Tassach’s face turned icy. “What the hell are you talking about, mom?”
Mrs. Conduibh knew instantly that she misspoke. But, she thought, it’d be okay if she told him all about
it after all this time. Because her own son wouldn’t turn against her just for some girl, would he?
“She would have gotten locked up a long time ago had I not dropped the lawsuit against her.”
Tassach looked thunderous as he clenched his fingers into a fist. “Don’t you think you were way out of
line, mom?”
“How was I out of line?” demanded Mrs. Conduibh, “and how will that uneducated woman with inferior
upbringing ever be good enough for you? She wanted to become the modern Cinderella and marry a
prince, well then, I buried her under the cinder. But she got lucky, scoring herself Zachariah Chambers
the moment you were out of her life. If you ask me, I think she was stringing both of you along, because
how else could she have married into the Chambers family so quickly? Only a fool like you would fall
for her innocent pretense. Do you know the kind of reputation she has with the upper class? They all
regard her as a gold-digger who would service someone’s grandpa for money. It’s completely beyond
me how you would fall for this cheap skank.”
“Mom!” yelled Tassach, infuriated, “I would never, never expect such acrimony and hostility from you –
directed towards a girl you’ve hardly met, no less! I don’t think I even know you anymore. To me, you
were always so kind and gentle, but today? To be frank with you, mom, you let me down today.”
Staring at him incredulously, Mrs. Conduibh asked, “Are you seriously censuring your own mother for
that cheap woman?”
“If you were right, mom, I would absolutely respect you, but nothing you just said should come from an
educated and respectable lady like yourself. That was genuinely disappointing.”
Mrs. Conduibh, angry and distressed, pointed a shaky finger at Tassach. “How dare you. I’ve been a
loving mom to you for almost thirty years, but now I couldn’t compare to her. What exactly is so great
about her that got you follow her around like a loyal puppy after more than four years? Do you wish me
dead, Tassach? Are you trying to get rid of me completely?”
“That’s by no means what I meant, mom. I’m just a bit disappointed in you today, that’s all.”
Chest heaving, Mrs. Conduibh struggled for breath. “You really fancy yourself as a top dog now, huh,
criticizing your own mother like this. You’ll land me in a hospital if you continue like this.”
But Tassach didn’t budge. “I never intended to criticize you, mom, but don’t you think you were out of
line?”
Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Conduibh said, “Ophelia Lowe is in your past, my dear boy. She married
into a prominent family and is herself a proper lady now, and she won’t become yours no matter what
feelings you still have for her. Why don’t you abandon that sinking ship and settle down with Grace?”
Stone-faced, Tassach replied, “I don’t like Grace, like, at all. And I’ll continue to be indifferent about her
even if she’s a goddess of beauty.”
Mrs. Conduibh could feel anger burning in her chest like a fire. “Will you ever stop before you murder
me with that crappy attitude?”
Tassach pursed his lips in complete silence.
Mrs. Conduibh started her guilt-tripping routine. “Is this how you treat your own mommy?” she wailed,
“the woman who poured her heart and soul into raising and caring for you? I didn’t say anything when
you took the side of the skank in the past, because you were young and blinded by love. But now, at
almost thirty, your impetuous accusations against me for some random woman is like a stab in my
heart. Do you understand that?”
Tassach remained sitting silently on the sofa.
Mrs. Conduibh felt a rage building up in her. “Are you really turning against your mother for some
woman, son?”
“Mom,” spoke Tassach, his voice slightly cracked, “I simply want an answer on what happened four
years ago.”
“What answer? The only answer I have for you is that she was a gold-digging woman who slept
around, and that you were way out of her league.”
Tassach rose suddenly and stared down his mother. “I’m not having this fight with you. You don’t want
to give me a straight answer? That’s fine. I’ll be off then.”
“Stop right there!”
Tassach stopped walking. “Anything else you want from me?”
“You will stay here for the night, and tomorrow you will come with me when I go meet the Kings. Grace
is very upset right now, and her parents are also very angry at you for having treated her like that. So
you’ll come with me and apologize to her in person tomorrow.”
“No, I will not,” retorted Tassach.
“Tassach!” yelled Mrs. Conduibh, whose volume was high enough to wake up the entire house.
“What is happening?” came an elderly voice from upstairs, “I can hear your fight from my room.”
Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Conduibh rose and walked over to give old Mr. Conduibh a hand. “What are
you doing downstairs, sir?”
“I’m here to stop you from killing each other, is what I’m doing,” answered the older man, shooting her a
look.
Mrs. Conduibh, in return, could only force out an awkward smile.
Sitting down on the sofa, old Mr. Conduibh pointed at the other end of sofa and demanded, “Sit down,
Tassach.”
But Tassach remained standing up stubbornly.
“I don’t want to have to ask twice.”
And sit down Tassach did, finally.
“Now tell me, what are you two fighting about this time?”
Tassach was silent. Mrs. Conduibh, however, spilled out her complaints. “It’s that Ophelia woman,
again. He came back today to interrogate me on what I’d done four years ago.”
It was always about Ophelia.
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