Chapter 173

Philip's POV

My phone rang, shattering the heavy silence of my apartment. Seeing my mother Betty's name flash across the screen, I felt a surge of anger rise within me. Damn it! The last thing I needed right now was her nagging.I rubbed my temples vigorously, yet stilI answered the call.

"Philip, are you busy right now?" My mother's voice carried that famihar urgency that had often preceded her complaints throughout my life.

"What is it? Just tell me." I answered through gritted teeth, struggling to remain at the edge of emotional control.

Yesterday's scene cut through my mind like a knife, repeatedly stabbing at my heart. Annie standing there, her gaze calm yet resolute, completely shattering all my fantasies of starting over. And Brian-God, my own son!The contempt in his eyes hurt more than Annie's rejection.Every word he threw at me felt like a slap across my face: "You never asked what she needed."

I wanted to argue, to defend myself, but in that moment, I suddenly understood the terrible truth: he was right. What I had called love was nothing but selfish taking. That five-year-old child understood true love better than I ever had.

Each time I recalled Annie taking Lucy's hand and walking away with Howard without looking back, my heart felt like it was being torn apart.I hated Sarah for her lies and manipulation, but I hated myself more for my stupidity and cowardice. The most ridiculous part was that only after etely losing Annie did I understand how precious she truly was.

"You have no idea how impossible Brian is being!" My mother began her litany of complaints. "I went to his house last night to see him. He wouldn't welcome me or let me in, which was bad enough, but what was truly outrageous..." Her voice grew sharper, more indignant. "He actually allowed Ruth Miller to insult me!"

I listened as she whimpered through her description: "Ruth spoke so horribly to me, with such a terrible temper, she even tried to hit me..."

"And what exactly did you say when you went totheir house?"I deliberately slowed my speech, curious to hear her explanation.

"I didn't do anything," my mother quickly responded, the feigned innocence in her tone far too deliberate.

"That's impossible." I contradicted her directly, not believing a word.After much reflection recently, I'd realized that both my mother and Sarah's statements had been full of holes. Yet at the time, I had trusted these so-called loved ones, this so-called first love, unconditionally. And then I'd gone after Annie on their behalf.

"Do you think I'm some kind of fool?" I asked coldly. "That no matter how outlandish your lies,I'll believe them?"

Looking back, the ridiculous truth was that I had indeed been that stupid.

"How can you think of me that way?" My mother's voice was filled with disbelief.

"I've interacted with Ruth Miller before. Even when I said I wouldn't raise Brian anymore, she never spoke excessively harshly to me." I continued.In my daily interactions with Annie. I'd clearly seen she wasn' t the nerso0 Cme to Me with These Trivial Matters

they had described. Why had I believed their provocations?

I once again recognized my own stupidity. lowering my eyelids to hide the complex emotions in my eyes. "She simply disdained to deal with me. lf you're truly not lying, they should both have been too disgusted to communicate with you. They wouldn't have wasted time causing you trouble."

Connecting this to recent social media activity I'd seen,I revealed the truth directly: "If I'm not mistaken, you tried to provoke Margaret Thompson into bullying Annie and failed. What's more, Margaret posted the video of your instigation on social media..." I paused, allowing her to digest this fact. "So you were humiliated and angry, but too afraid to confront Margaret, so you took it out on Brian instead? Unfortunately,Ruth happened to be at Brian's house, and loving her grandson, she couldn't bear to see him being scolded by you, so she stood up for him?"

"How did you know?" My mother's voice became shrill. "Were you standing there watching when all this happened? Why didn't you help me?

I gripped the phone tightly, my knuckles turning white from the pressure.How absurd! She hadn't shown the slightest awareness of her own wrongdoing, but instead blamed me for not helping her! This inverted logic made my chest tighten with frustration.

"Philip Baker, I am your mother!" Her voice rose by several octaves. "What kind of son stands by watching his own mother being bullied without doing anything?"

I took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger churning inside me.What a familiar routine! It was exactly this kind of emotional manipulation that had led me to blindly believe all her slander against

Annie. How could I have been so stupid?

"I guessed all of this," my voice was ice-cold but trembling slightly."Sof guessed correctly,didn't 1?"

Silence fell on the other end of the line. Her silence proved my suspicions more effectively than any denial could have. In this moment, I felt a strange sense of release, as if years of fog had finally cleared.

"Mom. I'mn very busy right now." My tone was calm but firm, though my heart was turbulent. "In the future, please don't come to me with these trivial matters."

Without waiting for her response, I hung up. Setting down the phone,I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me. The reflection of these past days had allowed me to see the true faces of those around me, including my mother. Unfortunately, this awakening had come too late.