Chapter 49: Mother and Son

“What are you doing here?” Finn asked, recovering from the shock of seeing the woman at the door. He had just received the call he was waiting for the entire day, and he did not expect her to show up so soon. In fact, he wasn’t expecting to see her at all.
Marcy sneered, passing by Gwen as if she was just part of the furniture. She didn’t even glance at her.
“It came to my attention that you were investigating me,” she said towards Finn. “Imagine my surprise to know that my son was sending detectives to put their noses in my businesses?”
Gwen watched, with her mouth opened, the woman make herself at home as usual when she simply grabbed the glass of wine they were drinking at the balcony and sat on the couch.
Finn’s expression was hard to read. Gwen couldn’t tell if he was shocked, angry, sad or disappointed. Or maybe it was all of those.
Marcy opened her small crocodile skin handbag and took a cigarette from it, lit it up and inhaled very deeply, unconcerned about the two staring at her in disbelief.
Finn wasn’t interested to know how his mother had discovered about his investigations on her; he was much more curious about other matters.
“Why did you do that to me? Why did you tell Gwen to leave me and even kidnap my son? Don’t you have a heart?” Finn spat it all at once, his brows furrowed, his expression finally revealing how much pain he should be feeling inside.
Gwen always feared that; that when Finn discovered all the things that Mrs. Lane was capable of, he would be devastated. She didn’t know how close they were, but she could imagine how that would hurt him deeply. She was his mother after all, the woman who raised him.
“Finn, my dear, you are a father now, so you probably agree that you would do anything to protect your child from anyone that might want to harm him, right? I thought that would be very clear for you by now,” Marcy explained, her eyes still wandering around the apartment, looking for things to criticize.
Gwen clenched her fists and her teeth. There was so much she wanted to say to that woman, but she knew that moment was not hers. It was a conversation between mother and son, and even though she was a part of the story, she had no right to intervene.
“And how could you possibly know that Gwen was going to harm me? You never knew her, and you know how I loved her back then. Didn’t you think about my feelings?” Finn raised his voice; his anger finally getting control over the situation.
“I know how to read people. You’ve been in business for quite a while now, so you should know that, Finn. People will get the best of you and take everything from you if you don’t watch your back.”
“Like you did with Vivienne’s father? Yeah, you’re right. I should’ve learned how to watch my back and protect myself from people like him. And you. You sold me out and didn’t even care about my feelings. You basically sold my company!” he yelled, passing his fingers through his hair aggressively, messing it out completely.
Gwen could tell from his actions that it was very hard for him to control that eruption of feelings coming out at once. Even so, his manners didn’t allow him to be rude or wicked with his mother, even after learning everything she did to his life.
Marcy looked at him for the first time, her eyes piercing his, analyzing him. Gwen realized that she wasn’t expecting Finn to have that information. She came prepared to face him and talk about the investigation he did on her, but she probably wasn’t expecting it to be so deep.
“So your detectives really did their homework, right?” she put out the cigarette directly on the wood table, making Gwen gasp. That chould be a million dollar table carved by hand; an unique piece for sure. And she did that as if it was nothing much.
Finn was still waiting for an answer; he didn’t even blink at her.
“Well, by the time we made that agreement, it was something good for business and for you. I needed a wedding to cause a buzz in the media and also an heir. And you didn’t give me either of them.” Marcy said, getting up from the couch.
Gwen involuntarily took a couple steps forward, already prepared to get in the middle of anything the woman was about to do to Finn. Gwen's blood was boiling with anger; all she wanted was to beat the sh*t out of that woman… For making her suffer for so long, for making Cody grow up without a father, for causing Finn so much pain. And for what? Nothing in the world would make sense for a mother to treat a son that way.
“Also, Vivienne’s father has a lot of contacts and he’s good with business. He helped our company’s profit increase insanely at the beginning. You were too young and inexperienced to understand his importance.”
“Is that the only thing that matters to you? Money?” Finn said disdainfully, his judgment clear in his voice.
“Isn't money what moves the world? And us, humans? Don’t come to lecture me, young boy. You are where you’re at today because of me.” Marcy’s voice raised a few notches, causing Gwen to feel chills all over her spine.
“And because of my father,” he added, breaking Marcy’s expression immediately. Gwen never saw the woman lose her cold and heartless character. Now, she was huffing like a mad woman.
“Your father was a weak and stupid man,” she replied, her nose very close to Finn’s nose now. Finn didn’t move, but Gwen could see him trying to stop his hands from shaking. The woman was getting the best of him; he could not allow her to get into his skin.
“I made this company what it is today. Your father was always thinking about his employees, that’s why he never made enough money to make us big like we should be,” Marcy explained, the disgust in her voice very clear. She talked about Finn’s father like his good manners and caring concern for his employees was something worthy of pity.
“My father was the best man I knew. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably be a horrible and selfish person like you.”
Gwen cringed at the sound of a sharp slap. Finn’s eyes opened with shock, his mouth slightly opened by the impact of Marcy's hand on his cheek. In a split second, Gwen was standing in front of Finn, ready to receive the next slap, if the woman intended to do it again.
“Ha, what a joke you are, lady. Aren’t you tired of humiliating yourself? Don’t you see that you can’t even sustain a character good enough to be by his side? Aren’t you afraid to be seen as the gold-digger model who married a billionaire CEO just because of your good looks? You won’t be young forever, missy,” Marcy concluded, looking at Gwen from head to toe with a disgusted expression.
“You couldn’t be half the woman that Gwen is. And her appearance has nothing to do with that,” Finn said, grabbing Gwen’s hand and squeezing it. “She is the best mother to Cody, one you never were to me. And she’s also an amazing woman. A professional, independent, strong, caring and intense woman. Beautiful in all sorts of way.”
Gwen’s eye filled with unshed tears, but she held them in, praying that she didn’t cry in front of that woman. That wouldn’t happen again. Never.
“Let's see if you’ll still think that in a few years, my boy.” Marcy grabbed her purse and walked towards the door, deciding that the conversation was over. “It's a pity that you don’t see what I did for you, for your future. If one day you regret being an idiot because of a pair of beautiful legs, I might consider forgiving you.”
She slammed the door behind her, making Gwen and Finn let out a long sigh. Gwen couldn’t think of anything to say, so she simply wrapped her arms around him and pulled him for a tight hug.
Words weren’t necessary at that moment. She knew that nothing she had to say to him would make things less painful. He had to go through that period of grief, if she could put it that way. It was very hard to process and digest all that had happened.
But Gwen was more than willing to help and comfort him during his battle with his feelings. They had all the time in the world now. And the only thing she hoped was that all the threats had ended for good.