I Walked Away Seven Years Too Late But Right on Time novel Chapter 4

Not long after, she heard shouting from the living room. She heard her mother scream, "Get the hell out, you creep!"

Quickly changing her clothes, Sophie rushed to the door just in time to see Sarah wielding a broom, practically shoving Mr. Ziegler out the front door. She screamed down the stairwell, "Don't you ever let me catch you here again!"-

Neighbors peeked out of their doors to watch the commotion, and Sophie's face burned with intense humiliation.

She had no idea what had happened, and her mother strictly forbade her from asking.

But after that day, no one ever tried to set her mother up again.

Sophie always believed her mother's explosive temper was what scared Mr. Ziegler away, along with anyone else who tried to play matchmaker.

She swore to herself right then that when she grew up, she would become a soft-spoken, gentle woman like Molly's mom, not an abrasive shrew like her own.

It took Sophie a long time to finally build up the courage to tell her mother what had happened in Capital City.

Her last trip to the clinic was meant for an abortion, but sitting in those cold chairs, waiting for her name to be called, she had faltered.

She couldn't bring herself to terminate the tiny life inside her. This baby was her absolute last connection to Luke.

Sarah exploded the second she heard.

"Are you out of your mind? How could you run away carrying some man's child? You either go back and make him take responsibility, or you get rid of it!"

In an instant, they reverted to the cold-war dynamic of their past—the dynamic where Sarah demanded control, and Sophie flatly refused to listen.

How could her mother possibly understand her love? This child was the only thing binding her and Luke. She had to keep it, even if it meant being a single mother.

Sophie felt a tragic sense of martyrdom.

Her mother couldn't comprehend her. She wasn't afraid of being unmarriageable because of the baby; the truth was, she didn't want to marry anyone but Luke.

After days of icy silence, Sarah finally surrendered.

"Fine. While I've still got the energy, I'll take on more shifts and build up a nest egg. When the baby comes, I'll help you raise it. At least you won't have to struggle as badly as I did."

The past was something Sarah had always guarded fiercely. Her sudden willingness to speak about it caught Sophie off guard.

She listened quietly as her mother recounted her history. To her shock, she realized she was repeating the exact same cycle her mother had lived through.

Sarah had fallen deeply in love with a man, but his family vehemently rejected her. Faced with the threat of being disowned, her father caved.

Heartbroken and furious, Sarah walked away.

Later, when she found out she was pregnant, she stubbornly decided to keep the baby. She wanted to make him regret it. She wanted to make his arrogant family regret it.

Why exactly was she insisting on keeping Luke's child? To validate her own tragic romance? Or was she secretly hoping that one day he would find out the truth and be consumed by guilt?

She watched her sleeping mother, the tears falling silently. Sarah was only fifty-four, but she looked a decade older.

Sophie had spent her whole life thinking her mom's abrasive personality was the reason she was alone. Now she realized it was entirely because of her. Sarah just wanted to keep her safe, sacrificing her own happiness to ensure Sophie survived.

Dragging her away from a friend's house, chasing off a creeping Mr. Ziegler, cursing out teenage boys who whistled at her, and scaring away any guy who tried to flirt—it had all been her desperate way of loving her.

Her mother had swallowed immense suffering, mockery, and humiliation to raise her alone. Was Sophie truly prepared to shoulder that same burden?

Unable to sleep, she started scrolling randomly on her phone.

She stumbled onto a forum post by someone expressing deep resentment toward their mother for having them out of wedlock, forcing them to live under the stigma of a fatherless home.

Sophie remembered elementary school, how the kids would trail behind her, laughing because she didn't have a dad, calling her vile names. Did she really want her unborn child to face that exact same cruelty?

When she left Seattle, she had changed her number and blocked all of Luke's socials, severing all ties. It was time to sever this final physical connection too.

She lay down gently beside her mother and whispered into the dark, "Mom, come with me to the clinic tomorrow."

Tears flooded her eyes. She had to toughen up. Some goodbyes had to be absolute. Some people needed to stay in the past forever.