LOGINMARCUS“I haven’t even blamed you for Ryan’s death. But you… You deserve it. For inviting him to that sham of a wedding. And now you think you can just walk out on me?”He gritted his teeth. His eyes burned, sharp, unrelenting. And for the first time, I saw the raw, unfiltered force of a man who had built himself by taking, by surviving...and now, he was staring me down, expecting me to bend.For a moment, neither of us spoke. The room felt too small. Too tight. Like the air had thickened between us.I stared at him. At the man who was supposed to be my father. At the man who was crying one second… and manipulating the next. And suddenly..Something in me went still.Not angry. Not confused. Just… clear.“You’re done?” I asked quietly.He blinked, caught off guard by the calm in my voice.“What?” he asked.“I asked if you’re done,” I repeated, just as calm. “Because I think I’ve heard enough.”His face hardened slightly.“That’s your response?” he said. “After everything I’ve done for
MARCUSHe straightened, and I knew I was getting to him, even if only slightly. More than that, I needed him to be truthful. I needed him to tell me the truth. I needed answers to questions that had haunted me for so long: Why them? Why not us? Why did he do that to my mother? To me?Questions I had always wondered about alone at night as a little boy. Questions I knew he would have evaded, lied about, or outright refused to answer. But now… now I had something to dangle in front of him, a subtle leverage. Maybe I could be manipulative too. After all, I came from the best.“I’m not asking this because I blame you,” I said, steadying myself. “Thinking about it now, I’m starting to… understand your position. But as a child, I always asked myself that question. I never got to meet my grandparents, either. I guess… I wanted to know about you. I was curious....about who you really were.”He seemed taken aback, as if it had never crossed his mind that I could be curious about him."Reall
MARCUSI wasn’t paying attention to the logic in my head, just staring at him, watching. He kept talking, knowing he had my attention, knowing he had my interest, but I was thinking of something else entirely. I wasn’t hearing a word he said.He kept passing page after page, and I kept looking at them, at the graphs. But all I saw was a graph. I didn’t understand what I was looking at. I didn’t try to understand. I didn’t try to read it. Because whatever he thought was going to happen here today, he had made a huge miscalculation.“So, what do you say?” he finally asked.It felt like years had passed. Felt like I’d been there the whole day. He looked at me with that bright, self-satisfied smile, seeming to know he’d won. And I just watched him, wondering if he was really my father, wondering if there was something my mother had failed to tell me about him.Because I knew he loved Ryan....then why couldn’t he love me too? I was his blood too. Even now, when Ryan was gone, why was he on
MARCUSInstead of answering my questions, Mr Bennett took a slow step to the side, looking around the room as if he owned it.“You think she stayed with Ryan for ten years by accident?” he asked, looking mighty pleased with himself.My stomach dropped slightly, but I didn’t let it show.“She survived him,” I replied.“Or,” he said calmly. “She learned how to live with him.” A pause. “And she learned from him. Learned Things she’s using against you right now.”My jaw tightened. “That’s enough,” I snapped.But he didn’t stop.“You think she didn’t benefit from what happened between you and Ryan at your wedding?” he continued. “You think she just walked into your life without a plan or a motive?”“Get out of my house,” I said, my voice rising now.He turned back to me and for the first time, his calm cracked just a little.“You’ve let her in too much,” he said. “You’re protecting her because you think you need her. Because you think you love her.” A beat. “But it’s all a lie. Monique is
MARCUSI shut the book closed slowly, my fingers lingering on the cover for a second longer, thinking if I should stay there… or go.Deciding it was better to finish this, I stood up and started walking toward the sitting room, each footstep heavier than the last. And it wasn’t because I was scared of him. It was because the truth was.... I was afraid of what he wanted.From everything I had learned about him, from all the times I had investigated him, I knew he was ruthless. But I also knew something else. He was protective.... Fiercely protective of his family.Not me, of course. His real family.... His son, his daughter, and his wife.And that was what scared me. Not him, but his words. What they could do. What they could destroy.When I reached the door, I saw him sitting there like he belonged. Relaxed and composed, like nothing in his life had ever collapsed. Like he hadn’t built things just to tear them down.His eyes lifted the moment I stepped in.“Marcus,” he said. Same ton
MARCUSWhen Henry called me and told me that Mr Bennett had gone to the Wind Corporation, I could have laughed or gotten angry. I didn’t even know which one came first.I didn’t know why he was there but I knew he knew I wasn’t there. So at first, I just thought… he had something to say to Monique. Something about Ryan. That’s what I assumed.Ryan was dead, yes. And as much as I hated admitting it… my father loved his son Ryan. He loved him a lot. So I thought maybe he had gone there to make her feel bad. To blame her. To push her until she broke.That was my first thought And I wanted to rush there. I really did, but Nadia stopped me. If it hadn’t been for her, stopping me from going to the company, reminding me there were professionals there, security there, Henry at the front door....I probably would’ve gone.Nadia reminded me that Henry wouldn’t let anything happen. That he would notice. That he would react. And then she said something that stayed with me..... That Monique would w
MONIQUEOf course, I soon found out that I was wrong about that.When Violet and I arrived at her parents’ house, she walked me into the living room and handed me a glass of water while I waited for her to call her mom downstairs.The moment Aunt Jane came down the stairs and saw me, she froze for
THE BENNETTS"Ryan!" Mrs Bennett and Lydia exclaimed."What?" Ryan asked, on the brink of losing it.“Okay, you know what? Lydia, just take your friend away from here, okay?” Mr Bennett’s tone sharpened. “Right now, we need a family meeting between the Bennetts, and you two aren’t helping.”“I’m al
MONIQUE“No,” Marcus said, his hand already on mine in front of the table. “Please don’t blame yourself for that idiot.”“I’m the idiot,” I told him. And a tear ran down and I quickly wiped it. "Don't cry for him Monique." Marcus pleaded“I’m not gonna cry for him. I know I was so stupid back the
MONIQUEMarcus smiled, nodding. I think he must have seen it clear in my eyes, the determination, the truth, because he nodded, holding my hand to its fill, and it made me feel a lot better than he thought it did.After our lunch date, Marcus had to go back to the office, but he promised to be back







