Page 78 of Atlas Uncharted

I turned to her father, ignoring her question. “Keep her with you. Don’t let her do anything dumb.”

Mr. James smirked slightly, looking at his daughter. “You heard him.”

“Atlas!” Kairi snapped, reaching for me, but I stepped back, grabbed my bag, and started walking to the parking lot.

“Be good, baby. You and Dion,” I threw over my shoulder.

She cursed at me, loud as hell, but I didn’t stop.

She’d get over it.

I walked straight into my old house—now occupied by my mother—without knocking, which felt appropriate since I was the one paying for it.

My first stop was to see my mother.

She was sitting on the couch in the house I owned, with a glass of wine. She barely looked up, just smirked and crossed her legs like she hadn’t just helped orchestrate a smear campaign against my woman.

“You look upset,” she said smoothly.

I slammed the door behind me, the sound making her flinch—just a little.

“I’m not upset, Ma. I’m done.”

That got her attention. She set her glass down and arched an eyebrow. “Done with what?”

“With you. With this.” I gestured around the room, then at her. “I told you it would come to this. I’m done with funding your entire lifestyle while you sit here playing puppet master with my life.”

Her lips pursed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I smiled, but it wasn’t a nice one. “Ashlen is your pet project. You riled her up,” I said evenly. She barely looked at me, just swirled the wine in her glass.

I let out a slow breath. She wanted to play dumb? Fine. I’d play along.

My voice was calm, but the undercurrent of frustration was clear. “You fed her that victim complex, gave her the delusion that she was entitled to me, my money, my years, and now you’re acting surprised that this shit spiraled.”

She sighed dramatically, like I was being unreasonable. “I didn’t feed her anything. Ashlen has always been… passionate.”

“Right. Passionate. That’s what we’re calling obsessed, entitled, and vindictive now?”

She set her glass down and finally looked at me. “I simply don’t think you should have handled things so… carelessly. You dealt with the wrong people.”

There it was.

I sat back in the chair, flexing my jaw. “Say what you really mean, Ma.”

Her expression didn’t change, but I caught the flicker of irritation in her eyes. “And what would that be?”

“That I shouldn’t be in love with a Black woman. If Kairi were white, you’d be fine with me getting rid of Ashlen. You’re racist. And classist.”

She scoffed so hard she almost laughed. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Atlas.”

I arched a brow. “Am I?”

She waved a hand, shaking her head like she was done entertaining my nonsense. “I couldn’t care less about Kairi’s race.”

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, my voice low and sharp. “Bullshit.”

Her lips parted slightly—surprised.

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