Chapter 78
Sabrina stared at the phone in her hand. She lay in her bed and thought about Emma leaving. Anger bubbled inside of her. She understood why Emma would want to leave. And she didn’t like it. Not one bit. Her friend had been suffering for a long time. Ever since her mom died, Emma’s life had been difficult. And it seemed that after meeting Will, things had gotten worse. She knew he was bad news. Leaving would give Emma a clean slate. A chance to start over. So, like it or not, she had to support Emma’s decision.
Not telling Alex about what was going wouldn’t be easy.
A phone call interrupted her thoughts. It was Alex’s mom.
“Ugh,” Sabrina rolled her eyes. She ignored the call and decided to get up and get ready for the day. She walked into her bathroom, making sure to leave the phone in the bedroom.
Alex’s mom would call again. And again. And again. It was becoming normal. She called at least once a week. Sabrina knew how the call would go. His mom would offer her more money to leave her son. Last time, she was offered one and half million dollars. This time it would probably be two million.
She was in love with Alex, and he was in love with her. And that was the end of the story. They’d been living together for a while, and she knew she’d say yes if and when he asked her to marry him. If she had his family’s blessing for that, then great. If not, then that was great too. If anything, not getting their blessing would make for more fun.
After her shower, she checked her phone.
“Yup,” she said. “Five more missed calls. And, oh look. A text.” The message read: *Come to the house, or I will go to you. Take your pick.* “God, what a miserable bitch.”
*Fine. Be there within the hour,* Sabrina messaged back. Alex did not know about these exchanges with his mother. He thought they were meeting for brunch every time Sabrina went over. She would tell him one day, of course. But, not until his mother gave up. She would win this war on her own. Sabrina decided she needed to look strong, and powerful. Not like the demure lady her mother-in-law wanted her to be.
“I need to look like a badass bitch today,” she said as she looked at wardrobe. She tried on a few outfits, but ultimately decided on a tailored black stain blouse, and bold mustard yellow slacks. She paired the outfit with all black accessories, and dark red lipstick. On her way, she picked up some fresh flowers for his mother.
“Need to be a good daughter-in-law, after all,” she laughed to herself.
The attendant let her in when she arrived.
“Good day, Miss Sabrina.”
“Hello,” she greeted with a large smile. “Where is she?”
“In the sitting room. She is expecting you.”
“I’m sure she is,” Sabrina muttered as she followed the attendant.
“May I take your bag?”
“Yes, please. Thank you.” Sabrina handed her bag over. She walked into the sitting room, and Alex’s mom was perched on her couch. She looked like a cat that didn’t want to be noticed. “Hello, Magnolia.”
Magnolia was an imposing woman. Tall and statuesque, she had been a fashion model in her youth. His father was an art director and was often out of town. Alex helped with his father’s business, but also ran several independent art galleries in the city. Magnolia, herself, was a work of art. Sabrina might have thought of her as beautiful if she wasn’t such a horrible person.
“Have a seat,” she answered. Her voice was cold and clipped. Sabrina sat across from her; a bright smile plastered across her face. “Do you know why I’ve asked here today?” Magnolia looked her up and down, obviously disapproving of her outfit. Sabrina was pleased.
“I sure do. You want to offer me more money to leave your son. How much is it this time? Two million?”
“Is that not enough?”
“For the last and final time. I will not leave Alex for any amount of money. So, you can stop trying.”
“How about five million?”
“Are you deaf? I said no amount. You can’t buy him from me. Would you stop seeing Alex for money?”
“Of course not. He is my son.”
“And he is my man.”
“You’ll never be good enough for him!” Magnolia screamed.
“You mean I’ll never be good enough for you,” Sabrina challenged. “And that’s fine with me. Because you aren’t the one I’m trying to be with. I love Alex and he loves me and that it all that matters. Does he know you’ve done this with all of his other girlfriends?”
“How dare you insinuate…”
“Oh, drop it! I know you’ve paid off any other woman he’s dated. He’d be married by now if that wasn’t the case.”
“None of them were good enough for him. They would have ruined him.”
“He is not a little boy anymore. He is a grown man who is capable of making his own decisions.”
“He doesn’t know what he wants. I’m the only one that knows what’s best for him.”
“So, if I told him what you’re doing, he’d be totally fine with it, right?” Sabrina smirked.
“I… well… You wouldn’t dare tell him.”
“Oh, I would dare. In fact, I think I’ll tell him tonight. Like it or not, you are stuck with me. Alex and I are going to get married someday and there is not on damn thing you can do about it.”
“I’ll find him another girlfriend!” Magnolia threatened.
“Do it.” Sabrina called her bluff. “Go ahead. See how happy he gets with you if you try to separate us.”
“My son would never go against me. He wouldn’t.”
“Why don’t you like me? Give one good reason I should leave Alex.”
“Because you aren’t demure. You are too brash and stubborn for high society! You speak your mind and you just too bold.”
“He likes that about me. Try again.”
Magnolia opened and closed her mouth like a fish, but no words came out. Sabrina smiled, knowing she’d won this round.
“Always a pleasure, Magnolia,” Sabrina said, and then asked the attendant to bring her bag back. “We really should do this again sometime. Maybe we can have dinner when Alex and I announce our engagement.” Sabrina stood and started to walk away. As she reached the door, her stomach turned, and she threw up violently on the plush white carpet.
*Fuck.*
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