Chapter 77: Theron’s unwavering determination

Theron’s heart lurched.

His mother knew. She finally figured it out.

For the first time in a long time, Theron found himself unable to hide behind his usual mask. His mother’s piercing gaze seemed to strip away every layer of pretense, leaving him exposed.

He lowered his head, cowering to meet her gaze. "Yes," he admitted eventually. "I fell in love with her a long time ago. I don’t see her as just a woman who saved me. She is the woman I love, Mom. My dream girl."

Charlotte instantly withdrew her hand, her breathing hitching in her throat.

"You love Elowen?" she mumbled, staring at him in disbelief.

Although she had guessed it, she couldn’t help but be shocked when he admitted it.

"I’ve always loved her." Theron’s gaze was still fixed on the floor. "But I never found the right opportunity to approach her and confess my feelings. I thought I should establish myself first, become successful enough to offer her the life she deserved."

His fists tightened. "But I was late..."

When he thought Soren had his hand on Elowen first before he could even formally introduce himself to her, his entire being burned with rage and indignation. If only he had the chance to go back to the past, he would have never let that incident happen to her.

He would have kept her far away from that hotel, preventing her from falling into Soren’s predatory trap.

"Yes, you are too late," Charlotte said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Elowen is already married. Stop thinking about her that way. Whatever feelings you have, pursuing another man’s wife is inappropriate. Move on. Don’t keep yourself trapped in the past."

Her voice was firm and authoritative. She wasn’t offering a suggestion. She was telling him what he needed to do.

But Theron had no intention of listening, not even to his mother.

"She is the woman I love," he declared. "I’ll never give up on her. I’m going to win her heart."

Charlotte looked at him as if she no longer recognized her son. A deep frown crept up her brows, displeasure hitting her heart hard.

"Have you lost it completely?" she snapped at him for the first time. "Win her heart? She is a married woman with a child."

"I don’t care," he shot back. "All I know is that I love her. And I’ll win her at any cost."

Charlotte could hardly believe what she was hearing.

Her son had always been reasonable, disciplined, and conscious of right and wrong. She had raised him to respect other people’s boundaries. She had never imagined he would covet a married woman as though there were nothing wrong with it.

"Even knowing she is married to Soren?" Her tone turned sharper, and so did her gaze. "You want to be a homewrecker?"

She cocked her head, regarding him with anger and hurt. "And you think Elowen will readily come to you, leaving her family?"

"She will. She has to," Theron said with conviction.

The certainty in his voice unsettled Charlotte more than his confession had.

Theron wasn’t speaking like a man in love and was struggling to let go. He spoke as though Elowen’s future had already been decided and all he needed to do was claim what he believed belonged to him.

She had never seen him like this before.

The Theron she knew would never have spoken so casually about breaking a marriage. He would never have dismissed a woman’s choice or insisted that she had to belong to him.

The man standing in front of her seemed blind to everything except his own desire.

"Are you insane?" Her voice rose an octave higher. "You believe she’ll leave her husband and come to you? Stop daydreaming. She will never leave Soren. And if you force yourself into her life and try to destroy her marriage, she will hate you."

She caught his arm again, her fingers tightening as though she was trying to bring him back to his senses.

"Stop this madness, Theron."

Charlotte knew her son was heading down the wrong path. She was desperate to correct him.

"This is not going to end well. Don’t forget she is a part of the Vale family. And we are not in the position of standing up to the most powerful family in the city."

Her grip on his arm tightened further. "Do you understand what I’m saying?"

But Theron was too consumed by his obsession to heed her warning.

"I’m not afraid of the Vale family," he roared. "I’ll do whatever it takes to get her. And I believe she will eventually choose me and leave her so-called husband, who doesn’t deserve her."

Charlotte recoiled instantly, stunned by the intensity of his response. The shock soon gave way to irritation.

"How could you say something like this?" she snapped. "Soren was nothing but attentive to her during dinner. He clearly cares about her and treats her well."

"He is only pretending," Theron said almost immediately. "He doesn’t love her. He never did."

A heavy silence fell between them.

Charlotte gaped at him, struggling to reconcile his words with what she had witnessed that evening.

During dinner, she had witnessed Soren’s affection toward Elowen. And it didn’t look like pretense.

Elowen, too, had appeared comfortable with him. She had looked distressed by the display of his affection. Instead, she seemed to enjoy the attention Soren was giving to her.

If Soren had merely been putting on a show, Elowen would have sensed something wrong. She would have been uncomfortable. But she had not shown any sign of discomfort.

Charlotte couldn’t shake the feeling that her son had misunderstood something.

"For seven years, Soren neglected her," Theron continued. "He treated her like trash and made her life miserable. You have no idea how much Elowen suffered because of him."

His conviction made Charlotte pause and reconsider.

The things he described sound terrible. If Soren had truly treated Elowen that way for years, his sudden display of affection wasn’t as innocent as it had appeared.

Her doubts started to weaken, but they didn’t disappear entirely.

"Are you telling me the truth?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Mom. I’ve no reason to lie to you." Theron met her gaze. "All of my friends know about it. If you don’t believe me, you can talk to them."

He took a deep breath before he continued, "We all know Soren had been in love with Tahlia since school. They were supposed to get married. But an unfortunate incident seven years ago brought Soren and Elowen close. He had no choice but to marry her."