My Mom Wants Me To Break Up

During a holiday, when I told my mother that my boyfriend would be coming to my house, her expression darkened. Tears welled up in her eyes as she touched my face and said in a hoarse voice, “Oh my God... Thank God you’re still alive. “Do you remember what day this is? This time, I’m not letting you die.” She acted as if she were possessed and screamed at me hysterically, “He’s a serial killer! We’ll all die if he comes today. Last time around, I was the only one left!” I believed her. I broke up with him and called the police to have him arrested. I let out a sigh of relief as I watched him get taken away, and my mother revealed a triumphant smile. She then said calmly, “That’s that. You will be the heroine of your own story, not some love-struck side character.” Chapter 1 When my mother said that, she sounded so proud of herself. She did not notice that my face had turned pale. “Look at you. I scared you, didn’t I? “The truth is that I made it all up. None of that rebirth and serial-killer nonsense is real.” I stood frozen in place as I remembered the shocked and disappointed look in my boyfriend Miles Xavier’s eyes when the police took him away “You mean... all of it was a lie?” I asked in disbelief. “What else would it be?” she replied, raising an eyebrow. She looked as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “I thought that he would break up with you on his own when I started those dirty rumors about you. “But he actually stuck around after all that. That just proves he has ulterior motives.” I could not wrap my head around what she just said. A while back, these nasty rumors about my boss and me had spread like wildfire through the office. They were so detailed that people actually believed them. My colleagues gave me the cold shoulder, and my supervisor even called me in for a chat. Those were the worst days of my life. However, Miles stuck with me through it all. He comforted me, believed in me, and helped me shut down the gossip I always assumed some jealous colleague was behind the whole thing. I never imagined that the person who started it all was my own mother. “Good thing that actually worked this time.” The more my mother spoke, the more pleased she became. She even clapped her hands. “You were the one who called the cops on him. Even if he gets out, there’s no way he’s ever coming back to you. That means you can now focus on being a heroine.” I looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar woman in front of me. An overwhelming sense of absurdity washed over me. I was not unaware that my mother had recently become obsessed with those returning-to-the-past and strong-heroine novels. She spent all day glued to her phone reading them. She always said a real heroine did not need attachments or a romantic partner. Instead, she should cut off everyone who held her back and focus only on her career. She also drilled this into me every day, determined to mold me into the “heroine” she kept talking about. My mother had been upset ever since I got together with Miles half a year ago. I knew Miles was not the kind of guy she made him out to be. He was mature, steady, hardworking, and exceptionally considerate toward me. I had always believed Miles was the one I would spend my life with. That was why I always turned a deaf ear to my mother’s nagging, convinced that time would prove me right. However, I never thought she would go this far. “Mom, that is way out of line!” I could no longer hold back and retorted, “Novels are not real! How could you take make-believe storylines and force them into real life, and then turn around and hurt Miles and me like this?” Her smug expression faded as she said stubbornly, “How was I out of line? I did it for your own good! How many girls do you see who end up broke, humiliated, and ruined just because they got involved with the wrong guy? “The only ones who make it out okay are heroines who drop the loser, go all in on their career, and never look back. “Selena, you have to believe me.” She took my hand and softened her tone as she said, “You have already cut that loser out of your life completely. From now on, you pour everything into your work. “Don’t let love chain you down again. I promise you that you are going to become the strongest heroine out there—” I pulled my hand back and cut her off. “That’s enough! “Mom, I have my own life. I’m not going to be your so-called ‘heroine’ just because you say so. There’s more to life than just hustling for a career. You don’t have to give up love to make it. “Besides, Miles is not a jerk. He actually treats me right.” She looked at my agitated state and let out a soft sigh and said in a resigned tone, “Ah, my little girl is all grown up now. Why would you ever listen to your own mother?” Her nonchalant and matter-of-fact demeanor made me even madder. I pointed at my father, who had just walked through the door with food in his hand. “You keep preaching about being a ‘heroine.’ Why don’t you practice what you preach? “If you truly believe a heroine shouldn’t have a man or a marriage, then why haven’t you divorced Dad?” Chapter 2 My father stood frozen in the doorway with the food in his hand. He asked bewilderedly, “Selena... what are you saying? You want me to divorce your mother?” My mother’s face flushed with anger when she heard my retort. “Rob, look at your daughter! She actually dares to ask about divorce, all for some lowlife outsider!” Without waiting for my father to respond, she rapidly recounted the entire incident. “Everything I did, I did for her own good!” She grew more agitated as she spoke, and her eyes turned red with rage again. “I was scared she’d get stuck in a love trap. I was scared she’d marry the wrong man and end up miserable. “I wanted her to be a fearless heroine with nothing holding her back. But no, instead of thanking me, she resents me, and now she wants us to get divorced!” After hearing all of this, my father stood there completely dumbfounded. He paused for a long while before scratching his head and saying hesitantly, “I’m not one to criticize, but... what you did here was definitely problematic.” “Excuse me?!” She instantly bristled. She let go of my father’s arm abruptly, planted her hands on her hips, and shot him a piercing glare. “Rob, are you seriously taking her side? Have you been looking for an excuse to divorce me this whole time?” He was caught off guard by her accusation and quickly waved his hands. “That’s not what I meant!” She would not listen. She went on without pause. “Listen up. The only reason I’m still with you isn’t that I can’t survive without you. It’s because I value what we’ve built over the years. “Otherwise, I would’ve walked out ages ago to be my own heroine. Who’d waste their time sticking around with you?” She stepped forward, pointed at my father’s nose, and gave him an earful harshly. “Take a good, hard look at yourself. Who do you think you are? “You’re not some billionaire CEO from a romance novel. You’re not some tech genius either. “Every day, you kiss up to your bosses at work, groveling, watching their every mood, and slaving away for peanuts. You’re just a regular guy! “If you leave me, you’ll never find anyone better!” He was completely stunned by her tirade. As a man well into middle age, he was respected at his workplace. He was not extravagantly wealthy, but he was comfortably middle class. No one had ever humiliated him to his face like that, least of all his own wife. “How could you say something like that to me?” He became so upset that he threw caution to the wind. “Fine! Since you think being married to me is such a drag, and that you’d be some ‘heroine’ without me, let’s do it. Let’s go to the courthouse right now to get a divorce! Whoever chickens out is a coward.” My mother, provoked by his anger, refused to back down either. She shouted back stubbornly, “Fine by me. I’ve been over this marriage for years anyway. After this, I can finally go all in on my career and show you what a true ‘heroine’ really is.” I stood there, completely dumbfounded. I had only spoken out of momentary anger to refute my mother. I never expected things to escalate all the way to divorce. I also did not expect my father to become genuinely furious, nor did I expect my mother to refuse to compromise. Before I could react, my father had already grabbed my mother by the arm. They were heading for the door. The courthouse was not busy, and the process went quickly. As I watched the clerk hand the two divorce agreements to my parents, I still could not believe that decades of marriage had ended like that, all because of my one retort and my mother’s obsession with being a “great heroine.” My mother took her copy of the divorce agreement and stuffed it into her bag without even glancing at it. Then, she turned to my father and me and said smugly, “Starting today, I am a free woman. “Tomorrow I am starting my own studio. You two sit back and watch. This ‘heroine’ is about to shine and make it big.” Chapter 3 I felt guilty as I watched my mother leave the courthouse. “Dad, is this my fault? I… never meant for you guys to actually get divorced.” My father looked at the divorce papers in his hand and let out a gentle sigh. “Don’t blame yourself. Your mom has gotten way too deep into those ‘heroine’ stories. “Her way of thinking has been warped for a while now. Even if it didn’t happen today, she would’ve done something even worse sooner or later.” I lowered my head, still feeling uneasy inside. The one I felt most guilty toward was Miles. He had been falsely accused of being a murderer for no reason and taken to the police station. He had suffered such a great injustice all because of me. “Dad, let’s go to the police station and pick up Miles. “He’s innocent. We owe him a real apology, and we need to explain everything properly.” He nodded and agreed, saying, “You’re right. He was wronged. We definitely owe him that much.” By the time we arrived at the police station entrance, we happened to catch Miles as he was walking out. He looked exhausted and a little lost. I hurried over, grabbed his hand, and quickly explained everything from start to finish. Miles was stunned as he responded in disbelief, “Are you telling me that Mrs. Stillman didn’t like me, so she made up that whole story about me being a serial killer and had me arrested?” “Yeah, that’s pretty much it. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it’s the truth,” I said hoarsely as tears welled up in my eyes. I then lowered my head and added, “I know you probably hate me now. My mom went way too far and put you through all of that...” Instead of blaming or criticizing me, he touched my hair and said, “Hey, don’t cry. I’m not mad at you.” I looked up and met his gentle gaze. He smiled and said, “A relationship is about us, not anyone else. I’ll just steer clear of her from now on. It won’t affect what we have.” When I saw how gentle and forgiving he was, I could not help but chuckle through my tears and hug him. Miles patted my back softly. My father, who had been standing nearby, looked at Miles with admiration in his gaze. He stepped forward and gave Miles a pat on the shoulder. “Kid, I’m really sorry you had to go through that. Selena’s mom pushed her over the edge, so she made a stupid call.” Miles smiled and shook his head. “Mr. Stillman, don’t worry about it. I understand. I know Mrs. Stillman just wanted what’s best for Selena. She just didn’t go about it the right way.” Just then, my father’s phone rang. When he answered, he heard my mother’s furious voice on the other end of the line. “Rob, what is going on? I’m out here looking at studio spaces, ready to sign and pay the deposit, and my card keeps getting declined! My payments won’t go through!” When I heard that, rage surged through me. I shouted back into the phone, “Mom, you and Dad are divorced now. The assets you got in the settlement are more than enough to rent a studio and start your business. “Aren’t you supposed to be this ‘heroine’? Since when does a real heroine need to live off Dad’s money?” Miles held me gently and whispered to comfort me, “Hey, take it easy. It’s not worth it.” When my mother heard his voice, she became even angrier. “Selena, are you still hanging around that jerk?! Are you out of your mind? “I went through all that effort to keep you two apart, and now you’re crawling back to him? Can you just give me a break for once?” My father heard this and responded in a serious tone, “What’s with all the yelling? Who Selena dates is her call, not yours. “Miles is a good guy. He’s way better than you think. Why do you keep trashing him? Will you only be happy if our daughter ends up alone?” My mother had not expected him to side with Miles and me. She completely lost her composure and yelled, “Oh, so that’s how it is. Selena, you’re the family princess now, aren’t you? Daddy’s got your back, and that jerk is spoiling you. You must be loving this. “But don’t get too full of yourself. “Those coddled heroines in cheesy novels never have good endings. One of these days, you’ll wish you had listened to me.” Chapter 4 My mother was serious about starting a studio. Only a few days later, I started hearing news about her from relatives, and the details were quite specific. One relative sighed and told me that she had taken all the cash from the divorce settlement and poured it into renting an entire floor in the busiest office building downtown for her studio. However, she had been a stay-at-home mom for decades. She spent her days scrolling through her phone, reading novels about “great heroines.” She only knew that a great heroine had to build a career and be independent, yet she had no idea what exactly to do or how to go about it. On one random afternoon, she called me. When I answered her call, she spoke in excitement and confidence. “Selena, guess what? My studio’s finally opening! “In two days at 10 a.m., bring your dad and your little boyfriend and come see me launch my career.” On the opening day, my father, Miles, and I arrived at that office building on time. As soon as we walked into the lobby, we saw many familiar faces. There were my mother’s relatives, old neighbors, and even my father’s former colleagues. It seemed that my mother had invited almost everyone she knew. When we got to the floor my mother had rented, I could already see her from down the hall. She was dressed head-to-toe in designer wear. Her hair was perfectly in place, and every gesture seemed carefully rehearsed to project the image of a successful businesswoman. I walked up and said, “Mom, you’re amazing. You rented out an entire floor for your studio? That’s such a huge move. You must be starting something big, right?” She became smug when she heard this. “You bet I am! I’m running the hottest money-maker in town right now. This is going to be an aesthetics clinic. “Every woman wants to look flawless these days. You can’t even imagine how much an aesthetics clinic earns. “Of course, the upfront costs are massive, too. But not everyone is bold enough like me to drop that kind of cash upfront.” She then quickly pulled out her phone, opened a photo, and held it up to me. “Look, this is Dr. Parker, whom I personally brought over from Korvia. He’s a big name in the aesthetics industry, with top-notch skills. “He’s also my business partner. He handles all the day-to-day operations of the studio. I’ll just sit back and let the money roll in.” Those who were standing nearby could not hold back their praise. “No way! Did you actually bring in a Korvian doctor as a partner? That’s insane!” “An aesthetics clinic with a Korvian expert? You’re definitely going to make bank.” My mother’s smile broadened even more when she heard this. “Of course! You’ll all get to meet him later. He’ll come over to invite us in and host the opening ceremony.” She spoke while tucking her hair back, feigning shyness. “Actually, Dr. Parker took care of the setup and the decorating himself. He wouldn’t even let me peek, saying he wanted it to be a huge surprise. How sweet is that?” Time ticked by. Eventually, the initially scheduled time came and went, yet the so-called Dr. Parker was still nowhere to be seen. The relatives around them also began to whisper among themselves. “What’s going on? Where’s Dr. Parker?” “You don’t think something happened to him, do you?” I could not help but urge my mother as well. “Mom, why don’t you give Dr. Parker a call? We’ve all been waiting here for a while now.” However, my mother just waved her hand. “Relax. Good things take time. He’s probably just caught in traffic. Hang on, he’ll be here any minute.” Yet after another full hour of waiting, there was still no sign of Dr. Parker. The murmurs around them grew louder. My mother’s expression turned more sour by the minute. She gave up waiting. She gritted her teeth, walked quickly to the studio’s front door, and pushed it open abruptly. The moment the door opened, she froze completely. She gasped in disbelief. “Wh-What happened to my clinic?”