Chapter 291: Mommy Dearest

When Derek’s call had come in, Cassandra had been glad. It had saved her from a fate worse than death. Seriously, she had been at a gala, busy nodding along and pretending to agree with an idiotic old coot.

A man who had been telling her that in cases of rape, it was always the victim’s fault. If you did not want something to happen to you, you simply said no and resisted. If you were not strong enough to defend yourself, then that meant a part of you secretly wanted it.

She had wanted nothing more than to snap in the stem of her wine glass and just burying it in the old man’s half-blind eye. Luckily, her son had saved her. But, Derek calling her had added a new level of stress for her.

No reply had come from Derek’s side, despite her answering him many times. "Derek, Derek, are you there? Can you hear me?" She had asked, and all that she’d heard from his end had been his rugged breathing, and what had sounded like muffled sobs. And that had been Cassandra’s evening at the gala done.

Questions like where are you, can you send me directions, do you have anyone next to you that I can talk to had not been replied at all. The only thing that had stopped Cassandra from losing her mind completely had been the fact that she could still hear Derek breathing.

Thanking the wonders of modern technology. She had instead used his phone to track him. Easily being able to pinpoint his exact location. Breathing a sigh of relief when she had realized that he was at his penthouse. At least she would not have to call a search party, to go looking for him in the middle of nowhere.

When Cassandra had realized that Derek was at his penthouse, her assumption had been that that meant he was safe. And so she had not brought back up with her when she had instructed the driver to take her to her son’s location.

She had even told the man to leave for the night once she had gotten there.

Which meant that she was completely alone when she realized that it might have been a good idea to have someone physically stronger at her side. In case it turned out that something had gone wrong. But by then, it was too late for that.

That did not stop Cassandra from wishing that she’d had the foresight to do that though.Especially when she saw that Derek’s door was open. He might have been living in one of the most expensive, and therefore safest parts of the city.

But crime was still a real thing, no matter where one was. And it was not like Derek at all to be so careless about his safety.

So that had Cassandra on edge.

She’d heard him sobbing over the phone. What if someone had hit him at the back of the head? What if he had been attacked, and had just barely managed to call her for help? The logical thing to do would have been to turn back, and get help.

But Cassandra’s son was in there. She had to make sure that he was safe. And so, crouching, she took off her stilettos.Walking barefoot, the shoes held in either hand, instant weapons.

She squeezed through the tiny gap at the door without making a sound. Leaving it open in case she had to make a fast exit.

"Derek," She called out softly. At first there was no answer, but then she heard it, a groan coming from the front of the couch. Moving slowly, and quietly, she made her way there. A sigh of relief, escaping her when she finally spotted him.

Not just him but also the bottle of booze that he was cradling.

Dropping her shoes, Cassandra went back to the door and closed it. Then she returned to her son.

"Derek," She called, not as softly or gently as she had the first time. Feeling annoyed at having been drunk dialled.

He did not move.

That had Cassandra’s worry coming back full force once again.

Her son was not much of a drinker, and yet here he was, blackout drunk.

Clutching a half empty bottle of whiskey as though it were a baby. Stepping onto the carpet, Cassandra knelt and leaned over him. Startling when she found his eyes wide open, just staring at something, off to the side.

"Derek," She called, slapping him lightly on the cheek. He turned his eyes to her then, gave her a single slow blink, and then did something that threatened to tear the heart right out of Cassandra.

"Mommy?" He whispered, eyes shining with unshed tears.

Cassandra Haven had not been called Mommy by her son since the day of his father’s funeral. From then on she had always been ’mother’. Mommy was a softer woman from a softer time. For him to be calling her that now. It had to mean that he was really hurting, and that in turn broke Cassandra’s heart.

Had she really done this to him? She wondered. She had not thought that he, and that Emily Molson had been together long enough for him to be hurting like this.

Initially when she had come, and realized that Derek was drunk. Cassandra had wanted to take charge of the situation. Get him some water, some painkillers, and then have him shower before going to bed. But those were all the things that ’mother Cassandra’ would do.

But in these situations, mommies offered comfort first. And so, being mommy to her son for the first time in decades, Cassandra. Glad in her pearls and her evening gown, knelt on his living room carpet.

Guiding him until his head was on her lap. Her fingers carding through his soft hair.

Derek continued to cry, and Cassandra let him, not admonishing him.

This will pass, she told herself. She had done the right thing.

Derek would only hurt for a little while, and then he would get better. But her reassurances sounded hollow even to herself.

What if she had broken her son’s heart beyond repair?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read