Chapter 36: What's Next?

“What did you just say? My mother?” Finn repeated. He couldn't have heard it correctly.
“Yes,” Gwen hiccupped, feeling an enormous weight lift off her shoulders. It was the first time she said it out loud since she told Stephanie about it. But reveal it to Finn specifically was entirely different. She had finally said the truth to him, and even though she was relieved for letting it out of her heart, she knew the worst was yet to come.
“Are you kidding me? I know my mother is complicated, but accusing her of something of this sort is pretty evil, Gwen.” he commented, frowning.
“I'm not accusing her, Finn. It's the truth, okay? She came to me on the day I found out I was pregnant. I don’t even know how she knew about us, let alone about my pregnancy, but she told me to leave you or I could never see my child after I gave birth, she would make sure of it," she explained, desperate.
Finn sneered.
“Come on, do you think my mom is that evil? Why would she do that to her own grandson or even worse, with me?” Finn asked, but it sounded to Gwen that he was actually asking that question to himself.
“She didn’t want you related to someone like me. A model, a poor woman, someone that didn’t come from a noble family. I represent everything she hates, Finn. She couldn't bear the idea of you staying with me.”
Finn was already shaking his head aggressively, refusing to believe.
“No, she wouldn’t do that. This is really low, even for you, Gwen. I didn’t think you’d come up with something stupid like this just to excuse yourself for leaving,” he stated, coldly. “I’m really disappointed,” Finn continued, and the look in his face was the death of her.
As if she wasn’t suffering enough, his cruelty only made her feel like he was stomping on her heart with a lot of anger and strength.
All her fears were coming to life. A small part of her was afraid that Finn would feel betrayed and sad after discovering what his mother did. But the other part of her, the bigger one, feared exactly that; that he wouldn’t believe her.
“Why would I make up these lies? I lost everything. I was pregnant, threatened and discovered that you cheated on me. How do you think I felt?” she yelled, feeling wronged.
“You know what? I can’t do this,” Finn said passing by her without even glancing at her. “I’m bringing Cody to my house tonight, and we’ll discuss this later. But don’t you think for a moment that you’ll have another chance to do this again. All authorities in the country are aware of your attempt, so if you try to take him even a few miles away from me, I’ll know about it,” Finn said with his back turned to her.
Gwen didn’t even react. Finn slammed the door behind her, but she didn’t move. All she felt were her legs giving in, and she collapsed on the floor.
She would reborn from the ashes; she had to. But she wouldn’t allow Finn to treat her that way. She had suffered enough, and even though her heart was smashed into pieces, she wouldn’t allow no one else to run over her ever again.
It was true that she was scared, his mother was capable of anything. But if he didn’t want to believe her, she would fight back. She couldn’t lose Cody. He was the only thing in her life that mattered now.
“Gwen! Gwen!” She heard someone calling her, and a slap on her face made her come back to reality.
Stephanie was looking at her, frightened and with red eyes.
“Get up! What happened?”
“Where is Cody?” Gwen was able to utter.
“Finn took him to his house. He said you two will talk when you pull yourself together. Both of you actually,” Stephanie answered.
Gwen felt her cheeks getting wet with tears again.
“He's going to take Cody away from me, Steph,” Gwen cried.
“Come on, let’s go home and you can tell me what happened after you calm down, alright?”
Gwen didn’t answer, and everything she did after that was automatic; her body was only acting out of impulse, she couldn’t think or feel a thing.
Stephanie prepared her a cup of tea to calm her nerves while Gwen took a hot shower and an aspirin. Her headache was killing her. After that, she sat on the couch and explained everything that occurred to her friend.
“So that’s what happened…” Stephanie reflected for a while. “I freaked out when Finn called me and asked where you were. He said that Cody’s teacher called him and said that you were acting weird when you picked him up,” Stephanie explained. “So we both tried to call you several times, but you didn’t answer. I decided to come to your apartment, and when I saw that some of your clothes and suitcases weren’t here, I knew immediately where you probably were.”
“How did you find me?” Gwen asked, still curious to understand how they were able to locate her inside a huge airport.
“Finn used his contacts, of course. He told them not to let you escape with Cody. It wasn’t that hard for someone like him, right?”
“What do I do now, Steph? She won’t allow me to stay here with Cody, but Finn will not let me leave either. I can’t lose my son.” Gwen stuck her face on Stephanie’s chest and started to cry again.
“Come on, Gwen. Calm down, we will think of something. We need to believe that Finn will realize you were telling the truth some day. It’s hard for someone to believe that your own mother is an evil monster. Give him some time.”
“I don’t have time, Steph. She was the one who sent me that letter. How am I going to negotiate anything with her?”
The doorbell rang loudly at that exact moment, scaring both of them, and almost making Gwen spill out the cold tea on the couch.
“Are you expecting someone?” Stephanie asked, frowning.
“No, could it be Finn with Cody?” Gwen replied, feeling anxious all of a sudden and getting up.
“I don’t think so,” Stephanie said, following Gwen with her eyes as she walked towards the door.
Gwen turned the doorknob and opened the door, only to be struck dumb at the sight in front of her.
“Good evening, Gwen,” the woman said with her polished tone.
It was Finn’s mother.