Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
Angelica’s mouth opened and closed at the same time without a single word coming out and she almost looked like a fish that had stepped out of its comfort zone and was now gasping for air on land. She looked at her daughter with her wide, unbelieving eyes and couldn’t take the insult lying down.
Adele’s comment provoked an outburst of anger from her, she said through gritted teeth, “I don’t know what vendetta you have against me, Adele? I’m guessing it’s probably revenge for giving you away to your father’s family, but then I would do that over and over again! Your family was the one that was capable enough to give you a bright future! This… !” She pointed to her stomach with a look of disdain,” is exactly why I never had you stay with me?!”
“Well, reality check one,” The corners of her lips lifted in a sneer, “It didn’t exactly work out the way you wanted, why? They never cared about me! And perhaps, if you were eager enough to fight for me and weren’t obsessed with a man that doesn’t give a fuck about you, then this wouldn’t have happened! I would have been raised with love and enough guidance not to repeat your mistake?!” Adele shouted back at her.
“You rude brat!” Angelica lifted her hand to slap her but she caught it and said in a condescending tone,
“Don’t even think of it when you don’t have the right to do so! You shouldn’t be surprised anyway, after all, like mother, like daughter.” She fling her hand away and waited to see her next reaction.
With the way her mother’s chest was heaving up and down, Adele thought that she would try to start a fight with her or even kick her out. However, her mother did the opposite by breaking down into tears and leaving her dumbfounded.
And that was the point where Adele knew that she had to leave. Nobody was going to emotionally manipulate her into doing something that she doesn’t want to. However, Adele took just one step when Angelica grabbed onto her
“Please don’t leave,” She looked up at her with her teary eyes and began to apologize profusely, “I’m so sorry! Your mother is so sorry! I shouldn’t have given you up so easily, please forgive me, Adele.” Angelica begged her so desperately that even though Adele still held grudges against her, she had to give up on them for the moment.
…..
“I’m not leaving, so can you stop pulling my arm before you dislocate it,” Although her words were not cold as before, they still lacked warmth, but then it was baby steps, right?
A few minutes later, her mother had composed herself and the both of them were seated down, conversing amicably for once. Angelica was smoking away at another cigarette and she looked so composed when compared to her meltdown earlier.
“Who’s the baby’s father?” Angelica asked, more like interrogating her. At least the judgemental look in her eyes was gone and Adele could endure her a little bit more.
“Someone you wouldn’t know,” Adele answered honestly, yet vaguely.
Her mother gave her the look, she wanted more.
Adele sighed, “You wouldn’t know him anyway, but his name is Elijah and currently both of our families are not on the best terms so you can understand why I came to you. This news can’t get out, not while tension is still tight between both families.”
“Is he rich enough to take care of you and the baby?” Her mother’s primary concern was his financial status. She refused to believe that her daughter was knocked up by a nobody. If there was any trait her daughter should have picked up from her, it should be her ability to select the “right” men.
“Well, his family is old money, so you can say he’s rich enough. But then, he wouldn’t be taking care of me because he has no knowledge of my pregnancy and would never know. I’m training my child all by myself!” She stated firmly.
“No, no, no, no!” Her mother shot up to get her feet, beginning to panic. She whirled around to Adele and said to her with red-shot eyes, “You really want to end up like me? Is that it?”
“That’s where you are wrong….” Adele stood up to her feet and told her, “I would never end up like you because I have worked so hard and made a future for myself. I am in a position in the family where I’m second to the best. I have my own money, can eat whatever I want, and buy whatever I want without me having to hook up with a man.” Although Adele knew that it was too rude of her to bring that up and rub it in her mother’s face, it was the best way to sink the information into Angelica’s head who thinks the entire world revolves around men.
She went on to say, “This child is my foolish mistake and a temporary setback. And I would raise him or her without the father and give my baby the best life. So don’t give me that sympathetic look because my future is secured already. I can do it without him.”
“But then, he -“
Adele cut her off with her cold glare and Angelica shut her mouth, swallowing numbly. Adele said to her, “The only reason I came to you is that I know nothing about childbirth. So don’t think too much about it because as far as I’m concerned, you’re still that woman that abandoned me after birth.”
“Fine,” Angelica took a deep breath, “Then sit down and let me make you something to eat, you’re a mother now and need all the nutrients that you can get. After that, we talk.”
Her mother said and was about to walk past her, only for Adele to grab her arm and halted her in her steps,
“The Draven family and our family are not on good terms which means that Benjamin cannot know of my pregnancy for the moment. Can I trust you not to go spill your guts to him?” Adele searched her gaze, knowing that she was taking a huge leap of faith here.
Angelica stared back into her eyes, saying, “I know that I have many shortcomings as your mother. However, no matter what, my daughter comes first before any other thing. It’s my time to make it up to you, Adele.” She promised her.
“Good,” Adele said, finally letting go of her arm with an air of relief.
How Late Are You?
Bored out of her mind, Adele wanted to join her mother in the kitchen, but the woman kicked her out, claiming that her first lesson as a mother today was to recognize her limits. She couldn’t do any hard labor from now on which was honestly a huge setback for Adele.
How was she going to keep in shape from now on? Adele realized that it was the first drawback of pregnancy. Her insecurities kicked in and she began to wonder if she could do this. Wasn’t it better to stress her body and have a miscarriage and get this over with?
Or even consider the abortion Lukas once talked about, why make this hard upon herself? Benjamin and the others wouldn’t even know once she had the child removed. It would be as if it never happened unless her mother goes blabbering her mouth.
It would be the easy way out, but then, Adele knew she couldn’t do it. Her mother birthed her, why choose the cowardly way and get rid of a child she was blessed with? Adele knew that she couldn’t deny her baby her right to life.
Aside from that, Adele knew deep down that she wanted something that belongs to Elijah to hold onto. To remind her of the time they spent together knowing the both of them could never be again. So yeah, maybe she was a tiny bit selfish.
Adele was still lost in her thoughts when her phone rang, rousing her to reality. She stared down at her screen only to discover that the number was unknown and hesitated to answer it.
She was not exactly a fan of answering unfamiliar calls until the second ring, only then would Adele know that whoever was on the line was serious about speaking with her.
But for some reason, she felt compelled to answer this particular call. Or perhaps, she was simply bored and needed a mystery to solve. She answered the call at the last minute,
“Hello?” She said, pressing the phone to her ear, expecting that whoever was on the other end of the call would state his purpose.
…..
However, when the person on the line didn’t say a word, her brows drew together in a furrow. Adele knew whoever that was could hear her clearly because she could pick up background noises.
Adele wasn’t in a hurry to end the call because she had on more than one occasion had whistle-blowers inform her of an incoming attack from other rivals aimed at crippling their resources or even an arrest from the police having secured evidence against them. In that case, they would react quickly and intercept whatever evidence they procured against them or alert the chief of police and the corrupt officers eating out of their palms to stop them.
It was her responsibility as the underboss to have Don’s back when he was busy or distracted with other matters. So she always settled it quietly and then informed Lukas about it. But then most whistleblowers were often quiet and cautious as they wondered if they could trust her or not. Hence, Adele did not rush whoever was on the line and asked gently yet firmly,
“Who is this?”
And still, yet, there was no answer.
At this point, Adele lost her patience and was about to curse out at whoever that was for wasting her time only to pick up his heavy breathing and freeze. She could recognize that breathing pattern anyway, anytime even with her eyes closed. She connected the dots in her head and everything made sense. He wasn’t confident to speak to her; he was hiding.
“Elijah,”
His name left her lips in a whisper, almost a caress as she couldn’t believe that it was him. Adele never expected that he would call her so her emotions took the better of her. Instead of the anger that should be directed at him for what he did to her, she was instead filled with a desperation to speak to him. To hear his voice once more and assure herself that he was well because her poor heart was stirred.
However, he dashed that hope when he ended the call and she hurriedly called him back, but he wouldn’t answer. With tears slipping down her cheeks, Adele called him up to four times but he wouldn’t answer. It wasn’t until the fifth ring that Adele caught herself and wondered what she was doing?!
She promised herself never to cry and sulk over that guy, so what was she doing? He was the one that hurt her, he should be the one begging on his knees and apologizing for what he did to her! She was the fool who fell for him and got hurt in the process. Moreover, she made up her mind never to let Elijah into her life, so this can’t do.
Adele hardened her heart once and bottled whatever positive feelings she had for Elijah, replacing them with her anger and hate. This wasn’t the time to be a girl with raging hormones but a mother desperate to secure her child’s future. So she cleared her eyes and took a deep breath.
It was alright. She was going to be okay. Nothing is impossible. She can’t do this. Those were her mental chants as she took deep, steady breaths until she was composed emotionally. There was nothing that she couldn’t achieve once she put her heart into it.