I Stopped Loving Him When He Let Me Bleed Out novel Chapter 90

He froze, his eyes frantically scanning the length of the street.

She wasn't there.

She had left.

His arms hung at his sides. His fingers slowly curled into tight fists, then released.

Finn recalled the scene he had just witnessed in the tea room.

Sienna fiercely holding her ground against his mother, especially when his own name had been brought into it.

In that moment, his heart had nearly leaped out of his chest.

He had wanted nothing more than to rush in and protect her, but he knew with agonizing clarity that she didn't need him.

She could handle anything entirely on her own.

He had been terrified that she would suffer, but she was infinitely stronger than he had ever imagined.

She had never needed him to step in and take the hits for her.

Finn stood alone on the curb, staring down the empty sidewalk for a long, quiet eternity.

Traffic tore past him, pedestrians brushed by him, and he stood there like a tree battered by a hurricane—its branches still attached, but its roots fundamentally torn loose.

The Fletcher villa.

The moment Finn stepped foot into the living room, a teacup came hurtling straight at his face.

His reflexes kicked in, and he twisted sideways, dodging the projectile.

An explosive roar echoed in his ears.

"Get over here!"

Finn looked up. Yolanda was sitting on the sofa. She had changed her outfit, her hair was immaculately pinned up again, and her makeup was flawlessly touched up.

The Earl Grey on the coffee table had been replaced with black tea, steaming in a freshly washed cup.

She had morphed back into the dignified, untouchable Mrs. Fletcher.

But Finn saw her hands.

Resting on her lap, her knuckles were bone-white as she gripped the fabric, entirely betraying the volcanic rage churning inside her.

What was meant to happen would happen.

At least Sienna was safe.

Nothing else mattered.

Finn calmly took off his shoes, walked into the living room, and prepared to face the firing squad.

He sat down across from Yolanda and spoke simply.

"Mom."

"You still dare to call me Mom?" Yolanda's voice was deathly flat. "You went behind my back, orchestrated all of this, and played me for a fool, and you still have the nerve to call me Mom?"

Finn didn't try to explain.

He knew there was no point.

"You pulled strings overseas, brought in Hans von Zale, threatened and bribed Jocelyn Quinn..." Yolanda listed his offenses one by one, her voice turning colder with every word. "You plotted against your own mother for her!"

"You went after her first," Finn stated darkly.

Yolanda's head snapped up, her eyes locking onto his.

"I am your mother!"

"You are my mother. But I made myself perfectly clear before." Finn stared right back at her. "You don't touch her!"

Yolanda's hand hovered in mid-air. It didn't fall again.

Her chest heaved violently, her lips trembling. Her eyes were rimmed with red, but she refused to let a single tear fall.

She clamped her jaw shut, determined not to show him an ounce of weakness.

Footsteps hurried down the stairs.

Chloe Cross froze halfway down the staircase. She was wearing her pajamas, her hair disheveled, her face streaked with tears.

She scrambled the rest of the way down.

Seeing Finn's bruised and battered face, she was completely paralyzed with shock.

"Finn..." she called out, her voice violently trembling.

Chloe had grown up in the Fletcher household, living as Yolanda's ward for over a decade, but she had never witnessed a scene like this.

Yolanda was always elegant and composed. She never resorted to physical violence.

"Yolanda, why are you hitting him so hard? He's your own son!"

"It's all because of you, you useless thing!"

Yolanda shoved Chloe away effortlessly, her eyes blazing with undisguised disgust.

Chloe froze completely.

She couldn't believe her eyes or ears. Was the woman standing in front of her really the foster mother who had raised her, the woman who always praised her handwriting and doted on her?

Finn stumbled as he stood up, wiping a smear of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

He looked at Yolanda and smiled.

"Perfect. You've knocked some sense into me. I am done being your puppet. I am absolutely not marrying her. The only person I want to marry is Sienna—it has always been her. I'm going to find her right now and explain everything."