Chapter: Chapter Twenty Four: It Is What It IsRyan “You still haven’t told me what happened between our parents before they got married,” I hiss at Rachel, mouthing the words from the corner of my mouth, while looking out to make sure nobody’s staring at us. The house is packed. Guests have filled every corner, from people we knew since childhood but never had any interest in, to strange faces. Some of them ignore us after a simple conversation—but most of them want to know everything we’ve been doing. “Your mom talks about you a lot. She says you’re doing good charity work, catering for animals without a home.” Some woman who snagged me while I was trying to get a drink. “You know, I had to surrender my lovely Peggy.”Why? Because she was going on a two-month vacation and she thought Peggy wouldn’t be her “lovely” Peggy after staying with someone else for that long. Then there was the man who wanted to know why I hadn’t joined my father’s company. “I understand that you’re finding yourself. But time is running out, young
Última atualização: 2026-10-15
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-Three: My Father’s SonCaleb My mother’s the most surprised to see me when she walks into the house the next morning……smelling like alcohol. I don’t ask why or what she was doing, because I stopped asking questions a long time ago. I just did what they asked—regardless of the stone-cold silence they kept with each other. And when my mother threw her famous parties or my father wanted us to behave like a happy family, I threw on my biggest smile and posed for the camera. She pauses in the hallway, her eyes narrowing when she spots me in the kitchen. I wouldn’t have left my room at all, but I needed something to drink. And I didn’t want the chef moving around and attending to my every whim. “Caleb?” I place down the bottle of water I’m holding on the custom-designed island top that cost them hundreds of thousands. The water sloshes over my hand as she hurries into the kitchen, a big grin spread across her face. I only see her smile when she’s drunk. Once she’s sober, she barely pays attention to any
Última atualização: 2026-10-14
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-Two: A Family AffairRyan “Rise and shine, Ryan Trueson!”I bury my head deeper into the pillow, wishing I could smother myself as Rachel bursts into my room in the morning, her voice too excited for my liking. She grabs the sheet off my body, tosses it to the ground, and tugs my leg. “I know you’re awake, baby brother. And even if you aren’t, then I have the pleasure of telling you that nobody cares, because Mom and dad have guests who are coming in two hours.”I push the pillow off my face, my eyes wide open. She holds out a hand and I clasp it, dragging myself into a seated position. “Guests? Two hours?” I repeat, groaning as a throbbing ache makes its way around my head. “Yup,” she nods. “You know they always invited people over without giving us a heads-up, because they wanted to unofficially test if we were going to fuck up?”How could I forget? It was the entirety of my childhood—waking up to the house filled with strangers, my mom all smiles, my father—talking business with his guests. Rachel
Última atualização: 2026-10-08
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-One: My Father’s SonCaleb I ignore the buzzing from my phone as I take another swig straight from the can of beer, lazily taking in the others that were tipped over on the coffee table. It’s not like I can tell what’s going on anyway—Because the screen is half covered in ink. After my father’s call, I tossed it against the wall. It didn’t shatter, but the screen took the brunt of the hit, the cracking sound sharp in the air. When I went over to pick it up, the upper part of the screen was dark blue. Not that I cared. I wasn’t expecting a call from anyone important. My girlfriend had broken up with me. And my “boyfriend” was somewhere…I had no idea, but it was my fault that he moved out of the apartment, so I knew he wasn’t going to be calling anytime soon. My life…was falling apart. I laugh bitterly as I tip my head back and take another swig, letting the warm beer slide down my throat. It was a six-pack that I bought and kept in my bedroom. I wasn’t planning on drinking it until Anna returned an
Última atualização: 2026-10-06
Chapter: Chapter Twenty: Home Isn’t Where You AreRyanThe dinner table feels like someone placed a bomb on the table. And instead of it having a remote or some kind of switch to detonate, it's rigged to the temperature.If it gets warm, it'll explode.I stare at the plate in front of me. At the food that our chef made. He went all out, making some of my favorites. But I don't have an appetite. It's impossible to eat when I can feel my father's disapproval raining down on me like hail in summer. Rachel, on the other hand, is wolfing every bite down.She glances at me, at the fork between my fingers, and then at my plate. "You're going to eat that?" she asks.I start to push it to her, but my father's head snaps to us.Rachel eases back, both hands raised in the air. "He's just going to let it get cold," she mumbles. "You're the one who says we shouldn't waste food."He shakes his head at her, but says nothing. Then he turns to me. His cold grey eyes, a feature that neither of his children inherited, stare hard at me. "Was he feedin
Última atualização: 2026-10-03
Chapter: Chapter Nineteen: An UltimatumCaleb“Cat’s got your tongue?” Anna demands harshly as she stands up, doing her best not to wobble.I start to react instinctively, to urge her to sit down, but she jerks her hand away before I can touch her.“This is what I get for putting up with you for the months you spent pretending to date someone else,” she scoffs bitterly, shaking her head.“It’s not enough that I have to be a third invisible wheel, or that I can’t kiss you in public, because you don’t want the wrong person seeing us together…”“And now, I have to put up with my name being smeared all over the internet?”She picks up her phone that’s on the couch and thrusts it at me again.“What the fuck am I supposed to do about this, huh?”“What am I supposed to tell my supervisor? That my boyfriend is dating someone else…and somebody decided to run a smear article about me calling me an addict who sleeps her way into promotions—and the only reason why I can’t go public and clear my name is that he doesn’t want to break a p
Última atualização: 2026-09-28
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