My Love for You Broke Me

Chapter 238

Shawn's mother had told me twice that I looked similar to my mother. When my mother turned to face me, I felt like I was staring at my future self. I was almost certain that I would look exactly like her in a little more than ten years. I walked over to sit opposite her. "As requested, I have brought Renee over to meet you, Mom! You guys can chat for a while. I'm going to my room to get changed, but I'll come over in a moment," he uttered thoughtfully.

After Robert left, it was just Joseph and the other bodyguards who stayed with me. My mother handed me a cup of coffee. "You can get them to step back," she told me. I gave Joseph a nod, and they stepped back to keep a distance of about ten yards from me. Once my bodyguards were a distance away from me, the elegant woman began to speak in a calm tone. "This is my first time meeting you after we were separated."

Does that mean she didn't see me after she donated her kidney to me? I wondered. She continued speaking while I pressed my lips together without saying anything. "I missed you a lot, and I've thought of bringing you home to care for you, but when I am reminded of your father… He lied to me, and he ruined my idea of love. I hated him too much—it was hard for me to have you by my side. I'm sorry," she explained.

She sounded extremely calm as she spoke of her hatred for my father, and she sounded equally calm when she claimed that she missed me. It was almost as if she didn't feel anything as she uttered those words. "It's fine," I muttered.

"You seem really calm, even though this is our first meeting in a while, Renee," she commented.

"You seem pretty calm, too," I said while staring at my coffee. She smiled in response. "We're really similar." I didn't say anything after that. "I told Robert to bring you over because I was thinking of handing you all of my businesses in Bryxton and Finland," she said.

"Why are you being so generous?" I asked with a smile.

"I only have one daughter," she replied.

"Robert called you his mother as well," I said. Her expression softened at the mention of Robert. "He was really weak as a child, so I took care of him as he was growing up. He only calls me his mother because we're close," she explained.

"If that's the case, you can hand all your businesses over to him," I replied before standing up to leave. She called out for me with a rather stunned look on her face. "Renee." With my back turned against her, I spoke in a calm voice. "I've never cared much for money and wealth—I don't even want the money that the Xenos Family has to offer. I was forced to take Shawn's money."

"Are you saying that all this wealth doesn't belong to you just because you don't want it?" she asked gently.

"What else do we share aside from the same blood? Do you really think of me as your daughter?" I asked. I was nothing but the heir of her wealth on paper. I didn't mean anything else to her—she didn't even seem happy when she saw me. She seemed flabbergasted upon hearing my last question. I turned around and saw the troubled look on her face. "I should leave now," I uttered while trying my best to contain the frustration I felt.

My trip to France had been utterly pointless. "Renee," she said in her same gentle tone. "You're my daughter, but aside from that, I don't know how else we may be bonded to one another," she replied honestly. I didn't say anything else after that—I simply led Joseph and the other bodyguards away from the castle. Joseph questioned me when we got to the helicopter. "You don't seem too happy, Miss."

"She wasn't happy when she had me, Joseph," I replied.

"Are you referring to the Duchess, Miss?" Joseph asked hesitantly. I don't need a mother like her, I thought. I didn't know how to respond to Joseph's question, as I didn't want to seem vulnerable in front of him. When we were at the borders of France, I sent Shawn a text. 'I'll reach Espoo in a few hours,' I texted.

Shawn didn't respond to my text, so I messaged Diego and Kevin. However, none of them responded to me either—it was almost as if they had all disappeared into thin air at the same time. I had a rather uneasy feeling building in my chest as I awaited their responses. After a few hours, the helicopter landed in Espoo.

The entire villa in Espoo was pitch black. Joseph could sense danger nearing us, so he stood guard in front of me before he ordered the other 23 bodyguards to surround me. All of a sudden, a loud blast came from the entrance of the villa, and we were all blown away by the force of the explosion. My body slammed onto the ground, and Joseph immediately grabbed my arm before we began to run.

The rest of the bodyguards stayed behind to handle the situation. When I turned to look at them, I saw them collapse before my eyes. I felt nauseous as my vision turned dark. I had never witnessed such a bloody scene! Joseph dragged me along, and we ran for a long while before I was completely out of breath. I started puking the moment we stopped. Once I was done, Joseph dragged me into the woods. It was snowing in Finland, and we could hide behind the huge piles of snow. From where we were, we could see a few men patrolling the area with rifles in their arms.

I didn't even have the guts to breathe at that point. When they got nearer to us, Joseph stood up all of a sudden to distract them. They all chased after Joseph while I remained hidden behind the icy pile of snow. I climbed out of the snow when I couldn't stand the cold anymore, and I was greeted by a pair of green eyes the moment I looked up.

The pair of green eyes looked as if they belonged to a snake. They stared at me as if I was their predator. "Who are you?" I asked helplessly.

"Who am I? I'm Shawn's good friend." He responded in the local language perfectly, even though he didn't look local. I tried my best to contain the panic that I felt as I continued questioning him. "How are you related to Shawn? Why are you coming after me?" In the past, I used to be able to remain calm in all situations as I trusted that Shawn would show up to save me. But… I can't calm myself down after I just saw these people killing my men!