Chapter 248 Extreme Defensiveness
"Darwin's told you quite a bit, huh?" Anniston looked at Darwin. "You haven't actually lost your mind, thinking she’s Fiona?"
Darwin silently watched her.
"Anniston, being in your womb wasn’t his choice. Over those years, you and Grandma Solomon turned him into someone self-absorbed and cold-blooded. But even then, wasn’t he good to you? Your relatives screwed up the Solomons' finances time and again, and who was it that always filled those gaps? When you realized he was out of control, you conspired with the Solomons’ higher-ups to kick him out. Did maternal love cross your mind when you were bullying him to the point of fighting back?" Fiona’s words resonated powerfully.
During Fiona's time by Darwin's side, Anniston had almost reached new heights of treachery.
Especially after Grandma Solomon's dementia, Anniston acted like she had no one to answer to, driven by a desire to commandeer the Solomons and become the new matriarch her ambitions plain for all to see.
And on that path, the first person she wanted to eliminate was Darwin.
"You... Who the hell are you?" Anniston sensed that something was amiss.
Fiona watched her with a detached gaze.
"Don't rush. You'll find out who I am sooner or later."
"Alright, no more sulking. Get in the car, we're going home." Darwin had relaxed his grip on Fiona's hand, returning to a more gentle hold.
His Fiona.
Unwavering.
Always resolutely on his side.
"Some people, they don't even care about the bond between mother and child anymore. You don't have to either. If someone needs to be tied up and thrown out, then do it!" Fiona said with a firm voice.
Darwin smiled and nodded, "Got it, I'll listen to my wife."
Fiona: "..."
He sure knows how to play his cards right.
Fiona didn't pay any more attention to Anniston and got into the car.
Moments later.
Fiona started the car and drove away.
Darwin's face was beaming with joy.
"Who is she, exactly?" Anniston demanded.
"Mom," Darwin looked at Anniston, still addressing her the same way, "You said that by not telling you about this, I was trying to steal your so-called maternal love. You're wrong."
Anniston smirked at him.
"I didn't say anything because I knew that after giving birth, you rushed back to work and didn't take proper care of yourself, making it nearly impossible for you to have another child." Darwin's voice was cold. "If you knew I wasn't your son, it would devastate you. Grandma and I had a pact that we’d never let you find out this secret. Even after you started suffocating me in order to get your hands on the Solomons' assets, I never wavered from my decision to stay by your side as your son and take care of you in your old age. Once, I really did regard you as my mother."
Anniston’s hands trembled, visibly shaking Darwin.
"I'll still deposit money for your care into your account every month," Darwin said, looking at the bloated woman in the dimly lit parking area.
In fact, when he was still young...
His mother had given him fond memories.
When he was sick with a fever, she would stay up all night comforting him.
When he fell, she would drop whatever she was doing and rush to wrap him in her arms.
Later...
She returned to work at Solomons, and he would often go long periods without seeing his parents, eventually being sent to live with his grandmother.
Anniston and Grandma Solomon held deep grudges against each other.
Even a long-awaited child, raised under the wing of an enemy, would inevitably drift away from Anniston. Moreover, out of fear that her son had long been a part of Grandma Solomon's side, she remained wary of him.
These emotions accumulated over time.
Eventually, it made the mother-son relationship unrecognizable.
"Let's cut ties for good," Darwin spoke with a chilling indifference he had always maintained.
After that, he turned and walked back to the temple.
Anniston stood still.
After a moment, she crouched down, covered her face, and began to weep bitterly.
I've spent a lifetime fighting, and in the end, I've come up empty-handed!
No! Unacceptable!
The measly two million Darwin tosses my way each month... what's that supposed to be?!
Enough with the bawling.
The chill in the air was like a slap of reality.
Suddenly, most of Anniston's clouded thoughts cleared.
She stared at the tire tracks on the ground, the image of that woman’s face flashing in her mind.
Who she was... a mystery.
But her fervent defense of Darwin – that was clear evidence of her feelings for him.
No woman on earth could tolerate her lover harboring someone else in his heart.
If that bothered her, then there was room to drive a wedge.
Staggering to her feet, Anniston looked in the direction Darwin had left in.
You think we're done? You and your half-hearted affections have nurtured a beast!
I swear, I’ll make you suffer love unrequited, to the brink of despair!
*
As Fiona drove home, she rolled down her window halfway.
The cool breeze was a balm to her weary mind.
Five years had been enough time to carve everything deep into her very bones.
Her urge to protect Darwin hadn’t waned one bit since.
Anniston’s fury – rattling curses at the mere sight of Darwin – just showed how deep her madness ran when their secret first came to light. It surely hadn’t lessened any.
Back then...
He was ill, languishing in bed over his loss...
The thought choked Fiona up a bit.
When she got home, Ashton had already arrived, humming a tune while stocking fresh groceries in the fridge.
"What are you up to?" Fiona leaned against the bar.
Startled, Ashton clutched at his chest, "Honey, do you move in complete silence?"
"No, but Mrs. Walker here is so lost in her newlywed bliss she wouldn't hear a marching band."
Blushing, Mrs. Walker awkwardly twisted her body, "I messed up breakfast last time, so I have to redeem myself tomorrow morning~"
Fiona gave her a thumbs-up: "But why not move in with him by the lake? Why wear yourself out running back and forth just for breakfast?"
Ashton was worried about Fiona but couldn't say it outright.
"You don’t get it. There needs to be a period of getting to know each other, even when married."
Fiona thought about it.
Her thing with Darwin... They never really had a proper courtship.
It started with a business deal and it ended with life and death.
There was just that brief period after she quit her job when she and Darwin had something resembling a romance.
"Well, here's to sweet love," Fiona yawned, "I’ve got a big presentation tomorrow. I need to get some sleep."
"Is Lilian your competition?" Ashton quickly added, "Then go rest! I want you to look absolutely flawless!"
"I just need my proposal to be flawless," Fiona said dismissively as she languidly climbed the stairs.
Ashton's gaze wandered back to the kitchen once more—a mental checklist of ingredients—and with a contented sigh, she ascended the staircase. Before slipping into bed, she meticulously set three separate alarms. It was her failsafe against the siren's call of sleep threatening to keep her under its spell well past dawn.
In the quiet moments before sleep took her, a ping from her phone cut through the silence. It was a WhatsApp message from Kenny. Ashton eagerly tapped the notification and a warm, amused smile graced her lips as she snuggled into the covers.
"Goodnight, Mrs. Walker. (From a Mr. Walker who's feeling a tad blue without his goodnight kiss.)"
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