Nothing could be doneOlivia Whitmore was powerless against her headstrong daughter, Emily. Their family was well-off: Emilys father, Charles Whitmore, was a respected doctor, and her mother worked as an accountant at a modest firm.
Emily had fallen for Daniel, a kind and serious young man, but Olivia saw only a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Daniels mother had died in childbirth, leaving him to be raised by his father, Edward, and his grandmother, Margaret. But when Daniel was fifteen, she too passed away, leaving father and son alone. Edward, a lorry driver at a factory, never remarried, dedicating his life to raising his boy.
Their bond was unbreakableEdward never drank, always supported his son, and Daniel, in turn, never asked for more than they could afford. He worked hard, stayed fit, and carried himself with quiet dignity.
“Dad, Ive met this incredible girl, Emily,” Daniel confessed one evening. “But her motherOliviashe runs that house like a general. I dont think she approves of me.”
“Son, it doesnt matter what her mother thinks. What matters is how you two feel,” Edward reassured him.
Blissfully in love, Emily and Daniel planned their wedding, oblivious to Olivias scheming. She despised the idea of her daughter marrying a mechanic.
The wedding felt more like a wake. Only the bride, groom, and their friends smiled that day.
“Not the wedding I imagined for my only daughter,” Olivia muttered, her heart sinking as Emily walked down the aislenot in white, but in a soft coffee-coloured dress that complemented her caramel hair, crowned with a delicate floral wreath. And trainers.
Daniel matched her in a shirt of the same shade, jeans, and trainersbold and modern, yet to Olivia, it was a disgrace.
“Charles, what is this?” she hissed, gesturing at the couple.
“Thats our daughter and her husband, Daniel,” Charles replied calmly.
“I meant their clothes!”
“They look happy, dont they?” He grinned, trying to lift her spirits. “Theyre young. Let them have their style.”
Even Edward, uncomfortable in his worn suit at the lavish reception, drew Olivias scorn. But it was Emilys grandmother, Evelyn, a stern woman with piercing eyes, who despised the match most.
“Emily, call this off,” Evelyn had warned before the wedding. “Daniel has no proper family, no real prospects. A mechanic? Hell never provide for you.”
“Gran, he didnt choose his family. I love him, and thats that.”
Evelyn scoffed but saw the steel in her granddaughters eyes. At the reception, she leaned toward Olivia. “How could you allow this?”
“I tried everything,” Olivia sighed. “You know how stubborn she is.”
Evelyn arched a brow. “Takes after you, then.”
Olivia stiffened. “Dont start, Mum.”
Decades earlier, Olivia had been just as defiant. At nearly thirty, shed rejected suitor after suitor until she met Charlesa doctor, charming, handsome. But Charles had carried a torch for his ex, Eleanor, a woman whod toyed with his heart for years, vanishing and reappearing on a whim.
Then Olivia came alongsharp, confident, and unyielding. One evening, as Olivia lounged in Charless flat, the doorbell rang. Eleanor stood there, pouting.
“Not letting me in, darling?” she purred, as if shed only stepped out for milk.
Olivia appeared, wrapped in a towel.
Eleanors smirk faltered. “And whos this?”
“The woman I love,” Charles said, pulling Olivia close.
Eleanor left with a snarl, but she married soon after and fled town. Olivia thought shed wonuntil now.
At the reception, Olivia caught Evelyn and Charles whispering.
“Discussing me again?” Charles teased.
“Old habits,” Olivia muttered. “Now its your son-in-laws turn.”
“Hes a good lad. Life will shape him.”
The evening ended, and the newlyweds spent their first night in a hotel. Afterwards, they moved in with Olivia and Charlesher condition. She was determined to break them up.
“No children yet? Good. Easier to divorce,” she thought.
But fate intervened.
Eleanor was back.
Olivias blood ran cold. She abandoned her schemes and became a shadow, sniffing Charless clothes, lurking outside his clinic.
He finally snapped. “Hiring a private investigator next?”
Olivia didnt deny it. “Would you run to her if she called?”
Charles smirked. “She already did. Came to my office days ago.”
Olivias stomach dropped. “And?”
“And nothing.” He pulled her close. “Youre the only woman I love.”
Relief washed over her.
Emily and Daniel carried on, happy in their own world.
One evening, over dinner, Emily beamed. “Mum, Dadyoure going to be grandparents.”
Olivia jolted. “So soon?”
Emily laughed. “Dont you know how babies are made?”
Olivia exhaled, defeated. If God had blessed this union, who was she to fight it?
Charles, grinning, already dreamed of holding his grandchild. Life hadnt gone as Olivia plannedbut perhaps that was for the best.
