"What the hell are you doing here, mom?" I asked with a clenched jaw.

My mom, Elizabeth Maxwell was a very strict-on-business kind of lady, she was a workaholic and she left me with dad for my entire childhood. She never once held me, whenever she wanted to, she would hold me for milk but other than that, she never once cared. She put her business over herself and her family, working at her own holding company, she dedicated her soul to work, not once talking to me or even trying to interact with me.

She gave me a tight-lipped smile as her dark blonde waves cascaded down her back and her honey-coloured lenses gave me a glare in a warning. "I should be asking you the same thing, did you think hiring a girl that will cover for you works on me?" she belittled me in front of Mr. Clay, as he crossed his arms and watched our reactions.

"I think you know now what I am doing here," I gestured to Mr. Clay with a pointed look, something inside of me suspected that mom had a crush on Levy's dad by the way she smiled kindly at him and her eyes held much meaning to her than to him.

"No, I don't, care to enlighten me?" she clasped both of her hands on her lap as she waited for me to explain, I coughed to stall my mom but she could see right through it as she gave me a steady gaze.

To make it worse, Levy appeared beside me. "Hey, dad-" he froze mid-sentence as he was stunned the way I was and his eyes widened, gulping as he nervously scratched the back of his neck wearily. "Listen, Mrs. Elizabeth Maxwell, I can assure you that your daughter is okay,"

"It's not like she cares," I snapped as mom looked at me in disappointment and stayed silent as we decided to let this go and have breakfast.

His fingers drew circles in my palm to calm me down as his other hand ate what his dad ordered in the restaurant, I didn't have an appetite anymore as I overheard their conversation, "your daughter will leave with you today in the evening." I heard Mr. Clay Martin whisper and I balled my fists on the table.

If they think that I was leaving, then they had another thing coming to them.

"I am not going anywhere, Mr. Clay, it's my choice," I stubbornly stated and he gave me a disdained look as he fixed his grey hair with both hands.

"You have no choice, you are coming back with me," she ordered and I stood up, bashing my hands on the table as the crowd stared at us.

"No means no, I am not leaving at all," I refused to let them think that they could control my movements whenever they wanted. All of this happened because of Mr. Clay Martin and I would not take the consequence of it.

"Baby, I do think that they have a point, you would be safe back in Oregon and we only have two days to go, I'll be back with you before you know it," He promised as he held both of my hands in his and tears escaped my eyes.

"I don't want something bad to happen to you, the brothers are still out there to aim for you, I won't let you go through this alone," I exhaled a shaky breath after my confrontation and I could tell his eyes glinted with affection as he hugged me tightly and I burst into tears of frustration.

"I am not alone, I will be fine, you can trust my dad to have my back on this," He reasoned softly as he kissed my tear-stained cheek, the overloaded events had taken a major toll on me. I was turning into a lunatic that was high from the emotional overload. I didn't want to let him face all of this with the help of his dad, I wanted to be his partner in crime but it back-tracked like the previous injuries I had gotten before.

"I won't leave you and that's final," I stood my ground on what I believed in: I believed in freedom of choice. I had once debated about it and my opponent didn't have an alibi to further prove their case. I always won in getting what I needed.

"Lia, don't defy me, what I said goes and you will come with me," my mom ordered as her eyes flashed determination at me but turned to Mr. Clay with a smile, "I am sorry that she disturbed your business, she's a little rascal," she said and chuckled as her eyes shined while looking at Mr. Clay.

"Mom, I am right here," I seethed while glaring at her from across the table as my food came. "and I am here to stay, nothing you can do to bring me with you," I finalized with a smug smile.

Levy and his dad sat in silence during my fit with my stubborn mom. "Oh really," she sarcastically said with a raised eyebrow, "then you're not going to Pacific University in Forest Grove with Levy," She stated as her eyes met mine in a challenge as I froze at her words.

We had planned our life together at university, she couldn't possibly take that away from us, I had saved money for it since the first year of our relationship.

"You're being too harsh, Mrs. Elizabeth," Mr. Clay commented, he seemed to be enjoying the show between mom and me, "these kids are meant to be together, your daughter has sacrificed too much for my son," He added as he gave us a wink.

I was happy to eat my blueberry pasta when mom frowned, losing the fight but Mr. Clay interrupted my satisfaction once again, "but she will come back with you to Oregon because it's getting dangerous out here,"

"That's exactly why I called you and asked you about where she was, Mr. Clay. I perfectly agree with you, she's coming back with me." My mom smiled at Mr. Clay and patted me on my hand with a devious smile.