All Chapters of My Boyfriend's Dad?: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

DamonThe week after I met with Kael was quiet. Too quiet. Laura stayed at my house. Not every night. But most nights. She told her parents she was with Chloe. Chloe covered for her. That was the first time Chloe had helped us. It made me nervous. Not because I did not trust Chloe. Because I did not trust anyone anymore.Laura was asleep beside me. It was 2 AM. The city was dark. The house was quiet. I was not sleeping. I had not been sleeping well since Rick left. Since the board meeting. Since everything fell apart.I watched her breathe. The star was around her neck. It rose and fell with her chest. I thought about the first time I saw her. The fountain. The dirty water. The way she looked at me like she was trying to figure something out. I was still trying to figure it out.My phone buzzed on the nightstand. I grabbed it before the sound could wake her.Leo. "The board is moving forward with the lawsuit. They are claiming breach of fiduciary duty. They want to freeze your assets.

LauraI woke up to an empty bed.That was not unusual anymore. Damon slept less than anyone I had ever met. Some nights he did not sleep at all. He would sit in the living room or his study or just stand by the window and watch the city. I stopped asking him to come to bed. He came when he was ready.But this morning felt different. The house was too quiet. Not the normal quiet. The kind of quiet that comes before something bad.I got up. Put on his shirt. Walked downstairs.He was sitting at the kitchen table. A cup of coffee in front of him. His phone in his hand. His face was pale."Damon."He looked up. His eyes were red."What is wrong."He did not answer. He just turned his phone around and slid it across the table.I picked it up.It was an email. From Rick."I know you do not care what I think. I know you chose her. But there is something you should know. Laura was never just yours. She was never just mine either. Ask her about the summer before senior year. Ask her about the

RickThe nightmares started three weeks after I found out.Not every night. But most nights. I would wake up in a cold sweat with her face in my head. Her face. Not his. Hers. Laura. Smiling at me. Laughing at something I said. Kissing me goodbye. And then the dream would shift and she would be walking away. Walking toward him. And I would scream but no sound would come out.I stopped sleeping in my bed. I moved to the couch. The bed felt too big. Too empty. Too much like something I was supposed to share.The house was quiet. My house. The one my father bought me. The one I did not ask for. The one that felt like blood money.I had not spoken to him since the day he came over. The day he said he was not sorry. The day he chose her.I had not spoken to her since she came to my house. The day she said she loved me but not the way she loved him. The day she said she was sorry but not sorry enough to leave.I was alone.Chloe texted me every day. Little things. "You alive." "Eat somethin

LauraSomething was different about Rick.I noticed it at Jake's party. The way he stood by the wall. The way he looked at me. Not with anger. Not with hurt. With something else. Something I could not name.He did not yell at me when I walked toward him. He just said "do not come near me" in a quiet voice. Tired. Like he did not have the energy to hate me anymore.That scared me more than his anger.Anger I understood. Anger I deserved. But this. This quiet. This distance. This felt like goodbye.I left the party with Chloe. She did not ask questions. She just drove."Did you see him," I said."Everyone saw him.""He looked different.""He looked tired.""It was more than that."Chloe was quiet."Chloe. What do you know.""Nothing.""You are lying.""I am not lying. I am just not telling you everything.""That is the same thing.""No. It is not."I looked out the window. The streets were dark. The lights were blurry."Chloe. Please."She sighed."Rick found out something about his mot

RickThe keychain sat on my coffee table for three days.I did not move it. I did not look at it. I just let it sit there. A small silver heart. A reminder of a girl I used to love. A girl I was trying to forget.On the fourth day, I picked it up. You could not tell how old it was from looking at it. The silver had not tarnished. The engraving was still clear. "R + L" on one side. "Always" on the other.Always.What a joke.I put the keychain in the drawer with my mother's photos. Not because I wanted to hide it. Because I did not know where else to put it. Because I was not ready to throw it away. Because I was not ready to keep it either.My phone buzzed. Chloe."Jake's party tonight. You are coming.""I am not.""You are.""Chloe.""Do not make me come over there."I sighed."Fine.""Good. I will pick you up at 9."She hung up.I looked at my reflection in the window. Dark circles under my eyes. A week of stubble. I looked like someone who had given up. Maybe I had.I showered. Sha