Chapter 198: GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH
Finnegan
It was always a pleasure to see my mother, I thought sarcastically, watching her sweep past Abigail like a raging hurricane.
Her green eyes flashed with barely restrained fury, her body trembling so violently I’d never seen her shake this much in my life. My mother was always the picture of peace and calm. It was rare to see her lose her head.
And I knew exactly what had her losing it. I’d expected this the moment I made that call this morning.
"Miss Kellerman," I called to Abigail calmly. Her cornflower blue eyes flickered to me warily, then back to my seething mother. "Please excuse us."
Abigail cast one last worried glance before slipping out of the office and shutting the door softly behind her.
The second the lock clicked, Mother erupted.
"How dare you?" she hissed, her voice shaking with rage.
Her white hair was pulled back in a tight bun, exposing the veins bulging in her forehead. "You cut off my funding? You froze my project accounts? Who the hell do you think you are, Finnegan?"
I leaned back in my chair, straightening my shirt, fighting to keep my face cold and controlled, even though anger crackled hot like a live wire through my veins.
How dare I behave as the fucking CEO of my company? Hilarious. How dare I have backbone after many years of her riding me like a piggyback?
"I’m the CEO of Wolfe Corporation," I said, meeting my mother’s eyes with a level gaze.
That only seemed to enrage her more. All my life, I had done everything I could to avoid seeing that look on her face, and what did I get in return?
"The company you seem to keep forgetting belongs to me," I continued. "I looked into your so-called project, Mother. It’s a black hole."
"There’s nothing your project contributes to Wolfe. The vehicles our company produces don’t show up in your project, there are no measurable returns, and it adds zero value to the company."
"It was just millions of dollars vanishing into accounts. If you were in my shoes, what would you have done, Mother?"
Her green eyes blazed so brightly I thought they’d set me on fire. She stepped closer, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.
"You have no right to interfere with my work," she spat. "I built this company alongside your father. I sacrificed everything for this family. And now you think you can just cut me off like I’m some common employee?"
I rose slowly, towering over her, battling the guilt and remorse that swelled in my chest. I wanted to move closer and take her hands.
Why was she trying to get rid of me? Why was she trying to ruin me? If I’d made a mistake, all she had to do was tell me, and I would fix it.
But no, that Finnegan was gone. I couldn’t keep hanging on to her every word when all she ever wanted to do was destroy me.
"I have every right. Wolfe Corporation is mine. My name is on the building. My signature is on every major decision. I’m done letting you siphon funds for whatever personal schemes you’re running. The project is dead. The accounts are frozen. End of discussion, Mother."
She laughed bitterly. "This is how you repay me? After everything I’ve done for you? You’re ungrateful, reckless, and always convinced you know better than everyone else. Devin would never have treated me this way. He respected his mother. He understood family loyalty!"
The mention of Devin landed like a whip across my face. For a second, the old wounds deep inside me flared up. All the guilt, the grief, the endless comparisons I had lived with my entire life flooded my head.
"Don’t bring him into this," I warned. "You want to talk about family loyalty? Fine. Let’s talk about how you framed me. How you planted that fucking spyware in my own office and how you tried to take out Richard Saxon last night and pin it on me!"
Mother’s face went pale for a split second before she recovered, huffing with indignation.
"What are you talking about?" she snapped.
"You’re being paranoid, Finnegan. You’re delusional. I am your mother. I carried you for nine months. I raised you. And this is how you speak to me? Accusing me of these ridiculous, insane things? You’ve lost your mind."
I slammed my fist on the desk. The sound cracked through the room like a gunshot.
"Stop lying to my fucking face!" I roared, the control I’d been straining to cling to finally snapping. To hell with it.
"I know what you did. I know you’ve been working against me for months. I know you’re the reason Richard thought I wanted him dead. I’m done pretending. Wolfe Corporation is mine, Mother."
Mother stared at me, chest heaving, her eyes wild with anger and... hatred. The anger in my veins fizzled into pain. My mother hated me. It was clear as day in her eyes, and like a fool, all these years, I’d been blind to it.
My mother loved Devin with all her heart. And hated me just the same.
"You’ll regret this," she whispered venomously. "Mark my words, Finnegan. You’ll regret treating your own mother like this. After everything I sacrificed for you and your brother..."
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes but I shoved them back, and that had me jabbing the intercom button on my desk, my hand trembling.
"Security to my office. Now."
Two guards arrived within minutes. I didn’t look at my mother as I spoke. I couldn’t look at her.
"Escort Mrs. Wolfe out of the building. She is no longer permitted on the premises without my explicit permission."
Mother laughed bitterly as the guards took her arms.
"You think this ends here?" she spat as they led her toward the door. "You have no idea what’s coming, Finnegan. No idea at all. You’ll come crawling back when you realize how much you need me!"
