Divorced But Never Letting Go Chapter 130

RENE

 “How did it go?” my mom asked as I ended the call with Adrian.

 I sighed, still gripping the phone tightly. “Honestly? I don’t know. He seemed madly in love with Olivia,” I admitted, my voice laced with frustration.

 I wasn’t convinced we were heading in the right direction. Adrian wasn’t as easy to manipulate as Cyril had been, and it was beginning to show.

 It was my mom’s idea to use Olivia as bait to get Adrian, and at first, it sounded like the perfect plan. After all, we’d heard plenty about Adrian’s family’s generational wealth. We figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take our slice of it.

 But now, it was starting to feel like one of the worst decisions I’d ever made.

 “Do you think we should involve Ghost in this?” my mother suggested, watching me carefully as I paced the room. She could tell I was struggling to figure out our next move.

 “Ghost?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “The same Ghost who couldn’t even eliminate Olivia after multiple attempts? Come on, Mom. I’m not convinced.”

 I shut that idea down immediately. I wasn’t about to risk sending Ghost on another assignment he’d already failed at miserably. The last time I checked, Olivia already suspected I was behind the assassination attempts on her life.

 My mom frowned but didn’t argue. She knew I was right.

 I spent the next few minutes pacing the living room, racking my brain for a solution. But no matter how hard I tried, my mind remained blank—like the empty pages of a newspaper.

 And judging by the look on my mom’s face, she wasn’t coming up with any brilliant ideas, either.

 As I mulled over my thoughts, my phone rang. I glanced at the screen and saw Cyril’s name flashing.

 “What the heck,” I hissed under my breath.

 I pretended like no one had called. Cyril was the last person I wanted to talk to right now.

 Every day, he made it harder for me to understand him. I had begged him at least a thousand times to make me CEO of Penhurst Company, and not once had he granted my request.

 This wasn’t what I’d envisioned when I decided to take on this damn journey.

 “Who was that?” my mother asked, raising an eyebrow.

 I didn’t answer. Instead, I folded my arms and racked my brain for a possible solution.

 Relentlessly, she got up and walked toward me. “Does this have anything to do with the call? You know you can always trust me, right?”

 I pulled away from her, frustration simmering beneath my skin. “Mom, it’s Cyril.”

 “Cyril?” she muttered, as if she had no clue who I was talking about.

 “Seriously, Mom? Are we doing this now? Don’t you know who Cyril is anymore?” I frowned, unimpressed by her fake pretense.

 My mother wasn’t usually a joker, especially not in delicate situations like this.

 “Oh, Cyril Penhurst?” she said suddenly, snapping her fingers as though she’d just remembered.

 I stared at her, stunned.

 “Call him back immediately. Why would you ignore his calls?” she demanded.

 I blinked, convinced I must have misheard her. I even cleaned my ears to make sure my eardrums weren’t damaged.

 I stayed silent, waiting for her to repeat herself.

 “Are you deaf? What is wrong with you? Put a call through to Cyril right now!” she yelled, her voice booming.

 I stood there, feeling lost and utterly confused.

 Why was she so insistent on me returning Cyril’s call? She was slowly deviating from the plan, and it seemed like she didn’t even realize it.

 While I hesitated, my mother snatched the phone from my hand. Without hesitation, she called Cyril herself, then shoved the phone back at me.

 “Talk to him,” she ordered, her tone firm. “And put it on speaker.”

 My hands trembled as I set the phone down on the stool and switched to speaker mode.

 I had no idea what to say—I never intended to speak to Cyril in the first place.

 “Why weren’t you taking my calls? I was damn worried about you,” Cyril said, his voice filled with concern.

 His words were so gentle, so unexpected, that I froze. Coming from someone whose calls I’d deliberately ignored, I half-expected him to punch me through the phone.

 I glanced at my mom and saw her ad-libbing, silently warning me not to hang up the phone.

 She had read my thoughts perfectly—that was exactly what I’d planned to do.

 “I was sleeping. I’m sorry. Where are you now?” I lied smoothly.

 To make it more convincing, I yawned and spoke as though I’d just rolled out of bed.

 “I’m heading to your place. I’m close by. I just wanted to call and confirm if you were home,” Cyril said.

 The moment he said that, my chest tightened. This wasn’t how I wanted my day to go. I’d intended to avoid him, at least until I was done with Adrian.

 To make matters worse, he was coming over on the exact day my mom had decided to visit me.

 “Let him come,” my mom whispered, her eyes glinting with mischief.

 Here we go again—another one of her risky plans.

 “Are you there? Why aren’t you saying anything? If you don’t want me to show up, I can just turn around and head home,” Cyril said, sounding irritated.

 It wasn’t exactly surprising—my behavior had been testing his patience for a while.

 “No, it’s not what you think,” I said quickly, cutting him off before he could hang up.

 “I’ll be expecting you,” I added before ending the call.

 I had already wasted too much time talking to him. Now it was just a matter of minutes before Cyril showed up—and found my mother in my apartment.

 “You heard him, didn’t you? So, what’s the plan now?” I asked her, my voice tense.

 If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have even returned Cyril’s call. I needed her to give me a solution, and it had better be convincing.

 “I’ve got a plan,” my mom said, smiling like she didn’t have a care in the world.

 Her calm, mischievous expression caught me off guard. She always found a way to surprise me when things were about to spiral.

 “What plan, Mom? Are you aware that Cyril is right outside my house? Do you want him to find you here?” I hissed, panicking.

 Before she could answer, I heard the sound of a car honking outside.

 My pulse spiked as I rushed to the window. Peeking through the curtain, I saw Cyril stepping out of his car.

 “Mom, it’s him! You need to go hide!” I whispered frantically. My heart pounded harder than it ever had before.

 While I panicked, my mom remained calm, like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

 She reassured me in a low, soothing voice, but I wasn’t convinced.

 Before I could press her further, she moved closer, leaned in, and whispered something in my ear.

 I froze.

 And then, I screamed.

 The plan she just described was far more dangerous than I had imagined.