CHAPTER 3

“I will be back, Raffy. And I hope that by the time we see each other again, you will have already made the smartest and best decision. And you already know what that is.”

Raffy's hold on his fork had tightened as he kept remembering those words Andrew had said before he left.

'Who does he think he is to tell me what to do? Make the smartest and best decision? I already did it by not letting him buy our land and telling him to leave!'

He shook his head. It'd been ten years, and he thought Andrew would have already changed for the better, especially after everything he'd been through. But disappointedly, that wasn't the case at all.

Andrew was still the same arrogant and self-centered alpha.

"Are you okay, Dad?"

Raffy got pulled out of his deep thoughts after hearing his son's voice.

He looked at Lance, whose forehead had turned into a knot.

"You seem out of it, Dad," Lance added, then asked him again, "Is it because of that stranger a while ago? What did he tell you?"

He smiled at his son and patted his head. "I'm fine. And don't worry about that stranger. He won't be back."

But Lance could tell he was lying. "Is he a bad guy?"

When he couldn't answer, Lance asked once more. "Is he asking us to leave?"

The sadness and fear in his son's voice were very clear, and it made Raffy's heart clench in pain.

He hated that he let Lance feel that way. He hated that he couldn't assure his son that everything was going to be okay, hated that his words weren't enough to make Lance feel safe and at ease.

He hated feeling like he was not good enough to be a good father.

'You will be a good father, Raffy.'

He smiled bitterly at that thought.

He wanted to believe those words. After all, it came from someone who has never and will never lie to him—Lancy, his son's mother.

But with everything that was happening in their life at that moment, and upon seeing Lance's reaction, believing that he was a good father was hard for him to do.

"Do we have to leave our house, Dad?"

"No," he answered instantly. "We are not leaving. No one in this place is leaving, son. This is our home, and no one will take it away from us. I won't let that happen."

Hope started to fill Lance's face, and it made Raffy's heart swell in happiness.

"Promise?"

Raffy let go of the fork he was holding to touch his son's cheek, gently caressing it. He smiled at the boy and replied, "Promise."

Lance smiled at him, finally content with the answer he gave.

His son continued to eat heartily after that, while Raffy still couldn't stop thinking about Andrew. Remembering the alpha's smug expression made him want to punch something.

Eating with his son has always been his favorite thing to do. But at that moment, he couldn't find it to enjoy himself because all he could ever think about was Andrew.

After what felt like an agonizing dinner—he never thought a day would come where he would describe a dinner with his son as agonizing—Lance finally went to his room to sleep, while Raffy stayed to do a deep cleaning, which he usually only does every Sunday. But because he needed to do something to get his mind off of Andrew, he decided that it's never wrong to clean the house thoroughly at eight in the evening.

But no matter how much he tried to occupy his mind with something else, it always went back to Andrew, and it was frustrating the hell out of him.

Even while he was showering, and even when he busied himself with inventory and bookkeeping, Andrew had always found a way to pester his mind. Until he finally gave up and decided to head to bed instead, thinking that a sleep would probably fix his brain's obsession with Andrew.

But no, it did not. In fact, it was what made him unable to sleep.

After tossing and turning so many times, Andrew sat and screamed in silence while also tugging his hair out of frustration.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Get the fuck out of my head, you stupid, arrogant, motherfucking alpha!"

He heaved, then went back to lying down again in a rough manner, making his bed shake a little.

He scowled at the ceiling, still cursing Andrew in silence.

Why did he have to come back? Why now when he's already doing alright? Why now when his life was already back on the right track?

Why did Andrew have to show up again when he'd already moved on from their past, when he's got Lance now to think of and take care of?

In the past, being near and being connected to Andrew had always put him into jeopardy. It made him and his life miserable. And it seemed that Andrew was about to do it again.

So, before Andrew destroys him for the second time, he needed to put a stop to it already. He wouldn't allow Andrew to have power over him again.

He will do everything he can to drive Andrew out of his life.

He was the one who walked away before. This time, Andrew would be the one giving up and leaving.