Presented by SHANNON MUIR’S INFINITE HOUSE OF BOOKS
SPONTANEOUS CHOICES SHORTS features short serialized fiction by author Shannon Muir, that may be later released as part of e-book or print collections. In 2019, these serials initially appeared every second and fourth Thursday (and fifth Thursdays as they occurred). This continues a new serialized story, “A Second La Chance,” about a young woman who originally hoped to have the children of a wealthy spoiled man to get paid off to leave him, but ends up with more than she ever bargained for when deciding to take a chance to start a new life for herself. This is part 15 of 16. FOLLOW ALONG IN THIS MARATHON OF “A SECOND LACHANCE” AS WE RACE TOWARDS THE CONCLUSION MAY 30 TO JUNE 4, 2019 WITH DOUBLE DOSES ON MAY 30 AND JUNE 3, AND A TRIPLE PACKED CONCLUSION ON JUNE 4! Rowan took me back to my mother’s home. We arrived in the mechanic’s truck, still dressed in the clothing, though we’d showered as much as we could before leaving the motel.
“I’m sorry, you have the wrong home,” my mother said as she opened the door.
“No, wait, Mom. It’s me, Rikah.”
My mom gave me a puzzled look.
“What are you doing dressed like that?”
“In hiding. When I went to the TV studio to tape the interview, something happened. I’m being told that the man who raised me isn’t my father, and that my real father is looking for me. Tell me that’s not real.”
The horror in my mother’s eyes confirmed it to be very much the truth.
“So, the place where you worked all these years as a secretary, I thought they made dental devices or something.”
“One of their divisions did. That was the one where I worked.”
“So, you had an affair with your boss?”
Mom put a finger to her lips.
“Not so loud. Not my boss, no, but the owner. He ordered my boss to have me work the owner for special assignments or lose his job.”
“But the man that raised me – the man I thought was my father.”
“He was my boss. When I did have the owner’s child, my boss was ordered to claim my child was his and then I quit to be a full time mother and married my boss. The two of us never loved one another. We did what we did out of fear.”
“But my other brothers and sisters, what about them?”
“We had to keep up the pretense of a loving family. And I love all my children, regardless of their father’s. Later on, we found I couldn’t stay unemployed so I took up multiple jobs. Then, when your birth father downsized his company and laid my husband off, we did the same.”
I hadn’t expected her to explain so much, but it saved me a lot of questions.
“Thank you for all that looking back in the past. What should I do now, and for my future?”
I figured my mother knew this man best.
“Go to him, submit to his wishes. He probably wants grandchildren with people he hand-picks.”
“Couldn’t he have had other children?”
“Due to an accident that happened not long after you were born, he can’t have other children. Rest his soul, I believe that my former boss and late husband did it out of revenge for hurting us both. Now, hurry along, I promise to take care of your other children. He’ll never let them come with you.”
“And if I don’t agree?”
“He’ll find a way to force you, probably by hurting your darlings. Better to submit willingly. Now go.”
My mother closed the door quickly. I turned to Rowan.
“I guess I better face him,” I said. I feared for the safety of my children, as well as my mother’s. At that moment, all I wanted to do was protect them, at any cost to myself. Now was not the time to play hero.