A Wrong Surrogate for the CEO

Chapter 112: An offering

Hot, nerve wracking sobs ripped out of Lisa, and Laura’s heart ached as she watched her mother cry.

She gently patted Lisa’s back, not saying anything because what was there to say?

Lisa was so sad, and even though Laura knew that her mother was the sole cause of the chasm between Curtis and their family, she still felt pity for her.

"You should have seen the look in his eyes, Laura. My own son, staring at me with so much hatred in his eyes. Oh God. What have I done?" Lisa moaned, unable to stop herself from bawling her eyes out.

Laura sighed. "I’m sure he doesn’t really hate you, mum. He’s just hurt," she responded gently.

Lisa turned red rimmed and puffy eyes to her daughter. "No. You’re wrong. You weren’t there to see him. I saw the entire thing, all by myself. He hates me. He hates me, Laura. Your brother despises me and never wants to see me again."

Laura drew closer to her mother, and tears stung the back of her eyes too.

"We’ll figure something out, mum. I promise. Curtis is not going to stay angry for long. I mean, he is going to eventually have to relent and let us back into his life. Everything is going to be just fine, mum. Please, stop crying," Laura stated softly, trying to reassure her mother to stop crying profusely.

But Lisa ignored Laura. Her daughter didn’t understand. She didn’t know how bad Lisa’s heart was breaking, how terrible and all consuming her pain was.

Laura had no idea that an unending wave of pain and regret was crashing over Lisa, and that her mother was at the lowest she had ever been.

Laura didn’t know the extent of Lisa’s pain. But Lisa knew. She felt all of it, and each breath was a painful exhale.

"What if I never get to see my grandchildren? I am a grandmother, Laura. I now have two grand babies that I will never get to play with because of my foolishness. I...I don’t know what to do."

Raw pain. Raw, unshaped and untethered pain. That was what Lisa was feeling. And Laura, who was too helpless to do anything but pat her mother on the back, moved closer and did just that.

"I’ll talk to Curtis, mum. I’m sure you’re going to see your grandchildren. He won’t hide them from you."

But even as Laura made that promise, she knew that there was only a very slight, very tiny possibility that she would be able to convince her brother.

Curtis was most likely to throw her out than to listen to her.

But Laura had to try. For her heartbroken, repentant mother, she had to try.

She made up her mind to talk to Curtis and convince him to forgive their mother. Which seemed like an impossible scenario.

But for Lisa, Laura had to walk into the lion’s den and offer herself up as a sacrifice.

An offering.

~~

"Come on, Curtis. You should have seen how heartbroken she was. Please, please give her a chance again. At least listen to her apology," Laura pleaded with her brother, but Curtis’s expression remained blank, unmoving.

"No," he quipped.

Laura sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I know you’re upset and you probably don’t want to see or even talk to mum anymore. And I get it. I totally do, but..." she started to say again, but Curtis interrupted her.

"You get it? Do you actually get it, Laura? No you don’t. Did she try to kill your husband? Don’t talk to me like I don’t know what I am doing. I do. I am not a fucking kid, and you don’t understand anything!" he snapped.

Laura opened her mouth to speak, but her brother wasn’t done.

"I will not be endangering my family again by letting her back into my life, into our lives. I will not let her walk back in here and watch her make my wife feel shitty and unworthy. I do not want to have to worry about if she’s going to get fixated on my kids this time and decide that they aren’t worthy to be my children. She is a crazy woman, and nothing is going to make me trust her again. So no, I am not willing to listen to your faux apology. Let her live her life, separate from mine. And if you ever come back here to apologise, I am going to have you thrown out. Have I made myself clear?"

The sharp dismissal and firmness in Curtis’s words hit Laura in the chest, and she knew that no matter what she said or did, her brother’s mind was made up.

The meeting was a waste of time.

Still, Laura wished that she had been able to convince him as she stood up.

"I am sorry, Curtis. And I know that you’re hurting right now, but one day, I hope that you’ll be able to forgive her. Forgive all of us. And no matter what happens, I want you to remember that we are humans, and we are your family. Nobody is perfect."

Laura’s words were delivered softly, and she didn’t wait for a response before she turned around and walked out of her brother’s study.

As Curtis’s sister made her way out of her brother’s mansion, Lara watched her leave. She had heard every single word exchanged in the study, and Lara has pieced enough information together to figure out what had happened between Curtis and his family.

And even though she understood her husband’s anger, even though she was pissed at them too, she still decided to walk into Curtis’s study to talk to him about it.

"Hey," Lara called out as a greeting. Curtis raised his head from the document he was reading through, and his face softened immediately he set eyes on her.

"Hello, love."

Lara smiled at her husband as she took her seat on the chair before him, and she wondered, for one tiny beat, if she was doing the right thing.

But there was no turning back, and her mind was made up. So Lara held her husband’s gaze as she spoke.

"I think you should forgive your mother."