STEP DADDY AND SON

JEREMY'S P.O.V

“Niko?”

“Yes, Jeremy. You were supposed to meet him yesterday. And where the hell were you? We were all waiting for you last night.”

“I was at a house party.”

“I thought you hated parties?” Mum countered, throwing me a sceptical look.

“Mum, he's a literal adult. He can go to house parties... why the fuck are we talking about house parties anyway, when we have bigger issues to discuss?” Dani interrupted, her tone sharp with annoyance.

“What bigger issues?” I asked, looking between them.

Mum sighed, walking away from us. “It's not an issue; your sister's just being dramatic.”

“Tell him then!” Dani raised her voice.

“What issues?” I repeated.

I waited, and since Mum didn't want to respond, Dani did instead.

“She’s getting married to the guy.”

I sat up straighter. The headache that had been throbbing behind my eyes seemed irrelevant as shock washed over me.

“What the hell?” I stared at my mother. “You barely know him.”

“That's what I said,” Dani chimed in. “They've been going out for three months… three fucking months.”

“Mum, you can't be serious right now. We've talked about this. It seems rushed.”

Mum settled onto the edge of the bed, burying her face in her palms while Dani and I kept talking over each other.

Three months isn't enough time to get to know someone. She couldn't just marry this guy and tie our entire family to his for life. That’s crazy.

“You really need to think about this,” I told her.

“Your decision is messing up our lives too,” Dani said angrily. “Do you even care about us? We don't know him, and in a few months, he's supposed to be our step-dad—”

“Enough!”

Mum's voice cracked through the room.

Dani fell silent, and I swallowed the last of my words.

Mum was staring at the floor, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. A tear slipped down her cheek, and my anger dissolved instantly.

“Mum…”

She quickly wiped it away, almost embarrassed that we'd seen. Dani noticed too, and her expression changed.

“I'm fine,” she whispered.

Dani moved first, sitting beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. I shifted closer on the bed, my frustration replaced by guilt.

“We're sorry,” I murmured.

Mum shook her head.

“You don't have to apologise.”

“Yes, we do. I shouldn't have been shouting at you.”

Mum sniffed and tried to smile, but it barely lasted a second.

I reached for her hand.

“I care about you both more than anything,” she sobbed. “That's why I have to go through with this.”

Dani and I exchanged concerned looks.

“We’ve been drowning in debt since your Dad left.”

My heart sank. I thought this was over. I thought I helped.

My parents have been divorced for most of my life and all Dani's.

Mum never let us see Dad, painting him as the villain for as long as I remembered, and in several ways, he was. We saw him a few times, but never long enough to build any emotional connection. Dani and I tried to fix that when we were younger, but as we grew up, we realised some people are better off left alone, and he was one of them and Dad was one of them. Eventually, we stopped reaching out, and he stopped trying too.

But there had always been one thing Mum couldn't cut him out of.

Business.

They'd owned a property together—a large commercial building that they rented out to businesses. It had always been Dad's responsibility to handle the financial side while Mum dealt with the tenants and the day-to-day management. After his death, I'd thought Mum simply took over.

I never considered what he'd left behind.

“I thought this was over Mum, what about the money I got—”

Mum shook her head, cutting me off. “That money barely made a dent in the mountain of debt we owe, Jeremy.”

“What kind of debt?” Dani asked.

She had been unaware of the situation, and being the youngest, Mum never mentioned it to her

Mum's fingers tightened around mine.

“Your father borrowed money against the property. When he died, I inherited the debt. I've secretly been trying to pay it off and… God, I never wanted to burden you kids with this.”

Mum sobbed hard into her hands, her shoulders shaking as she did.

“So that's why you're marrying Richard? Because he has money?” Dani asked flatly.

I shot Dani a sharp, reprimanding look, shaking my head to stop her.

“Yes, Richard has money—money we desperately need,” Mum admitted, wiping her face. “But believe it or not, he's a sweet man, and we are in love.”

Dani scoffed bitterly, pulling out her phone and scrolling through it just to distract herself from the suffocating tension in the room. Mum cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure.

“We are getting married in a few months, and I want you both to make an effort to get to know him and his son, Niko. We’re moving out of this house to live with Richard and his family.”

“WHAT?” Dani and I snapped at the same time.

“We can't afford rent, and the landlord dropped by with an eviction letter.”

But that wasn't even the worst part.

Mum turned towards me.

“And Jeremy, since I can no longer afford accommodation for you off campus, you'll be moving into Niko’s apartment to live with him.”