The slam of the door was like a gunshot in the room, slicing through the fragile silence Christy and I had been holding on to. My head snapped up instantly, my heart dropping into my stomach the second I saw her standing there. Her face was twisted in fury, eyes narrowed into sharp slits that pinned Christy. "You witch!"she yelled while pointing at her. Instinct kicked in before I could think and my hand tightened around Christy’s instantly, pulling her closer to me and shielding her with my body as though my mother had come in here wielding a knife. The heat of Christy’s palm in mine made me feel slightly better. "Mother," I said slowly, forcing my voice to be steady, though rage burned beneath my skin. "What are you doing here?" I asked her while trying to control my anger. But she didn’t even look at me as her eyes were locked on Christy with the kind of disgust that made my blood boil. She didn’t see Christy as a person right now. All she was seeing is a Lancaster and the daughter of her enemies. I remember what grandpa said about her past grudge with the Lancaster family. Then she turned to look at me, her expression a mixture of disgust and anger. "I will never support this... this sham of a relationship. You disgust me, Kendrick, standing here with her after everything their family has done to us. After everything I suffered at their hands and now you expect me to sit by and watch you throw your life away for her?" she questioned me angrily. I gritted my teeth so hard my jaw ached as my thoughts began spiraling. The same old rivalry, that she doesn’t want to let go of and move on. Right from the time that I brought her back, she has been plotting something, which I still haven’t figured out yet. It seemed like she wasn’t seeing the woman who carries my child, and haunts my every waking thought. To her, Christy is just a Lancaster. I forced myself to meet her gaze. "This isn’t about the family feud, Mother., this is about me and I want." I said with a serious tone. But she only laughed bitterly, her manicured nails digging into her palms as she shook her head. "No.... Don’t twist this into something noble. She is one of them, Kendrick! And if you can’t see that, then maybe you’ve already been brainwashed. Do you know what her family did to me? Do you know how much hatred is between us?" she questioned sharply. Her voice cracked with raw pain, but instead of softening me, it only made my anger flare hotter. "I know!" I snapped, louder than I intended. Christy flinched beside me, but I couldn’t hold it in anymore. "I know everything that happened, grandfather told me. But how long will we keep paying for the sins of the past? How long will you chain me to your grudges, Mother? When does it stop?" I asked her angrily. Her lips trembled, but her eyes stayed hard. "It stops when you choose. Right here, right now." she said while pointing at herself and Christy. The words froze me. My grip on Christy’s hand tightened unconsciously. "Choose?" I repeated, my voice low and cold. . She finally looked at me fully, her eyes blazing. "Choose me, your mother, the woman who carried you in her womb and almost lost her life in the delivery room, who has always wanted the best for you. Or choose her, that Lancaster girl who will only bring you ruin. It’s me or her." she emphasized. For a second, I couldn’t breathe. My chest heaved, anger and disbelief swirling so violently I thought I might explode. She was really doing this. She was really standing here, after all these years, after I had moved mountains to bring her back into my life, after I thought I had finally gotten my mother back and she was asking me to make an impossible choice. My mother or the woman I love. It felt like poison in my veins. I turned slowly to Christy. She looked pale and confused. She opened her mouth like she wanted to speak, but no words came out. My heart clenched. No.... I couldn’t let her think I was even considering it. "Do you hear yourself, Mother?" My voice was shaking now, not from fear, but from barely-contained fury. "Do you even realize what you’re saying? You’re asking me to destroy my own happiness and throw away the one good thing I’ve ever had, just so you can keep fighting a war that should’ve ended years ago." I said angrily as I glared at her. Her chin lifted defiantly. "I am asking you to honor your blood and your family. Without me, you wouldn’t even exist, Kendrick and now you would spit in my face for her?" she asked with an extremely disappointed expression. My blood ran cold. The words I had been holding back for weeks burst free before I could stop them. "Honor my family?" I repeated. "Tell me, Mother, where were you when I needed you? Where was this ’honor’ when I was growing up without you? Do you have any idea what it was like to live without a mother? To need you and never have you there?" I asked her and she froze, her mouth opening and closing, but no words came out. The rage and grief that had been caged in my chest for years finally tore loose. "I brought you back!" I roared. "I thought it would make everything better. I thought maybe I could finally feel whole again with you in my life. But right now, I am starting to wonder if it was a mistake. Because all you’ve done is try to rip apart everything that makes me happy, including the one person who makes me feel alive." I said and my throat tightened. The silence that followed was deafening, my mother’s face crumpled with shock, her hand flying to her chest like I had just stabbed her. Her eyes glistened with tears, but when she finally spoke, her voice was filled with rage again. "This is her doing, she’s poisoned you against me. That witch has brainwashed you to the point where you can’t even see how far you have fallen." she said while pointing at Christy. I laughed bitterly as I stared at her. I thought my words could make her heart soft but instead... "Don’t you dare put this on Christy, she didn’t brainwash me or twist my heart. I fell for her because she’s everything you will never see, she is kind, strong, and above all, she is mine and I will not let you take her away from me." I growled in anger. Her tears spilled over now, but they burned like acid instead of softening me. "If you choose her, Kendrick... if you really walk away from me for her... then you are no son of mine! ." she yelled amidst sobs. The words hit me like a blade to the chest. For a second, I couldn’t speak. The little boy inside me, the one who had once longed for her arms, who had cried himself to sleep at night wishing she would come back, screamed in agony. But then my gaze dropped to Christy. Her hand was trembling in mine, her lips parted in confusion and hurt. At that moment, my decision was clear. I lifted my head, meeting my mother’s eyes. "Then so be it." I said with a determined tone. Her gasp echoed in the room. "You think you can threaten me with your love? With your absence?" My voice is steady now. "I have lived without you before, Mother and I survived without your love once. Don’t think for a second I won’t survive again. If you’re forcing me to choose, then I choose Christy. I choose the mother of my child and my future."I said with restrained anger. Christy let out a strangled sob beside me, covering her mouth with her free hand. Lauretta, meanwhile, staggered back like I had physically struck her. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with disbelief. "No," she whispered, shaking her head. "No, this isn’t you... .This isn’t my son." she said in denial. I took a step forward, my chest heaving. "This is me, Mother. The son you abandoned and the man you barely know. And if you can’t accept the woman I love, then maybe you don’t deserve to know me at all." I said to her, For a few minutes, she just stood there, trembling in anger. Then her gaze shifted back to Christy, and the hatred returned like fire. "This isn’t over," she spat, her voice trembling with rage. The source of this content ɪs 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦•𝘯𝘦𝘵 "Mark my words, girl, you will regret ever stepping into this family. You will destroy him, just like all Lancasters destroy everything they touch." she said to Christy. And with that, she turned and stormed out, slamming the door so hard the walls rattled. The silence left behind was suffocating. I stood there, chest heaving, staring at the door she had disappeared through. My whole body trembled with rage and grief. Was this what it came to? My mother, back in my life after years of absence, only to tear it all apart? Had I really just lost her all over again? Beside me, Christy’s voice broke through my storm. "Kendrick..." I turned to her. Her cheeks were wet with tears, her eyes filled with a sorrow that mirrored my own. My chest cracked open at the realization that she had heard every word my mother said. I cupped her face with both hands, my thumbs brushing her tears away. "Don’t you dare blame yourself," I whispered fiercely. "Do you hear me? This isn’t your fault. It was always her choice and she chose to hold on to a grudge that should have ended a long time ago." I consoled her. "But what if she... what if she tries to hurt my baby?" she asked. I pressed my forehead to hers, closing my eyes. "Then let her try. Because I swear to you, Christy, I will never let her, or anyone else, take you away from me again." I promised I had just burned a bridge that could never be rebuilt. And I knew my mother well enough to know she wouldn’t let this go. She would come back for revenge, with the full weight of her hatred for the Lancaster name. And I had just painted a target on Christy’s back. But as I held her trembling body in my arms, I knew one thing with absolute certainty. If protecting Christy meant standing against my own blood, then so be it. I would fight and burn the world down before I let anyone take her from me. Even if that person was my own mother.