My Vengeful-Ex

Chapter 57

Christina 

The rest of the days at Clairings flew by in a blink, and before I realized we were back in London. My internship was beginning in a week, and Logan and I still had to come up with a plan on how to keep our relationship working without bringing it to anyone's notice. 

Logan had rented an apartment in London, and I decided to meet him at his apartment whenever I could sneak out. It was difficult at first with my internship, but then we fell into a routine. His flat was near my office, and he would pick me up after work.  

Logan would drop me back at my office, and I would call my driver to pick me up. I made an excuse to stay late in the office due to the heavy workload to Uncle Edward and Aunt Anne. They both had busy schedules and didn't think much about late nights at work. 

Sometimes, I would stay at Logan's place over the weekend and make an excuse about staying at a non-existent friend's place to my guardians. The time that Logan and I spent at his apartment was the best time of my life. 

I could have never imagined being so happy in my life, and a month passed with me sneaking to Logan's place without anyone getting suspicious apart from Debbie. But she kept her suspicions to herself and never mentioned them to anyone else. 

 It was Friday, and I was trying to finish my work as soon as possible so I could leave with Logan and stay with him for the weekend. The phone on my desk rang, and I picked it up while focusing on the design on my screen. 

"Christina Williams," I said into the receiver.  

"Christina, this is Ginny. A woman is here for you," the receptionist's voice sounded from the other side. 

I was startled by her words. Who could visit me at work? No one at my work knew I was the daughter of the late Duke of Clairings and niece to the current one. Then who could come there to meet me?

"Did she give her name?" I inquired. 

"She says she is the ex-wife of Lord Richards, the late Duke of Clairings," Ginny replied. 

I felt like someone knocked all the air out of my lungs.  

 Mom? 

 She was there to meet me? 

 Why? 

 What for? 

What did she want from me? She abandoned me and Dad all those years ago for her lover. Then why did she want to meet me?

"Christina, are you there?" Ginny's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. 

"Yes," I pushed the word out of my mouth. 

"Do you want me to send her away?" She spoke in a hushed whisper. 

"No," I replied immediately, "no, please escort her to the waiting room. I will be there in a few minutes," I said calmly, trying to get a hold over myself. 

My mind urged me to send her away, not to meet the woman who left me when I was still a toddler, but a part of me who always craved for my mother took over. I wanted to know why she abandoned me, her only daughter, and her flesh and blood. 

I placed the receiver back on the phone set, then wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt. Taking a deep breath, I stood up and tried to compose myself as best as possible before seeing her. Even though I had agreed to meet her, it didn't mean I would give her the satisfaction of rattling me. My heart raced as I made my way towards the waiting room. For a second, I wanted to turn and run away when I reached the door. But I scolded myself for being a coward and pushed the handle, then stepped inside. 

The moment my eyes fell on the woman sitting on a chair inside the waiting room, I felt like someone squeezed my heart. Though I always thought I resembled Dad, I couldn't help but be astonished at how similar I was to Mom. Maybe it was because Mom and Dad had blonde hair and blue eyes. The press had named them the golden couple of the British Aristocracy after they got married. 

The woman who was my mother stood up from the chair when she saw me frozen in the doorway. She was stunning even in the simple clothes she wore. Her hair fell over her shoulder and back in soft waves, and her blue eyes, which were the exact shade of mine, were gentle and warm. 

"You have grown so much," she said, her voice heavy with emotions. 

"Why are you here, Ms. Holmes, or is it Mrs?" I questioned in a blank voice with my face devoid of emotions, addressing her by her maiden name. 

She halted in her tracks while strolling towards me and stared at me in astonishment, "What did they tell you about me?" 

"That's none of your concern. I want to know the reason why you are visiting my workplace and introducing yourself as the ex-wife of my father?" The anger bottled up inside me towards my mother rose to the surface. 

I hated her for abandoning me. It was because of her that Dad couldn't even look at me, and I realized it as I stared at her face, which had too much resemblance to mine. 

"Christina!" she gasped in horror at my bitter tone. 

"If you have nothing important to say to me, you might want to leave before I call security," I turned to pull the door open, but she placed her hand over mine and stopped. 

"Please, give me a chance to explain," she pleaded, holding my hand in hers, and I turned and stared into her tear-filled eyes. 

My heart shrank in my chest for a second at the tears in her eyes and the hurt on her face, but I reminded myself that she was the one who left me when I was only a few years old. 

"Did you or did you not leave me?" I demanded, and she bit her lip in helplessness. 

"It isn't what you are thinking, Christina," she choked, then wiped her tears and started again, "I never intended to leave you." 

I interrupted her, "I am not asking about your intentions. I want to know if you abandoned me or not?" I cried out in rage. 

Tears trickled down her face one after the other, and she didn't even try to stop them. A strange feeling gripped me, and I felt a constriction in my chest. I shouldn't be affected by that woman. She left me when I was still a child and never turned back and looked to see if I was okay. 

Memories of my years at Clairings with my grandmother flooded my mind. How she never forgot to remind me that even though I had Williams attached to my name, I had the blood of a lowborn running through my veins. Dad's cold and detached behavior towards me for years, as if I was nothing but a burden for him, felt like a knife buried in my chest, which someone kept twisting every day. 

"I…. I… am…. I am sorry, Christina," she murmured between sobs, and I pulled my hand away from her hold with a jerk.  

"It's too late for a sorry, Ms. Holmes. Nothing you say or do would ever change the fact that you left me at the mercy of the cruel world, and they tore through me," I hissed at her and then left the visiting room, not looking back even once.  

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