PART 3 — THE SECRET BEHIND MY MOTHER’S CRUELTY
After they took my mother downstairs for questioning, I stayed beside Lily.
She was sitting on the couch.
Wrapped in a blanket.
Still shaking.
I held her hand.
“I’m sorry.”
She looked at me.
“For what?”
“For not seeing it.”
Her eyes filled.
“I tried to tell you.”
My heart stopped.
“When?”
She looked away.
“Every time.”
The guilt hit harder.
Every time she became quiet.
Every time she avoided family dinners.
Every time she said:
“Your mother is just trying to help.”
She wasn’t protecting my mother.
She was protecting me.
Later that night, the police called.
They found something.
A hidden file on my mother’s tablet.
I opened it.
And my blood ran cold.
Videos.
Notes.
Schedules.
She had documented everything.
Not just Lily.
Other women too.
Former employees.
Relatives.
People she had “trained.”
Her words were written beside their names.
Weak.
Disobedient.
Needs correction.
My hands shook.
This wasn’t a one-time mistake.
This was who she was.
Then I found one final document.
A medical report.
For Lily.
My mother had requested it.
Without permission.
I opened it.
And froze.
Because attached was a message:
“If the baby is weak, Ethan will finally understand he chose the wrong woman.”
My vision blurred.
She wasn’t preparing Lily.
She was trying to prove Lily wasn’t good enough.
The next morning, I went to see my mother.
She was sitting in a private room.
Still calm.
Still arrogant.
“You came.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
She looked confused.
“Why what?”
“Why did you hate Lily?”
She laughed softly.
“I didn’t hate her.”
“Then what was this?”
I placed the documents down.
Her smile disappeared.
“You always did this,” I said.
“Did what?”
“Controlled everyone.”
She looked away.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
For the first time…
she looked tired.
“My own mother raised me the same way.”
Silence.
“She taught me weakness was dangerous.”
I stared.
“So you repeated it.”
Her eyes filled slightly.
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“No.”
My voice broke.
“You were protecting yourself.”
Then she whispered:
“She would have abandoned you.”
“Who?”
“Your father’s first wife.”
I froze.
“What?”
My mother looked at me.
“The reason I became like this.”
May you like
A new secret.
A secret I never knew.
