Angela could not believe what her mother said. And despite Gael giving her knee another squeeze as if to calm her down, she just couldn't hold it in anymore.

When she didn't reply, Cynthia added, "You've grown into a beautiful woman. We're similar in a lot of things… You're drawn to dangerous men; I can see that. But you can't have this life, Kylie. Go back to Mayne. To your father. And forget about this man."

Angela lowered her gaze for a brief second, a smile slowly forming on her lips, but it wasn't the kind that meant she was happy. With her red-rimmed eyes and shaky hands, Angela was furious. "We're far from the same. You may have given birth to me, but we're definitely not the same. It doesn't matter who I'm drawn to. I'm not married, and I don't have kids to leave behind without remorse."

Meeting her mother's shocked expression, she answered in a voice laced with two decades of pain, "You left me on the road while it was raining so hard, every water dropping on my head felt like ice breaking through my skull while I begged you not to leave me—not to leave us. But you did. You drove away like you didn't even hear me. Even when you saw me, you didn't stop. I suffered from PTSD ever since you left me there. Every time there's a storm, I'm reminded of the day you abandoned me on the road.

"You weren't there for me. You weren't there when I freaked out seeing blood on my underwear for the first time because I wasn't prepared when I had my first period. You weren't there when my first boyfriend broke my heart, and I came home crying, thinking that I wasn't good enough because he left me for another girl. You know who was there? Dad. He's been there for me. And Oliver. But you? Where the hell were you?"

Cynthia appeared as if she didn't expect Angela's reaction as she leaned back, her hand that was holding the wine glass stilling mid-air before she placed it back on the table with a shaky hand. "I… I had no choice." Her tone was clipped.

"Bullshit!" Angela snapped, her teeth gritting tightly as the first drops of hot tears streamed down her cheek, her eyes cold and sharp as she directed an accusatory stare. "You had a choice. And you chose to leave us."

"That's not fair, Kylie… I—"

"Not fair?" She huffed, feeling Gael's warm hand on her knee, still trying to calm her down. But she didn't want to calm down. She had been doing that for many years. She couldn't do it anymore.

Not bothering to wipe her tears, she continued, "I'll tell you what's not fair. You judging the people I come to love, the man I want to be with. They're the kindest, thoughtful, and generous people I know, and we're not even blood. They're one of the strongest families I've ever met, you know why? They welcomed me as one of their own, and they don't leave their people behind. All this time, I thought Dad was the one who drove you out of the house, and he broke our family when he did that. But that's not true. He didn't break our family. You did… When you decided to cheat on him with your current husband."

Cynthia gasped as if the words struck a knife in her chest.

Angela didn't stop, though, because she was hurting. "I forgot about that man you kissed in the library. I forgot that I wrote that in the diary you gave me. I forgot many things from the past, and Oliver told me it was because I was too hurt. And I guess I was, thinking maybe that you left because I snitched on my notebook since you told me to keep what I saw a secret." Her tears hadn't stopped rolling out of her eyes. "How could you do that to me? How could you ask me to keep something like that from my father? I was seven! Seven!!!"

Cynthia's composure broke, and she sighed heavily, but she didn't cry despite looking like she might. "I had to leave for your own good, Kylie. The man you saw is a dangerous man whom I knew before I met your father. I've known this life ever since I was born. I can't let you lead a life that will put you in danger."

Feeling the anger surging inside her, Angela let out a burst of mocking laughter. She could hear what her mother was trying to tell her, but there was not one reason that she could accept. Danger? Why, because of her dangerous lover? So she abandoned her two young children, leaving them motherless? And she expected Angela was just supposed to accept that and forget everything?

Angela remembered now that her father was about to do something by calling General Leos back then and letting him deal with her mother's lover, but her mother begged her father not to do it. Cynthia was protecting her lover.

Angela stood up abruptly that her chair fell backward, making a low thud on the carpet. Wiping her cheeks, she stared down at her mother. "You know what hurts now, Cynthia? It's not that you left and didn't stop after I chased you in the rain...or that you never came back for us; I moved on from that even though the scar remains with me. What's breaking me right now is that after all these years, I see you again, and you insist that what you did was for our own good. It's not. You didn't do it for us. You did it for yourself because you're selfish. You couldn't handle Dad so you cheated on him and left to be with that man."

Taking a deep breath, she added, "I wish I didn't see you again. You just destroyed the good memories I had of you. Now every time you come to mind, I'll remember today. Telling me I can't be with the man I want to be with, yet you married that man you said is dangerous… You're a hypocrite."

She was turning halfway to leave the room when she stopped and addressed her mother one last time, clenching her hands into a fist as she told her, "Though… I guess I have one thing that I got from you which I'm good at. Leaving. I never had once a good relationship with a partner before now. Because I left them whenever I thought it was headed somewhere serious. Just like you, I left. Are you proud I did that? That's, at least, another thing we have in common, right?"

And with that, Angela strode out of the room with Gael trailing behind her. He hadn't said a word since, patiently waiting for her. However, just before he could reach the door, Cynthia stopped him.

"Mr. De Luca. A word."

Gael stopped in his tracks, signaled Trigger to go after Angela with a nod of his head, and then turned around to face the older woman. Cynthia's eyes were red, but she kept her face neutral—a mask she had easily slipped on after what just happened.

"What are your intentions for my daughter?"

He wanted to laugh, but he kept his expression impassive. "My intentions?"

"I left to keep them safe. And yet...you're bringing her into this world. Does Charles know who you are and what you do? Does Kylie?"

With a calm stance, he put his hands into his pockets and tilted his head. "Why does it matter to you if she knows?"

Cynthia lifted her chin. "I love my daughter. I don't want her in any of this. I see you care about her, so what are you doing tainting her with your family's dark proclivities?"

Gael softly chuckled, but it was without humor. "Honestly, Mrs. Volkov, I don't know what I'm doing. But I am sure about one thing. I don't abandon people I love."

Her jaw tightened, but she didn't respond.

He buttoned his suit jacket and gave her a curt nod. "Thank you for the dinner invitation. Have a good evening."

When Gael left the room, he quickened his pace until he was out of the restaurant. He immediately noticed something was wrong when his men looked distressed. "What's going on?"

"Boss." Rick came to him in a hurry. "We lost Miss Su. Trigger said she bolted out of the staff exit, and he didn't see where she ran to after turning the corner. He's still searching for her."

The back of Gael's muscles tightened. He pulled out his phone and began to call Angela while he barked orders to his men. "Find her, or don't show your fucking face to me if you can't."