2 📽️ IS MY MOTHER REALLY A WHORE?

LORIAH

I watch, my stomach tightening with nausea as Sebastian leans forward and claims Mama’s lips in a deep kiss.

My attention isn’t focused on their disgusting lip locking. It’s on Mama. On the way she curls her fingers around his shirt and offers her mouth so easily.

One thing is certain: this is a disaster of epic proportions.

A year ago, Mama, Lola and I lived in the small, sleepy town of Romford. We were barely scraping by, surviving mostly on the tiny wages that Mama made from her housekeeping jobs. Some days we slept hungry, but we were managing just fine.

Until calamity struck.

Mrs. Johnson, a valued member of the high school board, came home unannounced and met Mama on her knees, giving her husband a blow job whilst she was supposed to be dusting windows.

The news spread through the town like wildfire. That period was one of the darkest of my entire life.

We were bullied everywhere. I tried my best to protect Lola but no one protected me.

Mama almost drank herself into a coma. She was fired by her agency, and no one else would let her into their home.

One mighty fine day, she went out to God knows where and came back home with stars in her eyes.

“Loriah!” She’d said, “you won’t believe the luck we’ve had! The one and only Sebastian Von Hale offered me a job in his mansion in London. Can you believe it? London!”

No, I couldn’t believe it. Which is why I did some very intensive digging on the man.

My suspicions tripled when I discovered that Sebastian Von Hale wasn’t just rich, he was god-level wealthy. He owned the most successful biotech company in London, grossing billions in profit every month.

Things got interesting when I discovered that he had three sons. The youngest died in an accident ten years ago, and the oldest had stripped himself of the Von Hale name, forfeiting his inheritance.

Oh, and the icing on the cake? Sebastian is very much married.

His wife, Violeta Von Hale, just happens to suffer from dementia at the young age of forty.

To make things worse, Mrs. Von Hale lives here with us, in the very mansion where my mother is currently exchanging saliva with her husband.

Mama will be the death of me. I will never understand what she sees in other people’s husbands!

“Mama, can I speak with you for a moment?” I ask, fighting hard to tamp down my rage.

She opens her mouth to respond but just then, the air shifts, and the fine hairs on the back of my neck prickle with unease.

I don’t need to turn to know he’s here.

“What the fuck is going on?” Zakari’s voice booms throughout the large foyer.

I shut my eyes tight, praying to the Lord to just take me. Life was hard enough when Zakari merely hated me and my family.

With this new development, I’m pretty sure he’ll find a way to kill us all.

“I asked a question, dad. What is this?”

To my surprise, he stops beside me, anger pouring off his large frame in waves.

Sebastian’s eyes harden with annoyance.

“Mind your language, son. If you must know,” his gaze softens when it strays to Mama, “I asked Naomi to marry me tonight. And she said yes.”

I shut my eyes even tighter, waiting for the explosion to come.

But Zakari’s calm, quiet response is worse than any magnitude of violent rage.

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me.” Sebastian straightens his cuffs, obviously bored of the questioning. “We have a wedding to plan.”

Zakari steps forward; “what the hell is wrong with you? You have a wife upstairs, yet you’re talking about being engaged to some whore? Did I miss something?”

Whore?!

I want to defend my mother’s honour. I want to scream that she’s not a whore; but years ago, I watched her charge sleazy men in Romford five dollars for blowjobs in our basement. I am fresh out of defenses.

Sebastian, on the other hand, is already beet red and ready to defend his fiancée.

“You will refer to Naomi with respect, you little shit, understood?”

“I will refer to her however the fuck I want!” Zakari snaps right back. “How can you be so fucking selfish? Does mother know about this?”

“Your mother has dementia.” Sebastian points out sourly. “Besides, the doctors say she might never recover. I am a healthy man in his prime, Zakari. I’ve got needs. You thought I was going to wipe her ass for the rest of my life?”

Turns out, Sebastian is a class A jerk. And a sorry excuse for a husband. How fitting.

I fully expect Zakari to start throwing punches, father-son relationship be damned. Hell, I wouldn’t even blame him.

Surprisingly, he turns on his heel and heads for the grand stairs, his lips tight with fury.

“Where are you going?” Sebastian asks.

“To talk to my mother. Not that you’d care.”

“There’s no need for that.”

My heart stutters in my chest. Judging from Sebastian’s expression, I know he’s about to say something devastating.

“What do you mean?” Zakari snarls.

Sebastian shrugs.

“Your mother is not here. I had her sent to a nursing home.” He slings an arm around Mama’s shoulders; “Naomi and I will get married very soon. I need the extra space for my new wife.”

Three seconds. That is all it takes for everything to go haywire.

One moment, Zakari is boiling at the foot of the stairs, and the next, he’s lunging for his father with a loud, animalistic roar.

Fists and blood fly in equal proportions as Zakari pins Sebastian to the wall and proceeds to pummel his face like a punching bag.

“Somebody help!” Mama screeches, “they’re going to kill each other! Please, help!"

Within seconds, Sebastian’s armed guards pour into the foyer. It takes a lot of effort to pluck Zakari from his bleeding father. Three guards restrain him while he growls;

“You’re nothing but an evil, selfish bastard! You don’t deserve my mother! I hate you!”

My heart twists with guilt. Somehow, I feel this is all my fault. I should have seen this coming.

I need to fix this. And in order for that to happen, I have to speak to Mama.

My gaze zeroes in on her squatting beside Sebastian, whispering frantically while the guards attend to his bleeding nose.

I stalk forward, snatch her arm and propel her into the nearest powder room.

“What the—? Where are you taking me? I need to attend to my fiancé!”

I push her brittle frame into the room, not bothering to grace that statement with a response.

Fiancé my big, fat ass.

Just before I shut the doors, goosebumps pebble my skin. Someone is watching me.

I look up and sure enough it’s none other than Zakari Von Hale. His eyes are coal black, his fingers balled into fists.

If looks could kill, I’d be lying in a pile of my own ashes by now.

***

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Mama?!” The words tear out of me the moment I turn around.

Her eyes widen in surprise at the fury in my tone.

All my life, I have always been a good child. I never gave mama trouble. I never questioned her. I picked up odd jobs to contribute to our meager upkeep when her salary failed to sustain us. And I have never sworn at her in my life.

But being “a good child” in this situation will get us nowhere.

“Loriah, watch your mouth!”

“I will watch my mouth when you stop making bad fucking decisions!” I snap right back. “How could you accept Sebastian’s proposal when you’re well aware that he’s married?! Mrs. Von Hale opened her home to us and this is how you repay her? Have you no shame?!”

Mama’s eyes take on a steely glint.

“Don’t you dare speak to me about shame when you’ve never walked a day in my shoes, little girl. I am doing this for you and your sister. The least you can do is stop being an ungrateful brat!”

Good Lord, I cannot bloody believe this.

I heave a sigh, praying to the gods for self control.

“I have a bad feeling about this engagement, Mama. It’s a terrible idea. I need you to go out there and call it off.”

A strange emotion takes over her features, but it’s gone before I can decipher what it is;

“It’s not that simple, Loriah.”

“Why?!” I screech.

She looks away, but not before I spot the guilt in her eyes.

My blood runs cold.

“You’ve slept with him, haven’t you?”

She doesn’t deny it.

Anger, frustration and a painful sense of betrayal slam into me all at once, threatening to choke me.

“I thought you changed, Mama. How long has this been going on?”

She plucks at the hem of her dress, keeping her lips stubbornly shut.

“I said how long?!”

She jumps.

“Before I got the job, okay? And don’t you dare give me that judgmental attitude, Loriah. The great sex I offered is the reason you can live in this mansion and attend that fancy college. You should be grateful to me. All I have ever done is for you and your sister!”

She cannot be serious.

“Do you ever think about the consequences of your actions? About how they make us suffer?

I can forfeit the fancy school if I have to, but if you’ve got a strip of conscience left, you will call off this engagement.”

Her eyes lower to the floor and in that moment, I know I’m fighting a losing battle.

“I c-can’t.”

“You can’t or you won’t?”

“Both.” She holds my gaze, her eyes blazing with determination and defeat all at once.

“I shouldn’t have kept this from you, Loriah, but I did not want you to worry. Lola's condition worsened last month.

When I told you she went off to summer camp for a month, it was a lie. Your sister was in the hospital, fighting for her life.”

A cold wash of dread drains the blood from my face. I stagger backwards, my back meeting the door as my knees buckle.

“Wh-what?”

Mama wipes the tears on her cheeks;

“The only reason she’s here with us is because of Sebastian’s help. He paid for Lola to receive the best treatment from the best hospital in the city.

The medical bill cost more than fifty thousand dollars, and she’s still receiving treatment.”

There’s a small pause, and deep down, I know it only gets worse from here;

“Sebastian said the only way I can repay him is by agreeing to become his wife. If I refuse, not only will we be indebted to him, but Lola’s treatment will cease immediately.”

The desperation in her eyes nearly kills me;

“If I cancel the engagement, your sister will die…”