Chapter 266: Evelyn Evans, My Mother

​Fidora’s eyes instantly lit up with immense satisfaction. A match between the McCoy empire and the Samson shipping fortune was a corporate dream come true.

"That is wonderful news, Reid," Fidora said, approving warmly. "He comes from a very respectable family, and he has been remarkably devoted to you and Sarah this past month."

​Across the table, my real mother and father—Kain Evans’s parents—smiled gently.

​"We’re happy for you, Reid," my mother said softly, her voice filled with a genuine, gentle warmth. "You deserve to find peace... and Kain would have wanted you to move on and be happy."

​Yet, as I sat beside Reid, holding his hand tightly beneath the table where no one could see, I caught the lingering bitterness and deep, aching sadness in my parents’ eyes. They were genuinely glad Reid was no longer drowning in dark grief, but watching another young man step into the space their deceased son had once occupied still cut them to the very bone.

​Reid felt the slight tremor in my fingers and squeezed my hand firmly beneath the table, giving me a quiet, reassuring glance.

​We still had a long way to go, and many secrets to keep, but as I looked around the room at my daughter, my husband, my sister, and the family that had survived the storm of my decease—I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that we were finally on our way home.

And so, I ’dated’ Reid McCoy for about one more month before he ’proposed’ and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. How touching.

Fidora had originally envisioned the grandest, most lavish spectacle the high society media had ever seen—a high-profile union between the McCoy and Samson empires that would dominate headlines for months. But I put my foot down, gently but firmly pleading for a small, intimate ceremony.

To my relief, Mom Samson respected my wish. Deep down, she understood that a massive circus of a wedding wouldn’t look good for anyone involved—not when the groom was Reid McCoy, a prominent, highly visible Alpha who had carried such public, lingering grief over his late husband.

A week before our private wedding, Reid and I took a trip to the quiet, rolling green hills of the private cemetery at the edge of the city.

To the rest of the world, we were there as an engaged couple paying our respects—a formal, polite visit where Kain Samson asked his future husband’s late partner for permission to take his place.

As we walked up the stone path, holding a bouquet of fresh white lilies, I caught sight of a solitary figure standing before my old gravestone.

It was Evelyn Evans. My mother.

She wore a simple black dress, her soft silvering hair tied back, staring quietly at the carved marble bearing my former name.

My heart squeezed in my chest. I stopped in my tracks, turning to Reid and squeezing his hand. "Wait for me here for a moment, Reid. Please."

Reid looked at the distant figure, his grey eyes softening with deep understanding. He nodded, letting go of my hand and giving me a quiet, encouraging nod. "Take all the time you need."

I took a deep breath, clutching the lilies tight against my chest as I stepped toward her. My polished shoes clicked softly against the stone, pulling her out of her quiet grief. Evelyn wiped her eyes with a lace handkerchief and turned around, blinking in surprise as she recognized the silver-haired young man standing a few feet away.

"Kain Samson," she murmured softly, offering a faint, melancholic smile. "You’re... visiting him."

"Yes," I said quietly, stepping up to place the white lilies at the base of my own tombstone. I stood beside her, looking down at my own name etched in cold stone. "Kain Evans was really loved. His life... it was remarkable, wasn’t it?"

Evelyn stared at the flowers, letting out a long, heavy sigh that seemed to carry the weight of an entire lifetime.

"Everyone says that," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "They talk about his bravery, his career, his strength... but you know, Kain Samson, I am proud of my son, but I am also ashamed to say that for most of his life... I was never really present."

My breath caught in my throat. I kept my gaze fixed on the tombstone as her words hit me like a wave of cold water.

My parents had always been a whirlwind of love and distance. Evelyn and my father had seven children together, but even after raising a massive family, they remained completely, hopelessly infatuated with each other.

They moved around the world constantly, traveling from country to country, going on endless romantic dates and living their happiest couple lives, leaving us kids at home under the care of nannies and older siblings.

I had loved them, but growing up, their presence had always felt like a rare, fleeting warm breeze.

"My husband and I... we traveled so much," Evelyn wept softly, her hands trembling over her handbag. "We chased our own lives, moved from place to place, leaving him and his siblings behind. Even after seven children, we were selfish. Kain was always so independent, so strong... but I wasn’t there when he needed a mother the most. I don’t know if he blamed me for it, all the way up to the end."

A lump formed in my throat so thick it burned. Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring the sight of my own grave. Without thinking, my body moved on pure, raw instinct—I reached out and grabbed both of her hands in mine, gripping them tight.

"He doesn’t blame you," I said, my voice thick, raw, and completely uncontrollable as I stared straight into her eyes with an emotional intensity that shook her to her core. "He never blamed you, not even for a second."

Evelyn went completely, utterly still.

She froze under my touch, her eyes widening as she stared into my face. For a brief, terrifying second, a powerful, inexplicable surge of deep, familiar warmth washed over her—the undeniable, ghost-like feeling of her own flesh and blood looking back at her. Her lips parted, her chest heaving as she searched my eyes.

Panic flickered in my chest. I caught myself, suddenly realizing what I was doing, and quickly dropped her hands, turning my face away as I swallowed hard.

"I mean..." I cleared my throat, forcing my voice back into a calm, polite tone, though my hands still shook. "No son would ever blame his parents for something like that. In the end... he achieved his dream, didn’t he? He played hockey, he loved Reid, he had a beautiful family."

I turned back to face her, letting a tear slip down my cheek as I looked at the woman who had given me life.

"I don’t know what Kain Evans was like to you in private," I murmured softly, my voice trembling. "I don’t know the exact details of his life—all I know are the stories the media brings. But I really do hope we can get along, Mrs. Evans. I wish... I wish we could get closer. I wish you could be my mother, too. You can treat me like a son. Please... let’s be a family."