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Chapter 11
Evelyn stood out among the crowd at the international terminal, her face lighting up with joy as she waved frantically at Fiona. Unable to contain her excitement, she rushed forward in her heels, weaving through the sea of travelers until she could wrap her arms around the daughter she hadn’t seen in years.
“Look how grown up you are… I almost didn’t recognize you,” Evelyn whispered, her voice thick with emotion. Her hands trembled as she cupped Fiona’s face.
“You’ve gotten so tall, so beautiful.” Her fingers traced her daughter’s features tenderly, as if trying to memorize every change the years had carved into her face, attempting to piece together all the moments they’d missed. Fiona’s eyes welled with tears as she gazed at her mother. After so many years of video calls and screens between them, they could finally touch, finally feel the
warmth of each other’s embrace. Her mother was no longer the broken woman
she remembered from her childhood – the one who used to sit on their old couch,
crying as she waited for Mr. Jennings to come home.
Time had left its gentle marks around Evelyn’s eyes and at the corners of her
mouth, but rather than diminishing her, the years had given her a radiance that
outshone her younger self. She carried herself with a confidence that had been
missing in those dark days.
“Mom, I’ve missed you so much.” Fiona melted into her mother’s embrace, dropping the mature facade she usually wore and allowing herself to be the little girl who had missed her mother for so long.
Evelyn held her daughter tight, murmuring apologies over and over. “I should never have left you alone. I thought having Sherwood… having someone there. would be enough. I never imagined…”
*That men could be so untrustworthy with what’s precious*, hung unspoken.
between them.
“Mom, I don’t blame you,” Fiona said firmly. “You’re the one who taught me not to
wait around to be loved to learn to love myself first.”
Even during the hardest years, Fiona had never resented her mother’s choice. She
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understood how difficult it was for a woman to break free from her past. She knew that sometimes, moving forward meant not looking back. If she were in the same situation, she wouldn’t want to stay trapped in that toxic swamp either.
Twenty years apart, and mother and daughter had made the same choice for
freedom.
Evelyn nodded proudly, though her expression soon turned hesitant. “Fiona… Quentin’s been trying to reach you. He called me when he couldn’t find you.” At the mention of his name, Fiona felt that familiar ache in her chest. Evelyn squeezed her daughter’s cold hands in her warm ones. “What I told you. before still stands – whatever choice you make, I’ll support you.” Gathering her courage, Fiona pulled out her phone. The screen was flooded with
notifications – missed calls and messages, all from Quentin.
She paused for a moment, then, just as decisively as she’d once tossed away those high heels, she threw her
SIM card into the trash.
“The past is in the past.”
Evelyn broke into a smile through her tears and squeezed Fiona’s shoulder
reassuringly.
“Well said, sweetheart. It’s all behind us now. Let’s not dwell on unhappy
memories–let’s go home.”
Evelyn showered her long–absent daughter with an almost overwhelming amount. of motherly love. When she learned Fiona was moving back home, she threw herself into preparations with passionate dedication.
Everything had to be perfect: a mattress soft enough to cushion her back, sheets and bedding that felt like clouds against the skin. The walk–in closet soon. overflowed with clothes for every season. When she caught Fiona making breakfast by herself one morning, she let out a distressed gasp.
“Why are you doing this yourself? Where’s Mrs. Wilson?”
Fiona continued expertly flipping a perfect sunny–side–up egg. “Mom, don’t worry about Mrs. Wilson. I can handle this myself. You’d be surprised what I’ve learned
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these past few years. Just wait until you taste what I can make.”
Quentin had never liked having strangers in the house, so they’d never hired help. Beyond her work, Fiona had been responsible for all three of Quentin’s meals and every bit of housework. Back then, she’d convinced herself it was natural to do
everything for someone you loved.
Hearing this, Evelyn’s eyes welled up with fresh tears. “Oh, sweetheart. What have you been through all these years?”
Fiona had always been the sensible one. No matter what happened, she only ever shared the good news, never the bad. Evelyn had known about Fiona’s deep love for Quentin. Over the years, she’d offered countless times to have Fiona move back home, but each time, Fiona had refused, unable to bear leaving Quentin behind.
But if she’d known… if she’d only known the kind of life her daughter had been
living, she would have done whatever it took to bring her home, even if it meant forcibly separating the couple.
“Mom, remember what we agreed? No more thinking about the past.” Fiona set a
bowl of steaming homemade rice porridge with tender pork in front of Evelyn.
She hadn’t seen it as a sacrifice back then. Love, she’d learned, often came with a
constant feeling of not doing enough. When she loved Quentin, she always felt she could give more, never stopping to consider whether he returned her love in equal
measure.
If she hadn’t witnessed Quentin’s open, passionate devotion to Daisy, she might have gone on loving him foolishly forever.
“Enough said,” Evelyn declared with fierce maternal pride. “My daughter is simply the best, and let those who didn’t treasure her live to regret it!”
After dinner, Evelyn enthusiastically gathered her years–worth collection of jewelry and precious accessories, practically showering them upon Fiona in an
unstoppable cascade of sparkles and precious metals.
Fiona slipped an impressively large diamond ring onto her finger, her heart.
skipping a beat as she couldn’t help but notice how it outshone her own wedding
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ring in every way. The comparison sent a bittersweet pang through her chest as she admired how the light danced across its pristine surface.
Just as she was lost in the mesmerizing sparkle of the diamond, the doorbell’s. sharp chime cut through her reverie.
The moment Fiona pulled the door open, she froze in place, her body turning to stone as she stared at the last person she expected to see standing on her doorstep.
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