Every time I see her flirting with those men, I feel so embarrassed! What’s most confusing to me is that she’s in her mid-forties, yet she still yearns for love. I always mock her for it. “With the way you act, Mom, I’m probably the only one in this world who’ll still love you,” I’d say. She’d just smile at me, tugging at my cheek while laughing. “Plenty of men are chasing me, kiddo!” And honestly, that was true. There were a lot of men interested in her. But she didn’t care about any of them, except one—a man who was sixteen years younger than her. And she was the one who made the first move. That man was named Axel Whitlock. He had this whole “refined bad boy” thing going on, with gold-rimmed glasses that somehow made him look even more dangerous. He was good-looking, with sharp brows, striking eyes, a straight nose, and lips that always looked like they came straight out of a fashion ad. He was tall, around six feet, and his pale skin made the tattoos on his arms stand out even more. The first time I saw him, I was frozen for a moment. For a while, Axel Whitlock was a regular at Hawthorne’s Smokehouse, my mom’s barbecue joint. Every time, he’d call me over to take his order, get him a drink, or bring him some more food. He always stared at me, openly complimenting how pretty I was. Honestly, I felt shy and a little annoyed by it. I didn’t want to run errands for him, but when he handed me a twenty-dollar tip, suddenly, I didn’t mind so much. Axel always ordered a huge amount of barbecue, claiming he couldn’t finish it all, and then smiling as he passed me some of the food. I had barbecue to eat every night, and I could eat as much as I wanted without my mom getting on my case. So, my impression of Axel wasn’t all that bad. Until that one night. My mom brought Axel into the back room, where she and I slept. They were in there for a long time. I stood by the door, listening. I heard my mom giggling, sounding more flirtatious than usual. Then there were sounds of chairs scraping across the floor. After a moment, I heard Axel laugh, too. When my mom finally came out, I angrily confronted her. “What were you two doing in there?” “Just talking,” she said, laughing as she ran her fingers through her hair. But her eyes were scanning me, up and down. That only made me angrier. Her look seemed to say, “You’re just a kid; you wouldn’t understand.” “Just talking? You were alone with a guy in a room for an hour, and you expect me to believe you were just talking?” My mom suddenly laughed, reached out, and pinched my cheek affectionately. “Relax, honey. Axel’s going to take care of me for the rest of my life.” I was stunned. First, I couldn’t believe how fast she’d found someone. And second, was Axel seriously into my mom? Was he blind? I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I knew there was no way I could stop my mom from being with another man. After all, when I was just five, she divorced my dad and raised me alone, too afraid to remarry in case a stepdad might treat me poorly. Now that I was grown, I had no right to stand in the way of her happiness. Besides, she’d found a guy she liked. And he wasn’t just good-looking—he was wealthy, and he’d promised to take care of her for life. But that night, I still buried my head in my pillow and cried hard. I couldn’t help but feel that soon, I’d become the forgotten child. My mom would be like my dad—she’d build a new family and forget all about me. The day after my mom told me Axel would take care of her for life, we moved. Axel bought the house. It was a three-bedroom apartment in Aspen Ridge Apartments, just a thirty-minute drive from Maple Creek High School, where I went to school. It was my first time living in such a nice place. It wasn’t just clean and spacious—it was peaceful. And when you turned on the lights, it was like something out of an influencer’s Instagram post.
At first, I resisted the move, but after seeing my new bedroom with a giant bed all to myself, I quickly changed my mind. That change of heart took about thirty seconds. As I lay on that soft, comfortable bed, I started thinking, maybe Axel wasn’t so bad for my mom after all. Still, one thing had me nervous. I was going to be living under the same roof as Axel. A week later, he finally moved in. And when he did, he brought along a little girl who couldn’t have been more than five years old. “Say hi to everyone, Ivy,” Axel said, looking down at her with a warm smile. “Hi, Auntie! Hi, big sister!” She was adorable, round-faced and pale, looking just like a little doll. I smiled warmly at her. It didn’t take more than a day for us to get along. I found out she was Axel’s daughter from his ex-wife. “Look, this is my mommy,” Ivy said, pulling a picture out of her backpack. It was a family photo, and her mom had this graceful, almost aristocratic look to her. I couldn’t help comparing her to my mom, and, honestly, they were worlds apart. One was a high-society lady, the other, well, just a regular woman. I had to wonder—did Axel have a problem with his vision, or was there something else going on? “Mom loves my brother more than me. She doesn’t love me, so she left me with Daddy. I don’t like her anymore,” Ivy said, her little lips pouting and her eyes welling up with tears. Seeing that she was about to cry, I quickly handed her a doll and said, “Hey, how about we play house?” “Okay!” Ivy cheered up instantly. I looked up and saw Axel standing in the doorway, watching us with a smile on his face. The whole situation felt weird. I quickly got up and left the room. But I could still feel his gaze following me until I shut the door. After that, things only got stranger. My mom was with Axel, but at the same time, it didn’t feel like they were really together. I understood why they weren’t having a wedding, since it was a second marriage for both. But why weren’t they even getting a marriage license? Plus, they didn’t sleep in the same room. Actually, Axel never stayed in the apartment at night. As soon as it got dark, he’d grab his car keys and leave. My mom always laughed it off, saying he was some sort of night owl, always busy after dark. But something about the whole situation seemed off. After thinking about it all night, I came to a conclusion. It must’ve been because I was around, so they couldn’t have their alone time. After giving it some thought, I decided to move into the school dorms. But when I brought it up, my mom got furious. “Living at school is out of the question! Don’t bring it up again!” she snapped. I was confused. They were newlyweds, right? Wouldn’t they want me out of the way? At the same time, though, a part of me felt happy. My mom still cared about me more. “If she wants to live at school, let her,” Axel said as he came in from outside. My mom looked surprised but quickly regained her composure. She turned to me with a softer expression. “Well, if Axel says it’s okay, then fine, you can go.” Even though she’d been calling him “Axel” this whole time, hearing it again made me pause for a second. I thanked him, addressing him as “Uncle Axel” out of habit, and started to head back to my room. Normally, I tried to avoid being around Axel whenever he was at home, just to give them some space. But this time, as I stood up to leave, I noticed Axel frowning. Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back onto the couch. He stared at me seriously for a while before finally saying, “I’m only ten years older than you. Calling me ‘Uncle’ feels weird. How about just calling me by my name?” “I’m pretty laid-back. I don’t care about formalities.” A wave of unease washed over me, and I glanced over at my mom. “Young people are easygoing like that. It’s fine. I’m easygoing too,” she said with a smile, raising her hands behind her head as she leaned back on the couch. But the way she looked at Axel didn’t seem like she was looking at a husband. I shook my head and hurried back to my room. Then I heard my mom calling after me from the living room. “Looks like my girl’s all grown up—she’s even getting shy!” And then Axel’s deep, carefree laughter followed. My heart felt more tangled than ever. Something was off—I just couldn’t put my finger on it. When I finally moved into the school dorms, I learned something shocking about Axel Whitlock. Something I never would’ve guessed.
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