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Lahat ng Kabanata ng My Boyfriend's Dad?: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

78 Kabanata

Chapter 31

DamonShe arrived in seventeen minutes.I know because I counted. I stood outside the building where I had spent twenty years of my life. The building I had built from nothing. The building I had just walked away from.People passed me on the sidewalk. Some recognized me. Some did not. No one stopped to ask why I was standing there like a man waiting for a train that might never come.Then I saw her.She was running. Not walking. Running. Her hair was flying behind her. Her bag was bouncing off her hip. She was wearing jeans and a sweater and the necklace. The star. She had not taken it off since the day I gave it to her.She stopped in front of me. Out of breath. Her cheeks were pink from the cold."You resigned," she said."I resigned.""Just like that.""Just like that.""Why."I looked at her. The girl who had turned my life upside down. The girl who made me feel things I did not know I could feel."Because they were going to ask me to choose," I said. "Between you and the company

Chapter 32

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.

Chapter 33

DamonThe lawsuit came through on a Tuesday.I was sitting in my living room. Laura was at work. She had gotten a new job. A real one. Not an internship. A receptionist at a small law firm. Chloe's cousin worked there. She put in a good word. Laura did not want my help. She wanted to do it on her own. I respected that.My phone rang. Marcus Webb."They filed," he said."I figured.""The paperwork is being delivered to your house today. You need to read it carefully. They are asking for damages. Significant damages.""How significant.""Enough to hurt. Not enough to destroy you. Unless they win.""They will not win.""They have a good case, Damon. You resigned abruptly. You were involved with an intern. You admitted to being distracted. Their argument is that you put your personal interests above the company's.""I put my personal interests above everything. That is not a crime.""It is when you have a fiduciary duty to shareholders."I rubbed my eyes."What do you need from me.""I ne

Chapter 34

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

Chapter 35

ChloeI was done being nice.For weeks, I had been the good friend. The one who brought food. The one who sat in silence. The one who said "I am here for you" and meant it. I drove to Rick's house when he would not answer his phone. I sat with Laura when she cried about Damon. I held both of them together while they fell apart.And I was exhausted.Not because of them. Because of him.Damon.The man who started all of this. The man who took a girl who was already confused and made her more confused. The man who sat in his big house with his big money and his big ego and thought he could have whatever he wanted.I was done pretending I did not have an opinion.---I drove to his house on a Sunday morning. I did not call first. I did not text. I just showed up.He opened the door. He was wearing a grey tshirt and sweatpants. His hair was messy. He looked tired."Chloe.""Damon.""Laura is not here. She went to see her parents.""I know. I am not here for Laura."He raised his eyebrows.

Chapter 36

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

Chapter 37

RickThe letter came on a Wednesday.I was sitting on my couch, staring at the wall, doing what I did best these days. Nothing. The mail came through the slot. Envelopes on the floor. Bills. Junk. A thick envelope with a return address I did not recognize.I opened it last.Inside was a photo. A woman. Blonde. Late thirties. She looked familiar but I could not place her. Behind the photo was a letter. Handwritten. Messy."Rick. My name is Sarah. I am your mother's sister. Your aunt. I know you have never heard of me. Your mother and I had a falling out years ago. But I thought you should know the truth. Your mother did not leave because she was unhappy with your father. She left because she was sick. She died two years ago. She never stopped loving you. She asked me to reach out when you turned eighteen. I am sorry it took me this long. I was scared. Please call me. I have so much to tell you."I read the letter three times.My mother did not leave because she was unhappy. She left be

Chapter 38

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

Chapter 39

RickThe nightmares stopped after I found out about my mother.Not because I was healing. Because I was too exhausted to dream. I would lie down at midnight, stare at the ceiling for an hour, then wake up at 5 AM with no memory of falling asleep. Just emptiness. Just the watch on my wrist. Time passing.Sarah came over again on a Sunday.She brought photos. Albums. Loose pictures in a cardboard box. We sat on my living room floor and spread them across the carpet."Here," she said, handing me a photo. "This is your mother at eighteen. The day she graduated high school."I looked at the girl in the photo. She was beautiful. Blonde hair. Big smile. My eyes. She had my eyes."She looks happy," I said."She was happy. Before everything.""Before my father."Sarah looked at me."Before she got sick," she said. "Your father was not the problem. He was just... there. She loved him. In her own way. But she was always going to leave. She was always going to run.""Then why did she marry him."

Chapter 40

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

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