Chapter 3: The Mother and the Final Boundary
The family doctor arrived fifteen minutes later.
While the doctor examined Clara in the bedroom, Ethan stood in the hallway with his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Lily and Anna stood in front of him, both with lowered heads. Margaret remained in the living room, still refusing to leave the sofa, like a queen who could never believe she was wrong.
“Were there other things before this?” Ethan asked.
Lily bit her lip.
Anna looked at her, then sighed.
“Sir, there were things Madam Clara did not want us to tell you.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Because she was afraid I would be hurt?”
Anna stayed silent.
That silence was the answer.
Ethan opened his eyes.
“Tell me everything.”
Lily wiped her tears.
“Madam Margaret once made Madam Clara stand outside in the garden during a tea party because she used the wrong cup. It was cold that day, and Madam Clara was only two months pregnant.”
Anna continued:
“Once, Madam Margaret invited Miss Vanessa to dinner. She is the daughter of the Whitmore family, the woman Madam Margaret wanted you to marry before. Madam Margaret deliberately made Madam Clara sit at the end of the table and introduced Miss Vanessa as the person who was ‘most suitable for Ethan if only he had listened back then.’”
Ethan lowered his head. His chest rose and fell heavily.
“Anything else?”
Lily’s voice trembled.
“Madam Margaret once threw away Madam Clara’s prenatal medicine because she said it was cheap. But it was actually prescribed by the doctor.”
Ethan turned sharply toward Lily.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, sir. I saw Madam Margaret throw it into the trash. Madam Clara did not want to make a scene, so she called the doctor herself and asked for another prescription.”
Each word was like a stone thrown into Ethan’s heart.
He remembered the past few months.
All the times Clara said she was only a little tired.
All the times she forced a smile when he asked why her eyes were red.
All the times she told him his mother was just a little strict and that nothing serious had happened.
He had believed her.
Not because he did not care, but because Clara hid it too well. And because he had become so used to his mother controlling everything that he mistook her cruelty for personality.
But today, when he saw his wife kneeling on the cold floor, he finally understood something.
Some people are not just strict.
They are cruel to those they believe are weaker.
The bedroom door opened. The doctor stepped out.
“Madam Clara is under extreme stress and showing signs of exhaustion. Fortunately, the baby is fine for now, but she needs complete rest and must avoid strong emotional distress. If this continues, it could become very dangerous.”
Ethan nodded.
“Thank you, doctor.”
After the doctor left, Ethan entered the room.
Clara was lying in bed, still pale. When she saw him, she tried to sit up.
“Don’t.” He quickly came over to support her. “Stay still.”
Clara looked at him with worry in her eyes.
“Please do not argue with your mother because of me.”
Ethan sat beside her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She turned her face away.
“I did not want to put you in a difficult position.”
“A difficult position?” His voice caught. “Clara, you are my wife. You are carrying my child. You were hurt in my own house, and I knew nothing. Do you think I would feel relieved because you stayed silent?”
Clara’s tears overflowed.
“I tried, Ethan. I really tried. I thought if I endured it, your mother would accept me. I thought when our child was born, she would change. I did not want you to lose your mother.”
Ethan held her hand.
“I do not want to lose my mother either. But I cannot lose you because of my own silence.”
Clara cried harder.
Ethan lowered his head and kissed her hand gently.
“From today on, no one is allowed to make you kneel again.”
Clara looked at him.
“What are you going to do?”
Ethan did not answer immediately. He only pulled the blanket over her.
“Rest. I will handle it.”
When Ethan returned to the living room, Margaret was still sitting there. The broken cake had been mostly cleaned, but Ethan had left the piece with “Happy Birthday, Dad” on a clean plate.
When Margaret saw him, she spoke first.
“If you have calmed down, we can talk like family.”
Ethan stood across from her.
“I am very calm.”
“Good. I want you to understand that everything I did was for you. You are the heir of the Harrison family. You cannot let a woman with no background drag you down.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Drag me down?”
“Yes. Ever since you married her, you have changed too much. You listen to me less. You refuse important meetings. You are even planning to transfer part of your shares to her name after the baby is born, aren’t you?”
Ethan frowned.
“How do you know that?”
Margaret froze.
Ethan suddenly understood.
“You read the documents in my study?”
“This is the family company!”
“It is the company I am running. And Clara is my wife.”
“Wife?” Margaret laughed. “What does she have besides the child in her womb? Do you think she truly loves you? If you had no money, would she even look at you?”
Ethan was silent for a moment.
Then he took out his phone and played an audio recording.
Clara’s voice filled the living room.
It was from the security camera in the kitchen, which Ethan had installed months ago after something went missing, but he had never checked it carefully.
In the recording, Clara’s voice was gentle:
“Lily, don’t buy flowers that are too expensive. Ethan doesn’t like waste. He only likes the feeling of being remembered.”
Lily asked:
“Madam, aren’t you afraid Madam Margaret will say it is too simple?”
Clara laughed softly.
“She can say whatever she wants. Today is Ethan’s birthday. I just want him to know that from now on, it is not only me who loves him. Our child is waiting to love him too.”
The recording ended.
The living room became silent.
Margaret turned her face away.
Ethan looked at his mother.
“That is the woman you called greedy.”
Margaret’s voice hardened.
“Anyone can say sweet words.”
Ethan nodded.
“Yes. Anyone can speak. So from today on, I will look at actions.”
He placed a stack of papers on the table.
Margaret looked down.
“What is this?”
“The transfer of management rights for this mansion.”
Margaret froze.
“What do you mean?”
“This house has been under my name since Father passed away three years ago. I let you live here because I thought it was your home. But you used this house to torment my wife.”
Margaret’s face went pale.
“You are throwing me out?”
“I am giving you two choices. One, you move to the private apartment downtown that I prepared for you long ago, with full care. Two, you stay here, but you publicly apologize to Clara in front of everyone in this house and promise not to interfere in our marriage again.”
Margaret stared at him in disbelief.
“You dare force me to apologize to her?”
“No,” Ethan answered. “I am giving you a chance to keep the last piece of motherly love between us.”
Margaret shot to her feet, her eyes red with anger.
“Because of her? Because of a girl with no father and no mother, you dare treat me this way?”
At that moment, Clara appeared at the top of the stairs.
She wore a robe. Her face was weak, but her eyes were calmer than before.
Ethan immediately walked toward her.
“Why did you come down?”
Clara looked at him, then at Margaret.
“I wanted to hear her answer.”
Margaret looked at Clara with contempt.
“You won. Are you happy now?”
Clara shook her head.
“I never wanted to win against you. I only wanted to live peacefully with my husband and my child.”
“Do not call me Mother.”
Clara stayed silent.
Ethan turned to Margaret.
“Then you have chosen.”
Margaret froze.
“Ethan…”
He looked at her. This time, there was no anger in his eyes. Only disappointment.
“I used to think you were strict because you loved me. But now I understand. You only loved the version of me you could control.”
Margaret stepped back.
May you like
“You will regret this.”
“Maybe,” Ethan said. “But I will never regret protecting my wife.”
