**Diary Entry – 12th March**
I’m keeping the keys to my flat. You won’t get another penny from me, Mum…
Emily met Christopher on the street. She was rushing to the gym, but the traffic lights refused to change. Glancing around, she spotted a gap between cars and darted across—just as a speeding car rounded the corner. The driver, also in a hurry, slammed the brakes. Miraculously, no one was hurt. The screech of tyres froze Emily in place, eyes squeezed shut, bracing for impact. Instead, she heard the driver’s furious shout:
“Have you lost your mind? If you don’t care about yourself, think of others! Couldn’t you wait a second?”
Emily opened her eyes to a man in his forties, face twisted in anger.
“God, I’m so sorry,” she stammered, hands clasped. “My son’s competition—he’d be crushed if I missed it. I’m already late. My boss wouldn’t let me leave early…” She trailed off as the man’s expression softened.
The lights changed. He grabbed her arm and hauled her onto the pavement.
“Going to the gym?” he asked, calmer now.
“Yes—how did you know?”
“You just said it was a competition. Get in, I’ll drive you.”
Three minutes later, they pulled up outside the gym. As they stepped out, a teenage girl sprinted over—his daughter. Emily watched them hug before snapping back to reality and bolting inside.
She made it just in time to see her son, James, take third place.
“Only third,” he muttered afterward.
“Only?” Emily scoffed. “Out of how many? You’re brilliant. Next time, you’ll win.”
Three days later, she saw Christopher again.
“Waiting for your daughter?”
“Christopher. No—I waited for *you*. How’d James do?”
“Third, thanks to you.” They laughed.
James approached, and Christopher shook his hand firmly. Before they parted, he invited them to a weekend match.
Over time, they grew closer. One evening, James asked, “Mum, does he fancy you?”
Emily blushed. “Suppose so. Do you mind?”
James shrugged. “Dunno.”
He’d never known his father. When Christopher gifted him a top-tier phone for his birthday, the ice melted.
Three months in, Christopher proposed. Emily hesitated. “Your ex-wife might come back…”
“She chose money over me. Now she’s alone and using our daughter to manipulate me. I love *you*.”
They moved in together. But when Emily found their holiday savings gone, she accused James. He stormed out, devastated.
Christopher drove them everywhere searching—until he pieced it together.
His mother had keys.
Confronting her, he found new furniture, a fur coat. “Did Karina put you up to this?”
His mother feigned innocence until he pressed. “You wanted me to blame Emily, didn’t you?”
He took back his keys. “Not another penny.”
That night, Emily waited anxiously. “Was it your mum?”
“Yes. Karina’s doing. They wanted to split us up.”
James forgave her. But Christopher’s mother—her jealousy, her belief she knew best—had nearly shattered everything.
**Lesson:** A mother’s love can blind her. Sometimes, letting go is the only way to keep the ones you love close. She’ll come around. They always do.
