Page 21 of Saved By A Dark Billionaire
"Yeah, people change when you don't see them for many years." I knew the comment was snarky, but I couldn't help myself. She may die, but what she did to me was still shitty…cancer or not.
"I'm sorry, Livie." She sighed. "I wanted to get you here for selfish reasons. I need to apologize to you." She coughed, and it didn't stop until she coughed some blood out of her mouth. She grabbed the tissues beside her. "Sorry."
"An apology is not enough after you abandoned me. I need more. I need an explanation." My tone was demanding.
I was hurting her, I could see it, but I didn't care. My heart keeps taking more and more damage. I don't know how much more I can handle right now. I need closure, and the only way I'll get it is if she can explain her actions in a way I can understand, a way I can get behind.
"I know it wasn't right to leave you behind, but at the time, I knew it would be better for you to stay with your father. He never hurt you, and I knew he never would. I couldn't take you with me when I left because I had nowhere to go. I lived on the streets for about a year before I could finally get a job and a place of my own. My plan was to come back to get you once I was stable enough." She looked me deep in the eyes as she recounted her tale…the one I'd been curious about all my life.
"It scared me to reach out to your dad and have him find me. I would sleep with a gun under my pillow in case your father came for me. He swore he would kill me if I ever left him. I'd taken self-defense classes, but I knew they wouldn't do much good against your dad. The fear of your father finding me kept me from sending letters or making phone calls." I nodded my head to let her know I was still listening. When I got older, I realized that was probably the case. She never contacted me for fear of dad finding her, but I could never be certain.
"I filed papers with the court, but since I never filed police reports against the abuse your father caused, there wasn't much I could do. They couldn't prove abuse, and with me barely making enough money for just myself, my lawyer knew we wouldn't win custody. I should have fought harder for you, Livie, but I was so scared. I was young and stupid and frightened, so very frightened." A tear streamed down her face as she spoke. "I am sorry for leaving you behind, for being so weak. I am sorry for not being strong enough to come back and get you, and for not fighting for you harder."
I was silent, letting tears fall from my eyes. My chest felt like it was caving in on itself, unable to stand the sheer bittersweet moment. I have waited years to hear this story, to hear her apologize. I always pictured finding her and having this moment, and then getting to know each other again, creating a new mother-daughter bond. That's been stolen now, by the cancer plaguing her body.
"I didn't just call you here for this. I want you to get yourself checked, Livy. This cancer runs on my side of the family. I missed a few screenings, which caused them to catch it too late. It's breast cancer." She wiped at her tears, looking up at me. "Promise me you'll get checked for the gene, and if you have it, you will go to all your screenings. I know I've been a terrible mother, but please Livie, learn from my mistakes," she pleaded. I couldn't take it anymore, getting up and wrapping my arms around her. I held her tightly against me, feeling her arms wrap around me as well. We cried together for a while, a very long while.
"I promise I'll get myself checked," I finally told her after we both had calmed down.
"Good." She nodded, twirling my hair in her fingers.
I spent the afternoon catching up on years worth of stories. I felt the most whole I've felt in a while. It was nice having mom here in front of me, getting to know her again. We laughed and cried, and sometimes we did both. It wasn't until my phone buzzed a few times that I noticed the time.
"Who is it?" Mom asked as she saw the face I made as I looked at my phone. It was Lucas. I had forgotten he had my number now.
Chapter 8
Olive's P.O.V.
The man who makes you scream:What is my Rose up to today?
I have yet to reply to his text, staring at it for hours, deciding on whether I should text back. I had ignored it earlier because I wanted to focus on mom. Now back at Hailey's penthouse, we were both weighing my options.
"He could very well like you. I mean, look, he's texting you the very next day," Hailey argued. She was obviously on team ‘get together with Lucas’.
"I don't know, Hails. I feel like I should just avoid him right now. Between school and my mom, now isn't the time for a boyfriend." I sighed.
"Fine, no boyfriend, but you can still sleep with him. Didn't you say he was the best sex you'd had?" She tapped me with her elbow playfully.
"Yes, but I'm worried I'll get too attached. I keep hoping it will be more, but it shouldn't be. It's complicated with him, and I don't need that."
"Ay pues, uncomplicate it. Do what you did the first night, make it only about sex, no going out. No meeting each other's friends or family, just plain old hooking up. Keep the texts to a sexual nature, too," she suggested.
"I don't know, Hails. It feels like I'd be playing with fire." I was reluctant, but sex sounded so good right now. I need a distraction from mom's current condition and I know Lucas could provide me with the best kind.
"Just do it one more time and if you feel like you can't keep your feelings separated, then break it off. Don't leave him hanging." She was laying it on thick.
"Fine," I finally caved. "But what the heck do I say? 'Sorry I took so long to reply. I was busy with my cancer ridden mother’ seems like too much of a bummer." Hailey squeezed my hand, feeling sympathy for me. Her face showed me she wished things could be different. I wished the same.
“How about you say you were having some ‘me’ time?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"You want me to tell him I'd been masturbating for the past couple of hours?!" I caught on to what she was saying. She laughed at my reaction.
"Well yeah. I bet he'd find it hot." I let out a laugh at her antics, but decided it was probably the best way to go. I need to keep this conversation centered on sex.
"Fine, but I'm taking this to my room," I told her, getting off the couch.
"You're no fun!" she complained.
