The Bride Widow
Chapter 117: Ch 117: How Unlucky - Part 2

Chapter 117: Ch 117: How Unlucky - Part 2

Anabella walked home from the bakery, her steps heavy and her mind clouded. The scent of freshly baked bread still clung to her clothes, but the comfort it usually brought was absent tonight.

Her conversation with Mr. Callum replayed in her head, especially his longing words about mates and soul bonds.

How could something that felt like a curse to her seem like a fairytale to someone else?

She reached her small apartment, unlocking the door with trembling fingers. The quiet stillness of the space greeted her, offering a brief sense of security. She kicked off her shoes, letting out a long, shaky breath.

Just as she was about to collapse onto the worn couch, her phone buzzed loudly on the table. The screen lit up with a familiar number she hadn’t seen in months. Her mother.

Anabella’s heart clenched, dread pooling in her stomach. She debated ignoring the call but knew better. Her mother would just keep calling until she picked up. Reluctantly, she swiped to answer.

"Hello?"

Anabella said, her voice strained. She was prepared to hear her mother rage at her.

Her mother’s voice came through, sharp and cold as ever.

"I heard what happened. How could you be so careless? Do you have any idea how much shame you’ve brought on us?"

Her mother spat, skipping any pretense of small talk.

Anabella stiffened, her fingers tightening around the phone.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

She replied evenly, though she already knew where this was going.

"Don’t play dumb. Everyone knows Daniel Ross mated some omega. It’s all over the news. Do you know how humiliating it is to have people pitying me because my daughter couldn’t even hold on to her own alpha?"

Her mother hissed, her voice going higher and higher as she spoke. There was no calming her now.

Anabella’s breath hitched. She clenched her jaw, forcing herself to stay calm.

"I left him. You know why. You know how things were,"

Anabella said quietly.

"Don’t give me that! You should’ve done whatever it took to keep him! Do you think anyone cares about your little excuses? You were supposed to give him what he needed—to be the perfect wife, the perfect omega. But instead, you let him slip away."

Anabella’s chest burned with suppressed anger at her mother’s words; the expectations that were being placed on her were ones she never wanted from anyone.

"He never loved me. I was nothing but a tool to him—a way to secure a legacy he didn’t even care about."

Anabella snapped back. Her courage was something that never favored her at the right time, except now.

"That’s marriage! Love is secondary after your duty. No wonder Daniel left to find someone else if you showed him such an insincere attitude. "

Her mother shot back.

Anabella swallowed hard, her eyes stinging with unshed tears. She wanted to point out that Daniel had his lover before he married Anabella. This had nothing to do with her. And besides, the one he mated was not even his lover.

"Love might not matter. But respect does. He never respected me. He never even tried."

Anabella whispered.

Her mother scoffed, the sound cruel and dismissive.

"You’re weak. Always have been. That’s why he left you behind. You think running away and playing baker will fix anything? You’re pathetic."

She said.

Anabella felt something inside her snap.

"I’m not the weak one; I walked away. I chose to live on my terms, not his."

She said fiercely. Silence crackled on the other end, heavy with tension.

"You chose failure, Don’t bother contacting me again. You’re on your own."

Her mother finally said, her voice icy.

Anabella’s breath hitched, her heart pounding painfully.

"What about Dad? Does he know what you’re saying?"

Anabella asked, her voice trembling. She had a feeling that her father would be on her side at least, but her mother would not let the older man talk to her, much less let him know what is happening.

Her mother’s answer came without hesitation.

"Your father has nothing to do with this."

The line went dead.

Anabella stared at the phone in her hand, numb and hollow. The finality of her mother’s words echoed in her mind, leaving her breathless.

She was truly alone now.

A shaky exhale escaped her lips as she lowered the phone, placing it gently on the table as though it might shatter under her touch. She wrapped her arms around herself, sinking onto the couch as the weight of everything crushed down on her.

Her mother’s words tore through her like jagged glass. No matter how much she fought to break free, she could never outrun the expectations, the failures, the relentless pressure of being something she could never be.

She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes, willing the tears back, but they spilled over anyway—hot and unstoppable.

For so long, she had kept everything inside, pretending she was fine, pretending she was strong. But tonight, there was no one to see her fall apart. No one to judge her for breaking.

For once, she let herself cry.

She cried for the life she never chose, for the family she could never please, for the love she had never known. She cried until her chest ached until her body trembled from the force of it.

When the tears finally slowed, Anabella sat in the silence, her breathing ragged and uneven. She wiped her face with trembling hands, forcing herself to stand.

She couldn’t change the past. She couldn’t fix what was broken.

But she could survive.

She would survive.

With a deep, shaky breath, she squared her shoulders and walked into the tiny kitchen. She grabbed a glass of water, letting the coolness soothe her raw throat.

Her mother’s voice still echoed in her mind, but she pushed it aside, locking the memory away.

This was her life now. Hers alone.

And no one—not Daniel, not her mother, not the ghosts of her past—would take that away from her.