NOVEL WEB Chapter 720: You Are Our Everything
"And not to mention…" Olivia's voice grew softer, her gaze distant as though staring into the past. "Having you around back then...as a baby. Two women raising a child in a world like that…"
Her lips pressed together, quivering faintly before she went on.
"People said such awful things about us, Kafi. They spoke out against us constantly, whispering, gossiping, saying it was unnatural for two women to raise a child together. Some insisted it would be better if we just married men and let you go, as though...as though you weren't worth fighting for."
Her voice caught slightly, and she shook her head with a small, bitter laugh.
"They said we were selfish. That we were ruining your life. They spread so many rumors, so many vile, hateful lies about us. Even some of my own family…"
She trailed off, her hand lifting briefly as though to brush away a memory.
"Even they said things that cut deeper than anything strangers could have...Things I never thought I'd hear from people who claimed to love me."
At her words, a gloomy shadow passed over Kafka's eyes. His jaw clenched as he stared straight ahead, his grip tightening slightly on the handlebars.
A cold, eerie stillness settled in his expression, like a quiet storm brewing behind his calm exterior.
But Olivia, caught up in her memories, didn't notice the sudden sharpness in her son's gaze. Instead, she smiled faintly and looked back at him with eyes that brimmed with warmth and love.
"But do you know something, Kafi?" She whispered softly. "No matter how much they said...no matter how they slandered us, oppressed us, and tried to push us down...we never gave up."
Her voice wavered with quiet strength as she reached to brush a tear from her cheek.
"Because you were worth every single hardship. You were..." She drew in a shaky breath, her lips trembling. "...you were the most precious thing to us in this whole world."
"In this cruel, dark world that tried to make us feel small, you were our light. Our one glimmering star in the suffocating darkness. You were our hope, Kafi. And for you...we were willing to fight everyone."
"...We carried you all the way through it all, because we could never, absolutely never let you go."
Kafka bit his lip hard, his chest tightening as her words sank into him like sunlight and arrows all at once.
'They really went through all that...and still loved me so much.'
His fingers flexed slightly as a swell of emotion threatened to rise in his throat. He said nothing, not wanting to interrupt her flow, but his heart ached deeply.
Olivia, mistaking his silence for attentiveness, went on with a soft smile, her voice taking on a nostalgic lilt.
"But of course...even though we could handle it all, we still needed breaks sometimes." She let out a light laugh, her fingers brushing at her damp cheeks. "That's why we often left the city, Abi and I."
"We went on vacations to all sorts of places with you. Little holidays to get away from all the noise and heaviness...In a single year, we probably visited thirty different towns and villages."
"...Anywhere we could breathe for a while. It was like our way of healing."
Her smile grew wistful. "Every time we went somewhere new, it felt like pressing a reset button. We'd return to the city refreshed, ready to face the next battle. And…" She tilted her head back slightly, her eyes brightening. "It was during one of those trips that we first came here."
Kafka's eyes softened. "Here?"
"Yes." Olivia said, her voice warming with fondness. "A friend told us about this town. Said it had its own hot springs and the most breathtaking nature."
"They said it felt like paradise tucked away in the hills...So, one summer, we packed our bags and came here, curious to see it for ourselves."
Her cheeks flushed faintly, and she clapped her hands together lightly as a bright smile lit her face.
"And just like they promised, it really was paradise on earth. Abi fell in love immediately with how traditional, calm, and welcoming the town felt. The people were so friendly and warm. And I...oh, Kafi, I couldn't get enough of the nature here."
She swept her hand slowly at the fields surrounding them, her fingers trembling slightly.
"All this flora and fauna...seeing the vibrant greens, hearing the soft rustle of the wind in the leaves, it made me feel alive. Truly alive. I was captivated."
"And that was when Abi and I realized something, at exactly the same moment...We made a promise to each other that day."
Olivia's smile softened as her voice grew tender.
"That one day...after we made it big, after we'd secured our future...we would retire here. We'd settle in this town and spend the rest of our lives in this little slice of paradise."
Her eyes turned to Kafka, shining with nostalgia and deep love.
"And now, after all those years of dreaming about it...here we are. We finally made it, Kafi. We're living in the place that felt like a faraway dream for so long."
"And seeing this view again, realizing that this is now home...it makes me so happy I could burst. So happy I could…" Her voice cracked, and she pressed her fingers to her eyes as fresh tears spilled over. "I know it's embarrassing to cry like this in front of you, but...I can't help it."
Kafka's chest constricted as he watched her wipe her tears away. In a soft voice, he murmured. "It's not embarrassing at all, Mom."
Before she could react, he wrapped his arm snugly around her waist and gently pulled her closer against him.
Olivia gasped softly at the sudden motion, her cheeks warming, but the warmth in Kafka's voice steadied her heart.
"I get it." He whispered, his lips brushing her temple tenderly. "I really do. I understand why this means so much to you. And I'm just...I'm happy."
"Happy?" She murmured.
"Yeah." He said with a quiet smile. "I'm happy you finally found your happy place, Mom."
"Especially after all those years of torment you went through…" Kafka's voice dropped low, his words heavy with emotion. "All those years of suffering you and Mom endured...It makes me so angry that I wasn't there to fight beside you back then."
His hands gripped the handlebars a little tighter, knuckles whitening as his jaw tensed.
"I was too young to do anything, too weak to help. But now...now I'm glad. I'm so glad that you've finally found a place where you can feel at peace. Where you can smile and feel satisfied with life...After everything, you deserve that."
But then his eyes softened, and his expression shifted. Guilt crept across his face, subtle at first, but it quickly deepened as he looked away from her and let out a quiet, almost broken sigh.
"And I guess I'm even more relieved because…"
His voice faltered as he stared at the road ahead.
"Because I...I was basically at fault, wasn't I? All those years of oppression...all the pain you suffered, it was because of me. Because you took me in. I—"
He never got the chance to finish.
Thwack!
"Ah, hey!" Kafka flinched as a sharp tap landed squarely on his forehead. "What was that for?!"
"That..." Olivia's voice rang out, firm yet tinged with a motherly warmth. "...is for saying such utter nonsense!"
Kafka blinked in surprise, rubbing at his forehead with a pout.
Olivia's expression softened into a loving smile, but her eyes gleamed with determination. "Don't you ever, ever say something like that again, Kafi. Not even as a joke."
He opened his mouth to protest, but she leaned in slightly, her tone sharpening just enough to silence him.
"The men in this world...they would've made life hell for us whether you were there or not...Their cruelty had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with you. You didn't cause it. It wasn't your fault."
Her gaze turned impossibly tender as she reached up and brushed her fingers lightly against his cheek.
"And rather than being a burden." She whispered, her voice carrying the weight of her heart. "You were the one thing that kept us alive, Kafi. You were our hope, our light in all that darkness."
"Without you...life would've been unbearable. You were the reason Abi and I could wake up every morning and smile."
"...You were, no, you are our everything."
Then her expression shifted into something more playful, though her eyes still shone fiercely.
"So if I ever hear you say something like that again…" She wagged her finger at him, her tone mock-stern. "You'll get a much harder smack. And if Abi hears about this? Hah. She's far stricter than I am even though people say that I'm the scary one, Kafi."
Olivia let out a dramatic sigh.
"You'll get more than a smack...She'd give you a proper spanking you wouldn't forget."
She chuckled thinking how it would look like for Abigaille to spank their son who was already towering over them, while Kafka on the other hand felt his heart heal just from seeing her laugh...