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The sun was high in the sky as Tessa gripped the steering wheel of her car, her fingers trembling. Every Friday was a repeat of the same bittersweet ceremony: picking up her son, Nael Elliott, for the weekend.
Since the court had granted custody of Jakob, she had been relegated to the role of a weekend mother – a title that burned like an open wound.
The memory of the courtroom was still fresh. She had fought with every means at her disposal. She had paid lawyers, the best. She had even ventured down darker paths, had tried to chip away at Jakob's flawless facade, but unfortunately, to no avail.
Why did her ex-husband have to be a successful lawyer? His cold, calculating rhetoric had convinced the judge, while her own tears of despair were interpreted as "emotional instability." A weeping mother desperately fighting for her child was labeled crazy.
The judge saw Jakob as the "more stable" parent. She didn't see the arrogant, narcissistic, controlling man he was in private. She didn't see how much Nael suffered under his strict, loveless routine.
Tessa couldn't blame her, though; if she had known earlier that Jakob was just like her parents, Tessa would never have married him, but she herself hadn't realized it either. The only good thing about the marriage was Nael, their son.
Tessa's love for her son was unshakeable. She loved him sincerely, supported him, and protected him. And she could provide him with everything. As the Elliott family heiress, she possessed a wealth that would have allowed Nael to live a life free from all worries. He would never have to work.
Jakob, on the other hand, who had always looked enviously at Elliott's fortune, could only offer him a spartan childhood marked by pressure to perform. Jakob had even tried to gain access to their wealth during the marriage.
As much as Tessa hated her parents, they were at least clever when it came to protecting their money. Their assets were managed through impenetrable trusts and clauses, accessible only to blood relatives.
Even adopting her surname and the years of marriage hadn't given Jakob any access. The divorce changed nothing. It had been his constant resentment.
As she pulled up in front of Jakob's unadorned detached house, she took a deep breath. The door opened, and Nael rushed out, his small face beaming with joy.
"Mama!"
He threw himself into her arms. Jakob stood in the doorway, his face a mask of disapproval. A brief, frosty exchange of glances, then Nael was buckled in and, after pressing a kiss to Nael's forehead, she drove off quickly. She saw in the rearview mirror how Jakob disappeared into his house.
Forever, as she knew.
"Where do we go first?" Nael asked, his eyes shining.
"Guess!" Tessa giggled, and Nael thought hard; Tessa could almost hear the gears in his head, then Nael had an idea.
"Dog park!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, and Tessa nodded in confirmation.
Jakob hated dogs. He called them "unhygienic" and "time-wasting." For Nael, they were pure joy, especially golden retrievers. So Tessa went to the dog park. They spent a few happy hours petting, watching, and laughing with the dogs. Nael giggled when a playful golden retriever puppy licked his face.
At that moment, everything was perfect.
Afterwards, Tessa drove him to her house. Not an ordinary house, but a spacious, light-filled villa overlooking the hills. Nael's eyes always widened when he came back here. Even though Nael had spent most of his life here, he always reacted this way, which was just incredibly sweet.
They spent the afternoon watching movies in the cinema room, baking cookies in the large kitchen (and then having to clean themselves and the kitchen) and playing hide-and-seek in the garden.
She spoiled him, yes. With attention, with love, with the unconditional affection that Jacob never gave him. When Nael finally fell asleep, exhausted and happy, in his enormous, star-painted nursery, Tessa stroked his hair. Her heart was full of love, but a part of it was cold and resolute.
That night, while Nael slept peacefully, something happened at Jakob's detached house. A burglary. Several valuables were stolen. And Jakob was murdered. To the police, it looked like a tragic, brutal robbery gone wrong. A sad, but all-too-common case of crime in the city.
It was no coincidence.
Tessa had commissioned this crime to get rid of Jakob forever. The men she hired were professional and discreet. They left no trace that could lead back to her. It was the last, desperate step of a mother who wanted to protect her child from a life under the cold thumb of a man who didn't deserve it. She felt no remorse. Only a deep, liberating peace.
The news reached her the next morning. A call from a familiar number at Jakob's law firm. She perfectly portrayed the horror, the shock, the grief. As Nael's only living relative, she was immediately granted full custody. There was no further discussion, no more fighting.
In the following weeks and months, their life transformed into a gentle, loving idyll. Nael finally moved back in with her. She doted on him lovingly, filling his life with adventures, travel, laughter, and all the tenderness he deserved.
They rarely spoke about Jakob. Memories of his strict, often absent father slowly faded, replaced by the radiant presence of his mother.
Sometimes, when Nael laughed especially heartily or placed his hand trustingly in hers, Tessa thought of the night that had changed everything. She looked into his innocent eyes and knew she would do it again. For him. Always for him.
He was her everything, and now he was finally, finally completely with her. She made him forget his father, not out of malice, but because she gave him a new, bright memory, one made entirely of love. And in her heart, behind the tender, caring mother figure, lay the dark secret of her redemption, a sacrifice she would never regret.