Echoes of the Unsaid

Roman’s pov***

As I mentioned earlier, the day couldn’t get any worse. Now I was en route to visit the man whom I called my dad, but who had seldom been there for me.

Over the years, it became easier to cope with his absence, but it could never really erase the anger I felt for him. I resented him for pushing my mum away, I resented him for not taking up his duties as my father. I resented him for not telling me the real reason behind my mother's abandonment.

Still, somewhere within me, I knew he was ultimately the cause of my turmoil.

“He’s going to be alright,” Levi said, reassuring me. He was in the car with me, rarely leaving my side. We had become close since college. our friendship had sparked at the bar, I didn’t know he was studying law, he was carefree for someone in such a serious profession.

Over time, I saw him reading these law books, and it made me laugh at the contrast. I was grateful he was always there.

“I know so,” I replied, “I wish he’d just go anyway.” The thoughts lingered in my mind but remained unspoken. Levi knew of my resentment toward my dad yet there were things I'd rather keep to myself.

He wouldn’t understand anyway; he grew up without his parents, and so he appreciated my dad as a father figure in his life.

“If you don’t want to see him, I could tell him something came up at work,” Levi offered.

“It's alright, he’s my father,” I told him as we pulled into the hospital parking lot.

“Where’s my father?” I asked the nurse at the reception desk. He had somewhat become a regular with his regular heart issues.

“First floor, he's stable now,” she added, throwing a flirtatious look at me, or Levi, I didn’t care less.

“Thank you,” Levi offered as we moved away from the desk.

“Levi,” my father acknowledged as we entered the room. Of course, I'd be invisible; he was the only person who could keep me in anguish always, and now there was Sera.

“Hi Dad,” I said, since he wouldn’t acknowledge me, he merely nodded in my direction without meeting my gaze.

“How is my company? hope it is as I left it?” he asked, still looking at Levi.

“Even better than you left it, Sir, Roman is doing a fine job,” Levi responded.

“I guess I should thank you for that,” the man I called my father said, and I walked out of the room.

Beginning to regret why I had come in the first place, I sat by the corridor, and Levi joined me almost immediately.

“You should go talk to him, I'll wait outside,” he encouraged.

Honestly, I didn’t want to, I had grown weary of the constant comparisons, always falling short in his eyes. I have either been compared to this or that.

Outside, people saw me as a powerful figure, a ruthless business tycoon, but I was nothing to my father.

The only time he refrained from making a comparison was with the issue of marriage, and only because Levi wasn’t married yet.

“Go talk to him,” Levi urged, and I reluctantly went back into the room.

“You didn’t have to come, I am alright,” he stated as I entered

“You are my father,” I told him, trying to sound all calm and fine.

“You say that, but we both know you can’t wait for me to be gone forever,” he stated again dismissively, as if my words meant nothing to him.

“That is not true,” I told him again, even though a part of me wanted it to be true.

He scoffed, “Tell yourself whatever lies you want to,” he said, turning to the other side of the bed.

And that was it. A proper conversation between a father and a son. Silence ensued for a while, and I knew he wasn’t going to say anything more.

“I'll go see the doctor now,” I told him, even when I knew he wouldn’t respond.

Zara’s pov***

“Damn it, I'm late!” I cursed under my breath. The alarm didn’t go off, and I was already 30 minutes behind schedule.

I checked my phone, there were missed calls from Ms. Sylvia. I sighed, knowing I wasn’t going to be able to talk to the twin that morning.

“I'll get to it once I get to the office,” I reassured myself.

I hurriedly cleaned up and practically sprinted, half walking, half running, to my car and drove off. At the parking lot, I thought about Roman and how things would change if I apologized to him.

I quickly touched up my face in the car before making my way into the company.

My secretary greeted me with a smile as I came in. I noticed she followed me into my office.

“Is everything alright, Chloe?” I asked her, sensing that something was amiss.

“Well, our boss's father was admitted to the hospital yesterday evening,” she said in a serious tone.

I didn’t believe her, I had spoken to Levi and he never mentioned anything over the phone.

“Are you certain about his?”  I probed in disbelief.

“Yes, ma'am,” she affirmed

“You should have called me yesterday or at least sent me an email, the media would be all over this,” I slightly scolded her.

“Assemble the team, and tell them we have a meeting immediately. I am going over to the hospital, send me the hospital address on my way,” I instructed, already setting out to leave the hospital.

In truth, I was worried for Roman, I knew about his relationship with his dad, and I knew it was the one place he didn’t want to be.

“Focus Zee!” I snapped. This wasn’t the time to be worried about Roman or his dad, who never really cared for him.

“Miss Sera, where are you headed?” It was Tania from her office.

“To the hospital. I wasn’t informed of the situation yesterday, and I'm sure the media would be flooding the place right now,” I replied brusquely while placing my phone inside my bag.

“And your team?” she pressed, as if I had another motive for going to the hospital.

“I already assigned them a task. I'm sorry, do I report to you now?” I shot back, perplexed as to why it was any of her business why I did what I did.

“I'm coming with you,” she suddenly said. But I couldn’t care less to ask why.

Without sparing her another glance, I walked on. If she wanted to join, she had to pick up the pace.

The ride to the hospital was rather silent as I fought the urge not to initiate any small talk. The thought of Roman loomed large in my mind.

Unknowns pov***

“12:30 pm: Roman Vale is yet to return to the office, it seems the issue at the hospital remains resolved since yesterday. The media is swirling with speculation about a heart attack, but no concrete information has surfaced from Roman or the PR team.

Tensions are escalating between Sera Quinn and Roman Vale.”

I ended my text and sent the message to the receiver whom I was still to meet. I had just received my pay and was even more enthusiastic to push forward with my investigations.

“FIND OUT MORE, I PAY YOU FOR MUCH MORE!!!” came the reply.