. CHAPTER 7 — The Mother She Tried to Erase
Evelyn wished Nathan would stop.
Not because Clara deserved mercy, but because mothers are strange that way. Even when wounded, they fear their children will burn themselves trying to defend them. She touched Nathan’s sleeve.
“Baby, it’s all right,” she whispered.
He turned, and for a moment the billionaire, the groom, the man in the tailored tuxedo vanished. He was her boy again, the one who used to sleep with one hand gripping her sweater after his father died.
“No,” he said. “It isn’t.”
Clara laughed bitterly. “Are you really going to ruin our marriage over one slap?”
Nathan stared at her. “There is no marriage yet.”
The sentence rolled through the ballroom like thunder.
Clara’s father moved quickly now, his charm sharpened into command. “Nathan, this is a misunderstanding. Emotions are high. The merger announcement is scheduled for Monday. Let’s not damage years of planning because your mother wandered into a tense moment.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed. “Merger announcement?”
Clara froze.
Guests exchanged looks. A senator lowered his glass. The business reporters invited to photograph the wedding leaned closer.
Nathan turned toward Clara. “You told me your father only wanted a family dinner after the honeymoon.”
Her father’s face hardened. “This is not the place.”
“It became the place when your daughter struck my mother in front of witnesses.”
The wedding planner’s assistant, a young woman with a headset, stepped forward trembling. “Mr. Hale, I’m sorry. Mrs. Ashford ordered us to remove Mrs. Hale from the front row. She said if we didn’t, the vendor contract would be canceled.”
Clara spun on her. “You’re fired.”
“No,” Nathan said. “She isn’t.”
He took Evelyn’s roses and lifted the letter so everyone could see the old paper, though not the private words. “This woman cleaned floors so I could study. She sold her wedding ring to pay my college deposit. She ate toast for dinner and told me she loved toast so I wouldn’t feel guilty. Every award I have belongs to her first.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Nathan turned to Clara one last time. “You didn’t just disrespect my mother. You showed me the kind of woman you become when someone has nothing to offer you.”
Clara’s eyes filled, but whether from shame or fury, no one could tell.
“You’ll regret humiliating me,” she whispered.
May you like
Nathan’s answer was quiet.
“I almost regret loving you.”
