Chapter 2: Accusations and Ultimatums

I tried to explain, exasperated:

"Hailey, I'm Tyler's mother. I gave birth to him. What on earth could I possibly want from him? You're really overthinking this."

But Hailey wouldn't let it go:

"Yeah, his biological mother. Haven't you seen enough stories about moms getting weird with their sons?"

"Even if you're his mom, you should avoid making things look bad, right? Today you sit in his front seat, tomorrow you'll be in his bed?"

Her words made my skin crawl. My hands shook with anger.

I’ve lived over forty years—thought I’d seen it all. But this? This was a first.

It was like all the air got sucked out of the room. I’d never, not once, been spoken to like that—not by family, not by friends, not even by the worst bosses. It felt dirty. Like she’d dragged me through the mud just for sport.

So, I didn't bother being polite.

I shot back:

"You seem to know a lot about that. Has your dad been crawling into your bed a lot? Otherwise, why are you so quick to accuse someone else?" Honestly, what was wrong with this girl?

She went off.

"What the hell is wrong with you? That's disgusting! Do you have any shame? You're just making up filthy rumors about me! I could sue you for slander, you know!"

See? I gave her a taste of her own medicine, and she lost her mind.

She really is the queen of double standards.

I continued:

"Filthy rumors? So you know it's a filthy rumor? Tell me—if I send our chat to the police, who do you think they'd come after first? You were the one who started throwing out disgusting accusations."

Hailey fired back:

"How is that making things up? You really did sit in my boyfriend's front seat—that's a fact!"

She was so unreasonable, I couldn’t even stay angry. It was almost funny.

"Sitting in his front seat counts as flirting? How many times have you ridden in a car? How many times have you sat up front? By that logic, have your arms been pillows for hundreds of guys? Your lips tasted by thousands?"

As soon as I said that, Hailey nearly exploded.

She screamed:

"You... you're too much! I'm telling Tyler, and he's going to stand up for me!"

I didn’t stop her. Just replied, calm as ever:

"Go ahead."

Honestly, I wanted to see how my son would react.

I really wanted to know whose side he'd take.

But he let me down.

Not long after, my son called.

He yelled:

"Mom, how could you talk to Hailey like that? How could you call her a slut? Hailey never did anything to you—she even wished you happy new year! How could you say that to her?"

"Hailey's crying now. Come home and apologize to her!"

Honestly? I was disgusted.

But maybe he didn't know the whole story and Hailey twisted things, so I didn't argue. I just forwarded the chat log. Then said coldly:

"Take a good look—who started the insults?"

I figured he’d see the messages and realize his mistake. Maybe even apologize.

Even if he couldn't break up with Hailey right away, at least he'd stand up for me. Maybe have a huge fight with her, damage their relationship a little.

But he let me down again.

After a moment of silence, he said: