บททั้งหมดของ My mother's suspicious partner (The night between us): บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

"Six months, Rhea. You have been hiding him for six months." Maya's voice was sharp but not unkind. Rhea looked up from her spreadsheet and forced a smile that felt brittle on her face. "I am not hiding him," she said, though they both knew it was a lie. Maya leaned against the edge of her desk, arms crossed. "Then why does your mother still not know he exists?" Rhea looked down at her hands. The familiar knot tightened in her chest. She had tried to tell her mother so many times. She had rehearsed the words in front of the bathroom mirror, had practiced different approaches, and had convinced herself that this time would be different. But every time she opened her mouth, the words died in her throat. The truth was that Rhea was twenty-three years old, and she was still afraid of her mother. On the surface, Melissa Bennett was everything a daughter could want. She was hardworking and devoted and fiercely protective. She had raised Rhea alone, had worked double shifts and skipped

Deep breaths," Rhea whispered to her reflection. "Just breathe." The woman staring back at her looked like a stranger. The white dress her mother had bought hung perfectly on her frame, but it felt like armor, like something she was wearing to protect herself from what was coming. Her hands were trembling as she reached for her purse, and she had to stop and grip the edge of the sink to steady herself. She could still cancel and call her mother and make up an excuse and pretend she was sick, or something had come up. Many lies that were already piling up in her throat like stones. But she thought about Melissa's voice on the phone, bright and hopeful in a way she had not heard in years. The way her mother had laughed, light and free, like she had finally found something worth smiling about. She could not be the reason that happiness faded from her mother's eyes. So she grabbed her purse, walked out the door, and called an Uber. The restaurant was one of those places with dim light

Rhea was still in bed, still wearing yesterday's dress, when her phone rang and her mother's name appeared on the screen. She answered with trembling hands, bracing herself for the worst. "I've been thinking," Melissa said, her voice quiet but steady. "I overreacted." Rhea sat up, her heart pounding. "What?" "I'm not saying I approve," Melissa continued. "And I'm not saying I trust him but I'm trying. I'm trying for you." Tears welled in Rhea's eyes. "Thank you, Mom." "If I'm going to accept this," Melissa said, "I need to know he's serious. I need to meet his parents and see who raised him." Rhea frowned. "His parents?" "I gave my daughter to a man once and he destroyed me." Melissa's voice cracked. "I won't make that mistake again. If Noah wants to be with you, he needs to prove he's not like the rest." Rhea swallowed hard. "He's not like that." "Then prove it." Melissa's tone left no room for argument. "Have him bring his parents to dinner. I want to see who he comes from."

Rhea woke with a pounding headache and the bitter taste of dried tears on her lips. For one blissful second, she didn’t remember where she was. The ceiling above her was unfamiliar, the room too quiet. Then the memories returned all at once — Noah, Stanley, Serena, her mother’s lie, and the goodbye that still burned in her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the pain away, but it only settled deeper inside her. A soft noise drifted in from the living room. Footsteps. A cupboard closing. The faint clink of a coffee mug. She climbed out of bed and walked toward the sound. Alaric stood in the kitchen with his back to her, pouring coffee into a mug. At the sound of her footsteps, he turned. “You’re awake.” “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice rough from sleep. “Your mother called me.” Rhea frowned. “She was worried after last night. She asked me to check on you cause she knew you would end up here.” A bitter laugh escaped her. “So she sent you to babysit me?” “I

The shrill wail of ambulance sirens still rang in Alaric’s ears long after the emergency room doors had slammed shut behind Rhea’s stretcher. He stood frozen in the brightly lit corridor, his usually impeccable suit streaked with dirt and flecks of dried blood that weren’t his own. A shallow cut burned across the back of his hand where shattered glass had sliced him while pulling her from the wreckage, but the pain barely registered. His eyes remained locked on the glowing EMERGENCY sign above the double doors, silently begging them to open. Every second stretched into eternity. Doctors and nurses rushed past with charts and equipment. In the waiting area nearby, families huddled together whispering anxious prayers while a child cried somewhere down the hall. Yet despite all the noise and movement, the world felt eerily quiet to Alaric. All he could see was the haunting image of Rhea’s pale, unconscious face in the moments after the crash… the way the cab had folded around that conc