There was a knock on the door in the middle of her completing her report. She let out a groan as she stood up to see who was at the door. She quickly regretted doing so the minute she pulled the door open. She looked into the eyes of the woman who ruined everything for her, and yet she was at her doorstep again, with a sickening smirk on her face.

“Angie”

“Abigail”, she smiled, and it was clear it wasn't genuine. “Can I come in?”

“What do you want?”

“You'll find out soon enough, only if you let me in. I promise I'm not going to take long”.

She took a long hard look at the older woman standing opposite her. She still looked as cold and ruthless as she did the day she ruined everything between her and Austin before she stepped aside, inviting her in.

“I see you've done well for yourself”, she strode into her apartment, studying her surroundings in mock disgust yet again. It almost felt like déjà vu

“I underestimated you”, she was standing at the center of the lounge before turned to face the younger woman. “By thinking you could make it where you are now without a man”, she said, venom dripping from her voice.

“Angie, if you're here to insult me, you might as well leave right now. I don't have time for this”, Abigail stood firmly at the door.

“You never get tired of preying on innocent rich men, do you Abigail? I wonder what Ian Parker must have seen in you to even want to settle down with a girl like you”, the sole intention was to belittle the young woman as much as she could. She won't lie, even though her and Austin were not together anymore, his heart still belonged to her. And she hated her for it. Her son was still hooked on whatever love potion she fed him years prior. No matter how long or far they were apart, he still loved her.

Abigail wasn't going to let Angie get to her like she did before. She had grown from all the hurt Angie bought on her life. She wasn't that young, naive little girl anymore. She was now a woman, and she was going to stand up for herself.

“You've made your research again I see”, she folded her arms as she stood confidently across the older woman, who was still studying her with her eyes. “Don't you get tired of always sticking your nose into my business Angie? And just focus on your life for once?”

“Your involvement with my son is my business, darling”

“I'm no longer involved with your son anymore, darling. You got what you wanted”, she gave a brief, fake smile before opening the door wide. “Now, if you would please excuse me-”

“Austin was involved in a car accident a couple of days ago. He suffered a severe blow to the head resulting in him suffering from a condition called retrograde amnesia. Events from five years ago have been totally wiped out from his memory. He doesn't remember anything from the time you left him up until now”, the older woman spoke so quickly as if she was reciting some lines of a script, not giving the other woman enough time to process every detail at a time.

Abigail was going through a lot of emotions, not sure how to act. This meant that he probably didn't remember that they met again, and he met their daughter, those memories were all wiped out. She was certain it wouldn't be a good idea to show the older woman she still cared about him. But how could she not? He was still her daughter's father.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“He's a fighter, he always pulls through”

“So what do you want from me Angie? Because I'm sure you didn't just rock up here to keep me posted about what's been happening with Austin”

“Oh trust me, I wouldn't have come here if I had a choice”, she scoffed mockingly. “Austin want to see you. He believed you could play a role in helping him regain his memory”, she rolled her eyes at that statement.

“So because I'm a loving mother, and I'll do anything for my son, here I am”, she plastered a smile on her face

“So what do you expect me to do?”

“You're going to stick to your story Abigail”, she took steps towards her. “That you left that day because you knew the two of you were never going to work out, and you're doing it all for him, so that he can have a better future”.

“And you would like that, wouldn't you Angie? To paint me as the bad guy again? “, she also took a step towards the older woman, to her surprise as she didn't expect her to turn out like this and talk back to her so confidently. She was no longer that shy, easily intimidated young girl anymore.

“Yes, I would Abigail”, she wore that devious smile on her face yet again. “A mother would do anything to protect her children and keep them safe, I'm simply doing just that”, she twisted her lip to the side, biting the inside of her cheek before smiling again.

“You know if you were a mother, you would understand”, she said that with the intention of hurting the young woman and opening up what was surely a wound to her as she thought the young woman had given up her baby

Abigail laughed to herself. Clearly the woman standing across her had no idea of what she was talking about. Before she could open her mouth to speak, tiny footsteps echoed towards the room and Emily appeared in sight,

“Mommy, I can't find the laces of my sneakers”, she said sweetly as she pouted her lip with the shoes in her hands. The sound of her sweet voice turned the older woman around, and she stared in horror at the little girl who shared the exact same features as her Austin when he was her age. Emily was Austin's splitting image. No amount of words could explain the level of shock Angie was in, her features even started twitching.

“Go look for them in my room sweetie, in the drawers”, Abigail instructed briefly and her daughter gave a short nod before she disappeared from sight again

Angie turned to look at the young woman in front of her, who already wore a smirk towards her

“You kept the baby?”, she couldn't hide the anger in her voice to only see the other woman give a lazy shrug. “You stupid, stupid girl”, she was at the verge of throwing a tantrum.

“You just said it Angie, a mother would do anything to protect her children and keep them safe. That's exactly what I did”.

“That wasn't part of the agreement Abigail. You were supposed to give the baby up for adoption as soon as it's born. That's what we agreed on when I dropped you off at the shelter”.

“Well screw the agreement then”, Abigail said confidently before laughing. The ball was in her cot now, and it felt great having the upper hand. No wonder Angie always felt like she was at the top of the world or something, this feeling was indescribable. She was quickly pulled back down from her thoughts as Angie grabbed her by the arm, forcibly bringing her closer.

“Listen here Abigail-”, she started with a warning tone before she was interrupted by Abigail yanking her arm back and drew closer to the older woman

“No. You listen to me, Angie”, she warned before she pointed her finger at her. “I refuse to be pushed around by you. I'm not that little girl anymore. You will not tell me what to do or say. I can make my own decisions”, she spat viciously at the older woman, whose eyes were already widened in surprise at the sight in front of her as the young woman towered above her.

“It's time you accept that things won't go your way this time”

“If you think this is your way of getting back with Austin, think again-”

“I'm not planning on getting back with Austin, Angie”, she showed her the engagement ring. “I'm moving on with my life, all thanks to you”

For the first time in ages, the older woman was actually speechless as she watched the young woman realize what was actually going on and quickly composed herself and took a step back from her and turned on her feet to stand at the door

“Please leave Angie”, she folded her arms as her voice was a lot calmer than a few minutes prior. Angie blinked repeatedly as she drew a breath and took a few steps towards the door before she turned and faced her again.

“I'll be in touch about your meeting with Austin”

“I'll really appreciate it if you never showed your face here again. I don't want my daughter to be around the likes of you”.

Angie gave a short nod of understanding. “My people will be in touch”

“Cool”, Abigail slammed the door shut across Angie's face and leaned against the door and breathed heavily. She couldn't believe she just did that, she actually stood up to her. She was nervous and a bit shocked of what she said, but she was proud.

****
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