Wife Swap ✔️

49

Athena Pov

I scan my surrounding searching for one particular woman. I should never have let Lia talk me into coming here. She is outside waiting for me or an opportunity to walk in and give our mother in law a piece of her mind.

"Athena!" I hear my name being called and i turn to its source.

I quickly spot her and i am surprised to see that she came with Mason's father. Why do i love to torture myself? I walk towards and my mother in law has a huge grin on her face. A complete opposite of the expression she wears whenever she is around me.

"Am i glad you came," She stands to hug me and i just snub her and pull my seat to sit.

Once seated my eyes stare at both of the one at a time as silence settles among us. I still don't understand why she came with her husband. I have never liked being near him, he always has that unsettling face of disgust.

"I will leave you two to talk." He says and stands to leave. He nods at me awkwardly acknowledging me and leaves.

His wife watches him until she is sure he has disappeared out of sight. They are a weird couple , steeped in self-righteousness.

"So protective, even after all these years." She says, and i turn to roll my eyes. There is nothing protective about that man, obsessive, possessive, controlling... and so on; is what he is. He has no faith a woman is to be trusted on her own, i have seen those traits in Mason and Tyler.

I decide to waste no time and be straight, "Why did you call me here, Evelyn?" I ask, my voice tinged with a mix of curiosity and caution.

She smiles, "Why don't we have something to eat first," She dismisses my question.

"I already ate." I have no room for being polite, she never was with me.

She purses her lips, clearly annoyed by me but she knows that i am the one with the power now and it is wise she remains polite to me. I can't help but notice the faint lines etched at the corners of her eyes.

She takes a deep breath, her hands clasped together, trembling ever so slightly. "I am his mother and i can't bear seeing what my son is becoming without you." She utters her gaze softening.

I feel no kind of remorse at her present state of vulnerability. In fact i devilishly happy about it. Before her words would move me, but not to day. The only thing to be moved today are my eyes as they roll at her.

"You don't say." I spit.

"I know i shouldn't be the one saying this to you..."

"Just like you were the instigators of the wife swap..." I cut into her words and snap at her.

"I was trying to help..."

"Well these are the fruits of your interference." I say irritated.

She rubs her eyes, "If you give him another chance, i will leave both of you alone." She persists.

"It is too late now. There's nothing left to be said." I say and a waiter comes over. She makes her order while i just ask for a zombie cocktail.

As the waiter walks away, carrying our orders to the kitchen, I take a moment to collect my thoughts. Evelyn's words echo in my mind, her plea for another chance, for reconciliation. But I can't bring myself to consider it, not after everything that has happened.

I watch her fidget with her napkin, her eyes searching for a way to break through my stubbornness. She clears her throat and begins again, her voice laced with desperation. "Athena, I understand that I made mistakes. I should have respected your marriage and never interfered. But please, I beg of you, don't let my son's mistakes lead to this. Divorce is permanent."

"They are not just mistakes. He openly showed me that he hated me by cheating on me. He doesn't love me; none of your sons are capable of." I bark at her.

She huffs with amusement, "You have been listening to that smell fungus girl." She says with disgust referring to Lia. "She never deserved Tyler, do you even know what she used to say about you?" She adds.

I am accustomed to her tactics of divide and conquer, that is what she would do when Lia was still married to Tyler. She would pit us against each other, which never worked and never will.

I laugh, "I don't care,"

Evelyn's façade begins to crack, and for a brief moment, I catch a glimpse of the woman behind the polished exterior—the woman who is desperate to repair the fractured bonds within her family. I know how her husband and her hate divorced women or people they deem to come from ′broken home'. It must be scary for them that they are becoming what they hate.

Her normal side starts to show as she realizes that she can no longer control the narrative.

"You two brats have nothing it takes to sustain a marriage. Do you know what i have had to endure to be still married to my husband?" She asks.

I twist my lips in a mock expression, "I do have a clear picture of that and i am good." i say. The waiter returns with our orders, placing them carefully on the table.

She shakes her head as the waiter leaves, "Ten years from now, you will both be regretting when you are all alone. Thump your chest all you want. Mason is a man, he is secure for life unlike us." She says and instead of being angry i feel sorry for her. It is like she is talking about everything she has ever been told or afraid of.

"I am a woman too, secure for life and as powerful as any other human being. You can't sell fear to me, you shouldn't live like this also." I state.

I push my zombie drink towards her, "Here it is to freedom, Evelyn."

She looks at it and to me again. Her husband hates women who drink, i can assume she doesn't. I can see the temptation and i smile.

"I think it's best if we end this conversation here," I say, my voice softer now. "I've said what I needed to say, and I hope you understand."

Her eyes are still fixed on the drink before her.

"See you around." I stand and it is like i broke her. I don't know if she can hear me or see me.

I take a few steps forward and look back to watch her take the drink and guzzle it down. More freedom to her as i can prophesy it will be too soon than she thinks.