I Chose My Mom. My Girlfriend Chose Death

I was introducing my girlfriend of three years, Chloe, to my parents when she shattered the dinner-table peace.

"Leo," Chloe asked, voice deceptively light, "if your mom and I both were drowning, who would you save?"

I froze, caught off guard. It felt completely out of place to ask something like that in front of my parents.

But then my mom, Eleanor, leaned forward, her expression serious. "I'd like to hear your answer, too, son."

The air instantly thickened, turning tense. Feeling annoyed and cornered, I blurted out without thinking, "You only have one mom, you can always find another…