19:Panging Guilt
In Aurorica, Woods Mansion...
Inside a huge luxurious room, a woman sat near the fireplace holding a beeping phone.
The woman was Irina Wood who sat gracefully on the sofa with her black hair cascading down her shoulders. Her striking appearance captivates with an air of elegance, and her flawless complexion shows no signs of wrinkles, portraying a timeless beauty that emanates from within.
Her body naturally exudes an aura of confidence and poise, making a stunning presence but as of today, her face was filled with worry and fear.
Irina dialed Leon's number again and again but she got the same answer that the user's phone was either switched off or outside the network.
Though she sat in front of the fireplace, her body was cold. Her ears rang with Leon's angry screams, haunting her.
"Le...Leon..."
Irina's voice paused as she gasped in shock and disbelief holding the phone. She opened her lips to speak but choked on recalling how her own biological son talked to her.
Her mind was in a mess due to being treated roughly by her son whom she had pampered greatly.
Her son also loved her very much but now Leon whom many called Mama's boy because of hiding in her shadow was nowhere to be found.
At first, when she heard his rude tone, she was angry, and her maternal sternness wanted to scold her and ask him to apologize.
But as she heard his sudden outbursts, her heart was gripped with guilt.
A voice cold yet emotionless pierced her heart trying to cut it into pieces.No mother could take on such words from her own son.
She wanted to scream that she didn't abandon him in the spur of the moment but she was unable to. On realizing what she had done and how selfish it was to think that Leon would be happy away from her.
"Was I wrong? I just sent him to his father so why..."
"Why is this happening?"
"Leon isn't accepting me. My two daughters had gone far away from me."
"Where did things go wrong? I thought I would be happy and be myself but I feel more sad than before."
Irina's eyes became lifeless as she started pondering over her life.
She and her ex-husband Lex married in love, finding themselves complementing one another.
However, it was only after the marriage that she faced the harsh reality of the marriage.
Lex had a great inferiority complex and under the tremendous pressure of marrying into the Woods Family, which is a prominent family both in Aurorica and even the whole world, he was unable to bear the pressure.
His flaws started becoming glaring and only Irina found his true personality.
A shortsightedness, hot headed person who blames others for his inefficiency and shortcomings.
Additionally, the Befort family started leeching them off on account of Lex entering their family which made many of her family look at Lex unfriendly for his incompetence as he wasn't worth exchanging, still, her family decided to sacrifice a bit for her.
But this brought many undesirable changes in Lex.
To make it worse, he was terrible in bed, unable to last more than a few seconds, making her immensely frustrated.
Irina carried herself in society like a role model while Lex underperformed drawing countless ridicule and mocks.
His cultivation potential was quite low, something that was also inherited by Leon while her two daughters were immensely talented like her.
This made Lex go crazy.
To make it worse, he also started seeking pleasure outside with that small dick of his, breaking the last straw.
She tried to ignore all this but in the end, she was a woman and all the accumulation of misgiving finally burst making her take the wrong step.
At a cultivator's gathering, she was drunk by strong wine and was attracted to a handsome man in his 30s. Unable to hold herself anymore she let herself indulge in worldly pleasure.
A man was allowed to have multiple wives but a wife can't have another man.
Why was society so cruel to women and locked them under shackles? She finally let go of her shackles and fell into the man's grasp.
She was shocked when she woke up and tried to forget it but she wasn't able to. Finally, after an argument with Lex, a large rift formed in their relationship.
On the other hand, the man she shared the passionate night with, had occupied a place in her heart and since then she wasn't able to shake that place away. Under repeated pursuit of the man, she finally gave in.
However...
She was asked to choose between the newfound love and Leon.
Thinking that Leon would be okay with his father, Irina chose the man over the son but that didn't mean she threw her son away. It was just a matter of custody and she was free to meet her son…
That's how she brainwashed herself to lessen her guilt.
"But now everything feels wrong. Why did I choose to give up on him and throw him to that idiot? What had he done to my son to undergo such rapid change?"
"If I hadn't heard about the rumor from one of my friends from Elysium, I would have never known about this."
As Irina gasped and sobbed, a man sneaked in and wrapped his arms around her neck.
"What happened honey?"
Irina froze upon hearing the voice and stared at the handsome man but for some reason, she didn't feel as much attraction as before.
Previously, she would find herself melting with just a word of him but now something seemed to be changing.
As if a fog that was hazing her eyes had been lifted.
Irina hesitated a bit and explained Leon's matter to the man.
"He said all this to you. What an unruly prick! He thinks he has grown some balls after going there."
"Austin, he is my son. You can't speak to him like that."Irina shouted loudly, scaring the shit out of Austin.
Austin swallowed his saliva seeing his wife's violent look.
'She seems emotionally unstable. It's because of that damned boy. I should have killed him for real at that time instead of showing mercy. My new year had been totally ruined and all my expectations had been crushed because of that asshole.'
Austin held Irina's hands and caressed them softly trying to appease her.
"Irina, you should investigate first. Who knows what is happening for real? What if Leon is lying and the fault lies with him? I don't think Lex would do all this. I mean there isn't any reason for him to kick him out."
Irina nodded as what Lex said made sense.
However, she also eyed Austin strangely. For some reason, she felt that this man wanted to separate her from Leon.
Moreover, he had been recently staying outside the house at night without giving her a clear reason.
Thinking all this, she decided to also check up on him in case while pushing Austin away.
"Austin, I am not in the mood today and want to stay alone," Irina spoke in an irrefutable tone, kicking him away.
...........
While the couple separated with a sour feeling, Leon lay on the grassy snow bank of the river.
Unbeknownst to Leon, a seed of distrust was planted in his mother's heart, and his neutral halo started showing its effect on Irina.
And to make things more interesting, Irina's change in attitude would give Leon a surprise when he sees the system notification.