Chapter 9 Heated Arguments

I could only hear the echo of footsteps and the bitterness that had grown between my mother and me.

My mother sat in her usual chair by the wide window with a porcelain cup in her hand, and an untouched breakfast on her plate. Her diamond earrings trapped the sunlight and she looked like a decked doll drowning in jewelry.

I barged into the dinning hall and barked at her.

"How could you do that to her?" My voice came out harsher than I intended. I was angry but I didn't intend to shout at her.

My mother looked up at me sowly, her gaze was calm and her eyes sharply moved up and down my body. "Do what, Mark?" she asked me, her tone sharp with arrogance.

"Don't play dumb with me, Mother. You know exactly what I'm talking about. You had Clara arrested, and you sent Child Protective Services to her house like she's some criminal."

Her eyes didn't even move. "I only did what was necessary." She rolled her eyes after she said those words to me.

"Necessary?" I took two steps closer to her with anger rising in my stomach. "You humiliated her. You terrified her, and you scared her little girl. Do you even realise what that did to her? What it did to me?"

My mother sighed, placing her cup down a calm elegance that only made my blood boil.

"Mark, I am protecting you. You can't see it now, but one day you'll thank me. That woman is nothing but a filthy waitress, she's poor, she's weak, and she has baggage. That child of hers......Argh, I can't even think of that filth."

"Don't you dare call my Clara or her daughter filth!" I said very loudly. My voice echoed through the dinning hall, and for a moment, even she was sacred..

"You don't know her daughter. You don't know her. Clara is the kindest person I've ever met. She's suffered enough, and you're making her life worse!"

My Mother's face didn't even show any emotions.

"You are blinded by pity, not love. You think you can save her because she looks broken, but you can't, Mark. You're a Mogul. You were born into this family for a reason. You shouldn't be rolling in the dirt with waitresses and single mothers."

Her words stung in my heart like venom.

"I love her mother. Clara sees me. She is my escape from the burdens of being part of this wicked and cruel family. Clara is everything to me.''

My mother looked straight into my eyes and told me that she didn't care.

"Your role in this family is more important than your feelings, Mark. You think I was in love with your father when I met him?. Don't be stupid Mark. Money always comes before love. You can get love anywhwere but this family has given you money and lots of it.''

"You were never there for me. You or dad were never there for me.'' I replied with sadness in my voice.

"Oh and is that why you're acting like a stupid little brat? Disgracing and embarrasing your father's legacy like an illegitimate son?'' She took a bite of the apple pie on her plate before saying the words that made me give up on our conversation.

"I am disappointed in you, Mark.'' She said with disgust in her voice.

I took a deep breath. Then I lokked right back into my mother's cold, wicked eyes.

"You know what, Mother? For the first time in my life, I am ashamed of this name. We may have money but I want more than just expensive cars and cheap prostitutes. I want the warmth of love.''

She scoffed at my words. "You're being a dramatic fool."

"No," I said firmly, walking closer to her. "I'm being honest. Let me say this to you mother, you went too far this time. You had no right to involve the authorities. You crossed a line, one that I would never forget."

My mother stood up slowly, the pearls around her neck glowing as she faced me. We were only a few metres apart at this point. I could feel the tension rise in my belly.

"I did what your father would have done.'' She whispered quietly.

"He built this empire, and you are his son. You will not throw it away for some... waitress who can't even afford her rent."

I laughed sarcastically.

"That's the problem, isn't it? You think love can be bought?." My mother nodded her head in response.

"I see. You think everything must come wrapped in wealth to be worth something. Clara is poor, yes, but she has a heart. She is not a cold hearted human being like you, mother.''

Smack!!!!!!!!

My cheeks went red hot.

"I am your mother and you will speak to me with respect." She said to me after the hot slap.

"You can hit me all you want. But I know somwhere in your cold heart, you know that you and father failed me as parents. So, I won't let you destroy the only oppourtunity I have at happiness.''

I said those words staring deep into her eyes. My own mother meant nothing to me. I had lost all sense of respect for her since she decided to ruin my life.

"Mark, I am warning you. If you continue this foolishness, you'll lose everything." She threatened me.

I moved very close to her and looked into her eyes. "Then let me lose it."

Her silence was heavy. Then she stepped even closer, her perfume pungent and suffocating. "Do you even know what you're saying?"

"I do," I said, my voice was steady even though my chest was pounding. "You controlled every part of my life, but not this. Not her."

My mother turned away from me and walked towards the window.

"You forget child, your inheritance isn't a game. The terms of your father's will were clear. You can only get the Mogul fortune if you marry into wealth. A rich girl from a rich family. Those were your father's wishes."

Her words sliced through me like glass. I stared at her, shocked. "You can't be serious."

She smiled faintly.

"It's already written, signed, and sealed by your late father. You walk away from Emily Vanclair, you walk away from everything, your shares, your company position, your name. You'll be nothing."

I swallowed my saliva very hard, trying to breathe through the weight pressing against my chest. "So this is it then? My father's money in exchange for my happiness?"

"You call it money," she said calmly. "I call it legacy. You were born to uphold it. I suffered to give your father a male heir. Every single child in my womb that was a female was aborted, all four of them."

"What?'' I gasped in horror.

"Yes, Mark. You had four sisters that never made it out the womb alive because your father wanted a male heir. When I went for a scan while pregnant with you, I saw the smile in your father's eyes.''

I found it hard to say anything. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

For a long moment, we stared at each other. The silence was deafening, broken only by the ticking clock and my heart beating in my ears.

Finally, I spoke, my voice quieter now. "And what if I told you that I would rather be poor and free than rich and miserable?"

Mother's lips bent into a sad smile. "Then I would say you're still a boy, Mark. Because your comfort is gone, your pride will crumble. Clara won't be enough to fill that emptiness."

I shook my head, stepping back. "You've already taken everything from me once. You won't do it again."

"End it, Mark. Marry Emily. Secure your future. Protect that poor woman and her daughter from the consequences of your rebellion."

I stared at her, trying to find a shred of mercy in her eyes. There was none.

"You've turned love into a transaction," I whispered.

"And you've turned reason into madness," she countered. "This family didn't climb to the top by following emotions."

I could feel my hands trembling. I turned away, my voice breaking. "You're not protecting me, Mother. You're destroying me."

Her silence followed me as I walked toward the door. I paused once and looked back at her. She stood there like a statue.

"You may control everything else," I said, my voice shaking but resolute. "But you'll never control who I love."

"Alright. But remember Mark, love won't save you when you have nothing left. And the moment you walk away from this family, you'll lose both."

I didn't answer.

I just turned away and left.