Paul was a man with slumped shoulders and a shifty gaze, his unkempt beard looking like a refuge for his own miseries. I was used to seeing Dad and Jacob—always neat, always steady… and seeing Paul there, trembling despite the warm afternoon, his shirt wrinkled and the stench of abandonment clinging to him, made my stomach churn. He looked like someone who had forgotten how to take care of himself—and worse, he looked desperate. I didn’t even try to control my expression. The grimace I made must have been brutal, because Paul’s eyes widened as if I’d slapped him, and he immediately dropped his gaze, unable to hold mine. After all these years, he just shows up here, out of nowhere, and calls me sweetheart? «This has to be a sick joke.» “I already have a father,” I said as calmly as I could, though my throat burned. “You’re looking at him. He’s standing right in front of you.”
Last Updated : 2026-05-09 Read more