“It’s not a story,”
Nathan said, his voice rising.
“It’s the truth, and you know it.”
Patricia set down her teacup gently. She looked at Nathan with cold eyes.
“Let’s say, hypothetically, that this woman you claim is Evelyn did tell you these things,”
Patricia said.
“Did it ever occur to you that she might be lying?”
“Why would she lie?”
Nathan demanded.
“Money, perhaps?”
Patricia suggested.
“You’re a rich man now, Nathan. A millionaire. Maybe this woman, whoever she is, saw an opportunity. Maybe she’s pretending to be your dead wife to get money from you.”
“She’s not pretending!”
Nathan shouted.
“I know my own wife. I know her face, her voice.”
“You knew your wife 8 years ago,”
Patricia interrupted.
“People change, faces change. And apparently, your judgment has become quite poor if you believe this ridiculous story.”
Nathan felt like he was going to explode.
“She has my son. A boy named Lucas. He has my eyes, my face. He’s 8 years old, the exact age he would be if Evelyn had been pregnant when she disappeared.”
Patricia’s expression didn’t change.
“Many children have green eyes, Nathan. That proves nothing.”
“Stop lying!”
Nathan yelled.
“Just stop. I know what you did. Evelyn told me about the car, about the fire, about how you staged her death.”
Finally, Patricia’s calm mask cracked just a little bit. Her eyes narrowed.
“And you believed her?”
Patricia asked.
“You believed some woman living in an abandoned house over your own mother?”
“Yes,”
Nathan said.
“Because unlike you, she told me the truth.”
Patricia stood up slowly. She was shorter than Nathan, but somehow she still seemed to tower over him.
“The truth,”
she said coldly,
“is that Evelyn Martinez was a mistake. A terrible mistake that would have ruined your life.”
Nathan’s breath caught.
“So you admit it. You admit you knew she was alive.”
Patricia walked to the window and looked out at her perfect garden.
“I did what any good mother would do,”
she said.
“I protected my son.”
“Protected me?”
Nathan couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“You lied to me. You made me think my wife was dead. You kept me from knowing my own child.”
“That child was never supposed to exist,”
Patricia said, turning to face him. Her voice was cold as ice.
“And that woman was never supposed to be your wife.”
“But she was my wife!”
Nathan shouted.
“I loved her. We were married. We were building a life together.”
“A life of poverty and struggle,”
Patricia said with disgust.
“She was a waitress, Nathan. A nobody with no education, no class, no prospects. You could have married someone important. Someone worthy of the Cole name.”
“She was worthy,”
Nathan said, his voice breaking.
“She was kind and loving and good. She made me happy.”
“She made you weak,”
Patricia corrected.
“Before her, you were ambitious. You wanted to be successful. But after you married her, all you cared about was coming home to playhouse with your little waitress wife.”
Patricia walked closer to Nathan.
“I built this family, Nathan. Your father and I worked hard to give you every advantage: the best schools, the best connections, the best opportunities. And you were about to throw it all away for a girl you met at a diner.”
“So you decided to get rid of her,”
Nathan said, tears streaming down his face now.
“You decided to play God with our lives.”
“I did what was necessary,”
Patricia said without any emotion in her voice.
“And it worked, didn’t it? After she was gone, you threw yourself into your work. You became successful. You became the man you were meant to be.”
“I became empty,”
Nathan shouted.
“I became a shell! I lost the only person who ever really loved me!”
“She didn’t love you,”
Patricia said.
“She loved your potential. She loved what she thought you could give her. But real love real love is what I’ve given you. I sacrificed everything to make sure you had the best life possible.”
Nathan stared at his mother like he was seeing her for the first time.
“You’re insane,”
he whispered.
“You’re actually insane.”
Patricia’s face hardened.
“I’m practical. There’s a difference.”
“You threatened a pregnant woman,”
Nathan said.
“You staged a death. You committed fraud. You kept a father from his child. That’s not practical. That’s evil.”
“Watch your tone,”
Patricia warned.
“I’m still your mother.”
“No,”
Nathan said, shaking his head.
“No, you’re not. A mother doesn’t do what you did. A mother doesn’t destroy her son’s happiness. A mother doesn’t rip apart a family.”
He took a step back from her.
“You’re not my mother. You’re a monster.”
For the first time, Patricia’s face showed real emotion. Anger. Hot, burning anger.
“How dare you?”
she said, her voice low and dangerous.
“After everything I’ve done for you, after all the sacrifices I’ve made, this is how you thank me?”
“Sacrifices?”
Nathan laughed, but it was a bitter, broken sound.
“What sacrifices? You got exactly what you wanted. You got rid of Evelyn. You controlled my life. You turned me into your perfect son.”
“Yes, I did!”
Patricia shouted.
“Because you were too stupid to see what was good for you! You were going to waste your life on that girl! Someone had to save you from yourself!”
“I didn’t need saving,”
Nathan said quietly.
“I needed my wife. I needed my family. And you took that from me.”
He turned to walk away.
“Where are you going?”
Patricia demanded. Nathan looked back at her.
“Away from you. Forever.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,”
Patricia said.
“You’re upset right now, but you’ll calm down. You’ll see that I was right. You always do.”
“No,”
Nathan said.
“I won’t. Because for the first time in my life, I’m seeing clearly. And what I see is that you’re not the person I thought you were. You never were.”
“Nathan.”
Patricia started.
“I’m going to take care of Evelyn and Lucas,”
Nathan interrupted.
“I’m going to make sure they have everything they need. Everything you tried to take from them.”
Patricia’s eyes flashed with anger.
“You will do no such thing! That woman is a liar. That child probably isn’t even yours.”
“He is mine,”
Nathan said with certainty.
“I know he is. And I’m going to be his father, whether you like it or not.”
“If you do this,”
Patricia said slowly,
Leave a Comment