The Threat
1092 Words
Rainstorm clouds covered the skies over Toronto for nearly three straight days.
Inside the apartment, the atmosphere between Bob and Alicia had become painfully fragile.
They spoke less.
Touched less.
Even their silences felt exhausted.
Bob still loved her.
That had never changed.
But now love lived beside suspicion, humiliation, and emotional fear.
Every time Alicia’s phone vibrated, his chest tightened.
Every time she looked distracted, he wondered if she was thinking about Agnes.
And the worst part?
Most times, she probably was.
One afternoon, Bob returned home earlier than expected after a disappointing job interview.
The moment he opened the apartment door, he heard Alicia laughing softly inside the kitchen.
A real laugh.
Warm.
Comfortable.
For one brief second, happiness rose inside him.
Maybe things were finally getting better.
Then he heard the voice coming from Alicia’s phone speaker.
Agnes.
Bob froze instantly.
The warmth inside him died immediately.
Alicia turned suddenly and saw him standing there.
Her smile disappeared.
“Bob…”
Agnes’ voice continued faintly through the speaker.
“Alicia?”
The room became painfully still.
Slowly, Bob walked toward the kitchen.
Alicia quickly ended the call.
Too late.
Bob stared at her with deep disappointment.
“You still can’t stop.”
Alicia rubbed her forehead emotionally.
“It wasn’t like that.”
Bob laughed bitterly.
“That sentence should become your middle name at this point.”
“Please don’t do this again.”
“Do what?” Bob snapped. “React like a normal human being?”
Alicia looked exhausted now too.
“I’m trying.”
“No,” Bob replied coldly. “You’re hiding.”
That evening, Bob finally called Agnes directly for the first time since arriving in Canada.
Agnes answered calmly.
“Bob.”
“We need to talk.”
“I figured.”
Bob’s jaw tightened.
“Stay away from my wife.”
Silence.
Then Agnes replied quietly:
“She’s not property.”
Bob almost exploded.
“She’s my wife!”
“And she still calls me every day.”
The words stabbed deeply.
Bob lowered his voice dangerously.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“No,” Agnes answered honestly.
“I’m suffering too.”
Bob laughed angrily.
“You expect sympathy?”
“I expect you to understand that feelings are complicated.”
“You’re my mother!”
“And I didn’t ask to fall in love with her.”
Bob gripped the phone tighter.
“You had a choice.”
“So did she.”
That sentence silenced him briefly.
Because despite everything…
He knew Alicia wasn’t innocent anymore.
Agnes continued softly:
“You think I manipulated her into loving me?”
“You absolutely did.”
“No.”
Her voice remained painfully calm.
“She was lonely. Broken. Vulnerable. And I was there.”
Bob’s chest tightened.
“And where was I?”
“Thousands of miles away.”
The truth hurt because it carried some reality inside it.
But Bob refused to accept that as justification.
“You destroyed this family.”
Agnes became quiet briefly.
Then she said the words that changed everything.
“If you keep trying to separate us completely…”
Bob frowned.
“…I’ll tell immigration everything.”
The air left his lungs instantly.
“What?”
Agnes’ tone hardened for the first time.
“The fake marriage. The arrangement. The fraud.”
Bob stood frozen.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“I would.”
His heartbeat began pounding violently.
“You’d destroy your own son?”
“I’m already losing the woman I love.”
The obsession inside her voice terrified him.
Bob realized something horrifying in that moment:
His mother was no longer thinking rationally.
This had gone far beyond ordinary love.
“You’re bluffing,” Bob whispered.
“Try me.”
The call ended.
Bob remained standing motionless in the living room.
Phone still pressed against his ear.
Mind racing.
Because if Agnes reported the truth…
Everything could collapse.
Their visas.
Their residency process.
Their future.
Even criminal charges were possible.
Later that night, Bob told Alicia everything.
The moment she heard the threat, fear flooded her face immediately.
“She said that?”
Bob nodded.
“She’s serious.”
Alicia sat down slowly.
“No…”
Bob stared at her carefully.
“You know she means it.”
Alicia covered her face with trembling hands.
“She’s angry.”
“She’s obsessed.”
The word hung heavily in the room.
Obsessed.
Because that was what this had become.
Not just love anymore.
Possession.
Emotional dependency.
Desperation.
“She won’t actually report us,” Alicia whispered uncertainly.
Bob looked at her sharply.
“You still believe you can calm her down.”
Alicia didn’t answer.
Because part of her believed exactly that.
Bob noticed immediately.
And pain crossed his face again.
“You still think emotionally like her partner.”
“That’s not fair.”
“It’s true.”
Alicia stood up emotionally.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Choose us.”
The answer came instantly.
Alicia looked away.
And once again…
Her silence became his heartbreak.
The next morning, Bob received a strange email notification from immigration services.
His stomach dropped immediately.
It was only a routine document verification request.
Nothing serious.
But fear still consumed him.
Because now every immigration email looked dangerous.
Every unknown number felt threatening.
Agnes had planted fear permanently into their lives.
That same evening, Alicia drove alone to meet Agnes secretly for the first time since Bob arrived.
The meeting took place in a quiet café outside downtown Toronto.
Rain tapped gently against the windows while soft jazz music played overhead.
The moment Agnes saw Alicia walk in, emotion flashed across her face immediately.
“You came.”
Alicia sat across from her slowly.
“You threatened Bob.”
Agnes remained calm.
“He threatened me first.”
“He’s your son.”
“And you’re the woman I love.”
Alicia closed her eyes painfully.
“This is getting out of control.”
Agnes leaned forward slightly.
“No. This is what happens when people try separating something real.”
Alicia stared at her in disbelief.
“You’d really report us?”
Agnes’ expression softened slightly.
“I don’t want to.”
“But you will.”
“If he takes you away from me completely…”
Her silence answered enough.
Alicia felt fear crawl through her chest.
Because she finally understood something clearly now:
Agnes wasn’t bluffing.
And the war between mother and son had only just begun.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD