ADDICTED

65

JAMES

"My, my, if it isn't my dear Jamie."

Sighing, I shook my head and clenched my cell phone tighter. "Mother," I greeted her.

"How are you, son?" she asked, all saccharine sweet. "I hear you've been busy lately."

"I have been, yes. But I didn't call to make small talk, Mother."

She hummed. "That's a shame."

"I'm sure you know why I'm calling."

"I wasn't aware you were running airs for your assistant these days."

I rolled my eyes. "You can't speak to her that way. She's not the help. You have to make an effort here."

She scoffed. "I don't know what delusion she has you living under, but you need to come back to reality, James. That woman is not our kind—"

"Mother, I proposed to her," I said. "I am in love with Leah and she's going to be my wife."

"Is this some kind of sick joke?"

I sighed and raked a hand through my damp hair.

"No, Mother," I said. "This is not a joke. She is a part of my future and I'd appreciate it if you'd be less volatile—"

"James Howard Muller!" she shrieked across the line. "You will not marry that woman! She was involved with your brother and defamed this family name. We didn't raise you this way. I will not allow this."

Anger blistered below the surface of my skin.

"So how did you raise me then?" I snapped. "Hmm? Since you and Father have such a perfect marriage, tell me how I was raised otherwise. For career advancement? Financial gain?"

"I cannot believe this!" she cried, erupting into a fit of sobs. "My last son. Ruining his life over some woman!"

"Mother—"

"Have you learned nothing?" she wailed. "You really want your brother's leftovers? Did I birth such a fool?"

Her words sent my fury spiraling over the edge.

"Do you have no decency?" I snarled. "You are talking about a woman I love, a woman who makes me happy. The only woman I want a future with."

"Well, you chose the wrong woman, James."

I shook my head, furious. "Are you willing to miss your only son's wedding? Is your hate for Leah so blinding that you'd choose to miss this moment with me?"

"I will not acknowledge that woman as one of my own," she seethed. "Not after everything she has put this family through."

"She has done nothing!" I roared. "She has survived this family. And despite all the shit we've done to her, she turned around and nourished this family with love. All she has done since she met Jarrod is heal us. Julia adores her, and so do I."

She was quiet for a moment. I hoped for the briefest of seconds that she might have realized her own prejudice.

But then she said, "I never thought I'd see the day one woman destroyed my relationship with my children. You are a damn coward, James. A coward and a traitor to your family."

The line clicked off.

I glared at my phone screen for a minute. My entire body quivered from the force of my wrath.