She Swore Never To Be The Other Woman But He Made Her One Anyway Chapter 08

She Swore Never To Be The Other Woman But He Made Her One Anyway Chapter 08

We met at the Sterling estate. 

Silas’s mother was waiting for me in the tea room. 

She was younger than I expected, well–preserved, wearing a formal navy silk dress accented by exquisite jewelry, including a jade bracelet on her wrist. 

Seeing me enter, she pointed to the seat opposite her. 

“Sit.” 

I sat down. 

She poured me a cup of tea. 

“Cassie Vance.” 

She said my name as if confirming something. 

“Yes.” 

She looked at me with a calm gaze–no sizing me up, no 

scrutiny. 

She was different from every high–society lady I had ever met. 

“Silas sent you a photo.” 

“Yes.” 

“A photo of him as a child.” 

“I know.” 

She picked up her tea cup and took a sip. 

“That photo was taken when he was ten.” 

“He had been beaten that day, his lip was bleeding, but he 

stubbornly refused to cry.” 

“He came home and asked me, ‘Mom, why am I a bastard?“” 

My hand tightened around the tea cup. 

She set the cup down and looked at me. 

“Do you know how I answered?” 

I didn’t speak. 

“I said, ‘You’re not a bastard.“” 

“‘You are my son.“” 

“‘It doesn’t matter who your father is, or what others call you.‘” 

“‘“‘What matters is that you know who you are.‘” 

She paused. 

“He didn’t understand it then.” 

“And it seems he hasn’t understood it now.” 

I looked into her eyes. 

“Mrs. Sterling, what did you want to say to me?” 

She smiled. 

“Cassie, I’m not chasing you away, and I’m not giving you money.” 

I was stunned. 

She stood up and walked to the window, her back to me. 

“It took me twenty years to go from being a mistress’s daughter to the mistress of the Sterling house.” 

“In those twenty years, I heard more cruel words than you’ve 

eaten grains of salt.” 

“Everything you’ve experienced, I’ve experienced too.” 

She turned around and looked at me. 

“So I won’t chase you away.” 

“Because I know better than anyone that whether you leave or 

not is your own business.” 

I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say. 

She walked back and sat down. 

“Cassie, do you know why Silas looked for you?” 

“He said I look like his mother.” 

“No.” 

She shook her head. 

“He found you because you were waiting.” 

I was stunned. 

“Just like your mother, you were both waiting.” 

“Waiting for a man to turn back, waiting for an answer, 

waiting for a reason to lie to yourselves.” 

“Silas watched me wait for twenty years.” 

“He hated my father, he hated that house, he hated everyone 

who made me wait.” 

“But in the end, he became just like my father.” 

She looked at me. 

“Do you know why?” 

I didn’t speak. 

“Because he was waiting too.” 

“Waiting for you to bow your head, waiting for you to admit defeat, waiting for you to become just like his mother.” 

“That way, he could prove that his mother was wrong to wait, that the person she waited for wasn’t right, that what she got 

wasn’t worth it.” 

“He could finally win against his ten–year–old self.” 

I sat there, my hands and feet turning ice–cold. 

So that was it. 

We were all prisoners. 

She was locked up for twenty years; he was locked up for 

twenty years. 

And I had been locked up for twenty years too. 

“Cassie.” 

She called my name. 

I looked up at her. 

“I didn’t call you here today for Silas.” 

“I called you for yourself.” 

She took an envelope from a drawer and pushed it toward me. 

“Your mother left this for you.” 

I was stunned. 

“Before she passed away, she asked someone to give it to me.” 

“Don’t be too surprised; the world is small. Your mother and I were college classmates, but for various reasons, we couldn’t stay in touch.” 

“She said if you ever found yourself on this path, I should give this to you.” 

I opened the envelope. 

Inside was a photo and a letter. 

In the photo was my mother in her early twenties, standing by the Serpentine Pond, looking beautiful with a bright smile. 

Next to her was Teddy. 

Also in his twenties, wearing a white shirt and looking full of spirit. 

The letter had only one line: 

“Cassie, I only made one mistake in my life.” 

“It wasn’t waiting for him for twenty years.” 

“It was forgetting who I was.” 

Holding the letter, my eyes stung. 

Silas’s mother watched me. 

“Cassie, your mother waited twenty years, but what she got wasn’t love.” 

“It was guilt.” 

“Guilt is the most useless thing in the world.” 

“It can’t change anything, and it can’t give anyone 

happiness.” 

I looked up at her. 

“And you?” 

“What did you wait for?”