

“Forget it,” I say flatly.

There’s a shift on the other end of the line, like she wasn’t expecting that.

“Noah–”

“I said forget it.”

My tone cuts through whatever she was about to say.

I bring my hand to my mouth, biting into the crushed brookie like nothing just happened.

“I don’t care,” I continue chewing slowly. “About your connection to him or to whatever twisted history you’ve been hiding.”

“You should.”

I let out a soft breath through my nose.

“No,” I correct. “I shouldn’t.”

Another bite from my brookie brings a smile to my eyes.

“I especially don’t care,” I add with an edge to it, “about how you suddenly decided to protect them like the good Aunt you are.”

Her breath pauses because she knows exactly who I’m talking about.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says.

I smile.
“Oh don’t I?”

That one lands.
“Yeah,” I continue casually. “I know.”

“I know that bastard is alive and with you so don't even try to deny it.”

“And I know,” I add with my voice almost conversational now, “that both of them are currently tucked away in your little remote villa begging you for help.”

That does it as I hear a sharp inhale echo through the line.

Bingo.

“Noah–” she starts.

“Don’t.”
I cut her off again.

“You don’t get to warn me,” I say coldly. “You don’t get to tell me what to do or not do.”

My grip tightens slightly around what’s left of the brookie.

“You were never a good mother,” I continue in a calm tone.
“So don’t start pretending to be one now.”

The words hang there, ugly and unforgiving but there is not an ounce of falsehood in it.

And for a second when she doesn't respond, I wonder if I've gone too far.

Then I remember Shawn, the hospital, the kidnappings, the chains and how much blood and horror he's gone through.

And whatever hesitation I might have felt?
‘Poof!’ gone with the wind.

“You disappear when it matters,” I add quietly. “You stay silent when it matters.”

My jaw tightens.

“But now?”

I let out a short laugh.

“Now you want to play savior to them?”

“Noah,” she says again but this time there’s something in her voice that sounds so strained and almost breaking.

But I don’t let it reach me, not anymore mother.

“You can do whatever you want with them,” I say as I shrug even though she can’t see me.
“Hide them, protect them or even raise them for all I care.”

Another bite from my brookie like we're discussing something trivial.

“But don’t you dare ask me for anything,” I finished.

“Noah you don’t understand–”

“Oh I understand perfectly well, mother.”

My voice sharpens.

“No matter what you do,” I say slowly, “no matter where you hide them–”

I pause dramatically to let it settle and sink in.

“They’re going to die.”
“And this time?” I add softly. “I’ll be the one who makes sure of it that they both stay dead.”

Her breathing stutters slightly but I've stopped caring for her.
For the first time in my life, I feel something so close to satisfaction.

She never stopped Adam's abuse all these years but is now suddenly so protective of her criminal nephews?

Pathetic.

“I’m done,” I say simply.

And before she can respond or before she can argue or explain anything to me, I simply hang up.

I stare at the phone for a second longer before setting it down on the counter and look at the brookie I messed up in my anger.

And without a second thought–

I take another slow bite like I didn't just discover I'm related to abusers or I didn't just threaten my own ‘sweet’ mother.

Because right now? It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is–

Shawn.

My gaze drifts slightly toward the hallway of the room he's still unconscious in.
Still mine.

A quiet breath leaves me as I lean back against the counter again as everything is calm and peaceful for me.

My phone vibrates again as I wonder why I'm suddenly so popular today.

I just take another bite for precaution before finally picking it up and answering.

“Yes.”

“Sir,” a voice comes through. “We’ve tracked Sophia Hernandez.”

Took you long enough.
My lips twitch slightly.

“And?” I ask.

“She’s moved to a private location,” the voice continues. “To a remote coastal property–”

Italy.
I don’t even need her to finish her report.

A quiet chuckle leaves me.
How predictable and smart of Sophia.

“So she ran,” I murmured.
She ran to my Family.
And seeing that I've broken none of their laws, I wonder how she expects them to deal with me?

“Should we intercept her?”

I tilt my head slightly as if considering it.

Sophia is a cockroach that likes to have a backup and since she's so calculating, let her plans be her own end then.

“She doesn’t know what she just stepped into,” I say softly with a smile.

Families like that?

They don’t just use people like her, they consume and kill you from the inside.

Why didn't she think that even people “protected” in them like Matteo and Martin wanted to get out badly?

“No,” I say finally.

A pause on the other end.

“Sir?”

“Don’t interfere at all,” I repeat calmly. “Let her go.”

“Understood.”

The line goes dead as I lower the phone and pace it back on the counter.

Sophia thinks she’s playing the game to win not knowing she just signed her own death warrant.

I shrug slightly, it's not my problem anymore.
I pick up the last piece of the brookie, staring at it for a second before finishing it in one bite.

After three days, everything should take care of itself naturally.