Run, Girl (If You Can)

Once the meeting was over it was nearly time for lunch. Aaron was about to unpack what Keeley had prepared for him when his secretary called.

"Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale is here to see you."

What was Keeley doing here? She had never stopped by the office before. It would be nice to see her though.

"Send her on up. Thank you."

When the door opened and he saw his mother instead of his wife the temperature in the room dropped thirty degrees. He hadn't seen Roslyn since Lacy Knighton's birthday party over a year ago.

When he heard Mrs. Hale he immediately assumed the secretary was talking about Keeley. He had nearly forgotten that there was another Mrs. Hale in New York that he didn't want to see.

"I thought you were my wife. If I had known it was you I would not have let you in," he said icily. "What are you doing here, Mother?"

Roslyn wore a royal blue pencil dress with sapphire drop earrings and a diamond tennis bracelet. Her posture was perfect and her hair didn't have a wisp out of place but there was a crack in her usual composure somehow.

"…I wanted to see how you were doing. It has been a while since I have seen you."

"So you finally thought you would contact your only child," he said dryly. "I'll have you know I'm doing great. You should leave now."

Her lip trembled. It was the most emotion he had ever seen from the woman in two lifetimes. Yet his sympathy wasn't swayed. He didn't have any feelings left to spare for his mother.

"Aaron, please. Your father…I've lost everything. All of my friends abandoned me. Our reputation in the circle is in shreds. Can't you try and fix this? If you said something everything would go back to normal," she pleaded.

Unbelievable! Why would he do her or Alistair any favors? They deserved what they got. Everything they cared about, aside from their wealth, was gone. They were lucky he left them with even that.

"I will do no such thing. This is exactly what the two of you deserve," he said loftily before waving her off.

"Aaron, I am your mother! Does that mean nothing to you?"

Aaron's eyes hardened and an icy blast hit Roslyn so hard she nearly fell over. "You may have given birth to me but you are no mother of mine. You never once told me you loved me. You handed me off to more nannies than I could possibly count.

"The only times you spoke to me was when you wanted something from me. You were only slightly less pushy than your worthless husband. You never respected me for who I was as an individual and only wanted me to be your tool, just like he did. Clearly I mean nothing to you as a son so why shouldn't I feel the same about you as a mother?"

He finished coldly, staring her down. Underneath his gaze she visibly shrank. You would think after being married to Alistair Hale for over thirty years that she would be immune to ice. But no, she had always been weak.

"Is this because we wanted you to marry Lacy Knighton?" she asked feebly. "You got what you wanted in the end; why can't you show a little mercy?"

Aaron was on the verge of exploding.  Mercy? Had this woman ever shown Keeley any mercy when she constantly belittled her and made the light in her eyes die? Had her husband ever shown mercy when he plotted to have his own grandchild killed in the womb?

He tried to calm himself by taking a deep breath. He couldn't allow himself to get angry over his parents anymore. They were behind him now. He didn't have to stand for this.

"Yes, I got what I wanted in the end, after twenty-five years of being trapped as your and Father's puppet." In reality it had been much longer than that but she wouldn't understand how much anguish the two of them had caused over the course of two lifetimes.

"You asked me how I was doing…but you didn't ask about my wife or children at all," he continued derisively. "You're always the same. Putting status and money before everything else. You never cared at all about what would make me happy, only how I could benefit you.

"Let me tell you something, Mother. Children are not tools. They are individuals with their own hopes, dreams, and talents. My children will be able to do whatever they want when they grow up with my full support. They can love who they want and have any career or hobby that they want.

"My wife is more than a hundred times better a mother than you could ever dream of being. I hope you'll keep this in mind the next time you get any bright ideas about asking me favors. I don't owe you anything. Have a nice life."

He pressed a button on the phone on his desk to call the secretary. "Please call security to see Mrs. Hale out. She isn't welcome in this building anymore."

"Yes, Mr. Hale," the secretary agreed meekly before hanging up to do as he said.

Roslyn shook with anger and pointed her finger at him. "That woman ruined you!"

He finally stood and furiously slammed his fists on the table. "I'll have you know 'that woman' is named Keeley and she is the best thing that ever happened to me. You and Father are the ones who tried to ruin me. Goodbye, Mother."

Two security guards appeared to escort her out and she was clearly seething but didn't want to embarrass herself even further in public. Aaron slumped back against his chair with a heavy sigh. He hated dealing with his parents. Hopefully this was the end of it.

It was amazing that Roslyn still went to bat for Alistair after all he did. He was the reason so much shame was attached to the formerly proud Hale name. He was the reason her socialite friends were ostracizing her.

Aaron had been right not to feel sorry for her. She wasn't a victim. She was one of an endless cycle of perpetrators, beginning who knows how many generations back.

Being rich wasn't the problem. People like Cameron who came into money later in life remained humble, decent human beings. It was the mentality that being rich made you better than everyone else.

All of high society was terrible and deserved to crumble but Aaron wouldn't be the one to make that happen. It wasn't his problem. He had gotten out and was happier than he would have dreamed was possible.