Narrative P. O. V.
Cain walked around for a few minutes before finally finding his mother. She was in the office he had been using since Ella had been in his.
As he walked in, she turned her attention from the map on the wall to look at him. Evelyn smiled brightly as she walked over and threw her arms
around his neck. She hated how she had to be up on her tiptoes to hug her own son, but she was excited to finally see him after so long.
“I missed you,” she said.
“Missed you too, Mom,” Cain said, hugging her briefly.
“How was Australia?”
She nodded as she backed away.
“It was a lot of fun. Lui and Jace really miss Jai. I told him when I saw him this morning that he needed to go home more often.”
Evelyn stared at Cain for a moment before sighing.
“So, what’s your excuse for not coming to see us more often?” She asked.
“Well, since you moved back to Canada, you’re not exactly close enough to visit often,” he said.
Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me that sass,” she said.
“I know you don’t come because you don’t like us.
Cain sighed.
“For the last time, Mom, I don’t dislike you,” he said.
“No,” she said, “you dislike your father.”
Cain made no effort to contest this.
“Cain, he means well,” she said.
“No, he has control issues and wants to relive the glory days by telling me how to run the world,” he said.
“He’s just proud of you.”
“He’s jealous of me.”
Evelyn’s eyebrows furrowed.
“After his whole plot against Asia went south, he never regained control. When I stepped in, I did what he couldn’t and I took over Asia and Africa,” he argued.
Evelyn sighed. “Taking Africa was a bad move,” she said.
Cain scoffed. “You act like he wouldn’t have done it if he were my position.”
“Look where it’s gotten you,” she said.
“You’ve got so much land to control that you’ve managed to be able to lose the control you gained. It would have been much easier to let Africa and Asia run themselves. That’s what I always told your father and what I’ve tried to tell you.”
When Cain made no effort to continue arguing with her, Evelyn sighed.
“Even as bad as it all is out there, I’m much more concerned with the control you’ve managed to lose over yourself,” she said.
Cain raised an eyebrow hearing this.
“That girl up in your office…”
“That girl in my office is none of your concern,” Cain said angrily.
“When were you going to tell me you had a mate?”
Evelyn asked, ignoring him.
“I hadn’t planned on it,” he answered honestly.
Before she could say anything else, Cain shook his head.
“I don’t want to discuss this with you. It was a mistake asking you to come here.”
“Cain… She doesn’t know about you, does she?”
Cain said nothing.
“Sweetheart, I know you well enough to know that you have your doubts about telling her about all of this, but I think you need to.”
He shook his head.
“So she can run from me the way you and Dad did?” He asked. Evelyn shook her head as her eyes filled with tears.
“You think you’re so unlovable,” she said.
“You think that people could never love you because of what you are. But have you ever stopped and thought that maybe the reason you can’t be loved
is because you don’t want to be?”
Cain said nothing.
Evelyn turned and left the office, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her shirt.