I’m restless in the morning, eager to see my mother. Lucian, Sofia, and Alec all look as tired as I do, as though none of us managed to get any sleep.
“Mom is going to want to see Dad, isn’t she? How do I explain he isn’t here?”
It would devastate her to find out he not only left her, but that he has married someone else already. “Oh God, how do I explain to her that I can’t even take her home?”
My heart races, devastation and helplessness constricting my breathing. Alec walks up to me and cups my cheeks, keeping my eyes on his.
“Baby, breathe,” he says. “You’re fine. She’s awake now, and that’s all that matters. The rest we can deal with, one step at a time.”
Lucian rubs my back gently, his expression as torn as Alec’s. None of us know what the right thing to do is.
“She needs to be informed,” Sofia says. “But not now, honey.”
I nod at her, my heart aching for my mother. I’ve been wanting her to wake up for so long now, but I haven’t given much thought to what she’d be waking up to. Everything she had when she got into her car accident is gone now. Her husband, the home she built, and in so many ways, even her son.
“I need to call my brother,” I say, my phone in hand. I’m feeling conflicted. He’s worked so hard to get me to let her go. I don’t even know how he’ll respond to this news.
“Elena, no,” Lucian says, his voice sharp.
I turn to look at him, my brows raised. He looks anguished as he grabs my shoulders. The way he struggles to meet my eyes makes my heart sink.
“There’s something I’ve been keeping from you,” he says, his voice soft. “Elliot… he was able to trace the digital footprint of your mother’s car. He managed to find the hacker who caused your mother to lose control over her car, and, well, he was able to trace the payments, too. From what he told me, it seems like it was Jade who contacted the hacker, but the payments… the payments came from Matthew. He tried his best to route them through as many countries as possible, but Elliot put his all into tracing them, and it was him, Elena. It was Matthew.”
I feel sick. I close my eyes in an effort to remain in control of my emotions, but my body won’t stop trembling. “Matthew?” I whisper. “That can’t be right. He’s an asshole, but he’s not… he’s not a murderer. He wouldn’t do that to his own mother.”
Alec wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer. I lean against him, my face buried against his chest.
“How long have you known?” Alec asks, his fingers stroking my hair.
Lucian hesitates before answering. “A couple of weeks,” he says carefully. “You two were so happy together. I just hadn’t seen either of you look this happy in so long, and I wanted that for you. I knew that this news would devastate Elena, and in turn, you.”
Hot tears stream down my cheeks, soaking Alec’s shirt. I inhale shakily, and Alec tightens his grip on me, enveloping me in a tight hug.
Sofia places her hand on my shoulder, and I pull away from Alec a little. “Elena,” she says. “We’ll deal with this in due time, all right? For now, dry your tears, and put on a good act for your mother. What she needs right now is love and attention. Everything else,” she says, glancing at Alec and Lucian, “everything else can and will be taken care of.”
I nod, and Alec brushes my tears away with his thumbs. I try my best to pull myself together, but all I can think about is Matthew. Why would he do this? Was my father in on this?
For years I just thought that the way my life played out was unfortunate, that in part, I must have been to blame for losing all my friends, my connections—for falling out with everyone I cared about, my father included. Now I wonder if it was orchestrated.
I’m still thinking about it when I walk into my mother’s room, Alec by my side. He grabs my hand and squeezes, and I smile up at him. Where would I be without him? If not for him, I would have lost my mother by now.
“Hi, Mom,” I say, still shocked to find her eyes open. For so long she’s looked like she was fast asleep.
I walk up to her, and her eyes follow me. The edges of her lips turn up, and when I squeeze her hand, her fingers move.
Emotions overwhelm me, and I burst into tears involuntarily. I drop my forehead to her shoulder, trying my best not to cry, and failing.
I feel a hand on my back, and I try my best to pull myself together. “I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I just missed you so much, Mom. To see you here, to have you look at me… you have no idea how much this means to me.”
I sit up and wipe my tears away, my heart breaking when I notice a tear dropping down my mother’s cheek.
“Thank you, Mom. Thank you for waking up.”
She smiles, her lips opening. “E…” she says, her voice raspy.
I grab her hand and place it against my cheek, cradling her hand in mine.
Mom glances at Alec, and I can’t help but blush. “I… do you remember Alexander?” I ask.
Mom nods, and I almost burst into tears again. I can’t believe she’s actually having a conversation with me.
“Ma’am,” he says, grabbing her hand. He raises it to his lips and presses a sweet kiss to the back of her hand, and my heart skips a beat.
“I… um, Alec is my… he’s my fiancé,” I end up saying. Alec looks at me, his eyes twinkling.
Mom’s eyes move between the two of us, and it warms my heart to find so much expression in them.
“E… El… Elena,” she says, her voice rough. My eyes widen and I look at her, shocked. “I… l—love… you.”
“She’s been practicing to say that to you for hours,” Dr. Taylor says to me from behind.
I break down all over again, and Alec smiles as he pats my back. “Oh, Mom,” I say, choking back sobs. “I love you, too. So much, Mom.”
I stare at my mother through the tears, my heart heavy. I’m going to do whatever it takes to protect her.
