When he left, Brandon leaned forward with the intensity that made him successful in the courtroom.
“Theodore, I need to ask directly.”
“What are your intentions regarding my mother?”
If the question surprised Theo, he didn’t show it.
“My intentions are to spend whatever time we have left making up for the years we lost.”
“Beyond that, it depends on what Ellanar wants.”
All eyes turned to me.
For the first time in decades, I was the center of attention, not because I was needed for something, but because my choices mattered to other people.
What I want, I said slowly, is to stop being treated like a burden or an obligation.
I want to be valued for who I am, not dismissed because I don’t fit someone else’s idea of what’s appropriate.
The pointed look I gave Brandon made him shift uncomfortably in his chair.
“Mom, if this is about yesterday—”
“Yesterday was just the culmination of months of being made to feel invisible,” I interrupted.
“But we’re not here to rehash the past.”
“We’re here because suddenly my personal relationships are interesting to you both.”
Viven had the grace to blush, but she recovered quickly.
“Eleanor, I hope you understand that we were just surprised yesterday.”
“We hadn’t realized you were seeing anyone.”
“I wasn’t,” I said bluntly.
“Theo appeared like an answer to prayers I didn’t even know I was praying.”
“And the building purchase,” Brandon asked, cutting straight to the heart of their concern.
Theo’s smile was predatory.
“What about it?”
“Viven’s father is concerned about the lease termination.”
“His company has been in that location for 15 years.”
“Business is business,” Theo replied smoothly.
“Though I suppose I could be convinced to consider alternative arrangements if the circumstances were right.”
The negotiations were beginning in earnest now.
I realized my relationship with Theo had become a commodity to be traded, a potential solution to their financial concerns.
It should have made me angry.
Instead, I found it fascinating.
“What kind of circumstances?”
Viven asked eagerly.
“the kind that involved treating Eleanor with the respect she deserves,” Theo said flatly.
“Starting with an apology for yesterday’s humiliation.”
The demand hung in the air like a gauntlet thrown down.
Brandon and Vivien exchanged glances, clearly weighing their options.
Finally, Brandon spoke.
“Mom, I want you to know that I’m sorry about the seating arrangement, about not defending you when people were talking.”
“You’re right.”
“I treated you like an obligation instead of my mother, and that was wrong.”
The apology sounded genuine, which made it somehow worse.
If he could see how badly he’d treated me now, why hadn’t he seen it before Theo’s money made my feelings matter?
“And you, Vivien?”
I asked quietly,
My daughter-in-law’s struggle was visible.
Pride wared with pragmatism,
and pragmatism won.
“I apologize for my comment about your poverty,” she said stiffly.
“It was inappropriate and hurtful.”
“Yes, it was.”
I agreed.
The question is, are you sorry you said it or sorry there were consequences.
Leave a Comment