Todos os capítulos de AN AFFAIR WITH MY FIANCE'S FATHER: Capítulo 11 - Capítulo 19

It had been two days since Carol came home from the hospital and I had been taking care of her better than I had taken care of anything in my entire life.Medication at seven every morning and seven at night without fail. Breakfast that followed the dietary list the doctor gave me so strictly that Carol had complained twice that she missed salt. No stress, no stairs more than necessary, no arguments… and believe me that last one cost me more effort than the cooking and the medication combined because Carol had opinions about everything including how I folded towels and was not constitutionally capable of keeping them to herself for extended periods.But she was okay and that was the only thing that mattered.Zara still hadn't come back.Reid had told me she was fine and she just needed time away and would reach out when she was ready and I had held onto that and tried not to let the grey ticks on my messages do what they were trying to do to my head. Zara needed space sometimes. I kne

The hotel bar was exactly what I needed.It was loud enough to drown out thinking and dark enough to feel anonymous. I had driven here by 10pm without a specific plan but just to be away from my apartment for a while. My day felt cursed already. From Zara, to the motherfucker of a man, I went to his house to hand over my resume for the job he got for me and it happened to be a scam. I found a stool at the bar and ordered something strong and drank it with the intention of using alcohol to drain down the thoughts that filled my head and it somewhat helped. Not really enough but enough to take the sharpest edges off everything and let me sit with it without the immediate physical discomfort of feelings I hadn't asked for.The bar gradually filled around me with couples, groups, solo travelers, the usual night assembly of people who had ended up here for their own various reasons. The music was good, the lighting was low and I ordered a second drink and then a third and somewhere in the

Classes had been hectic today. Tests were next week and I was not playing with them, not when I was this close to the finish line. I had stayed an extra hour after my last class going through my notes and by the time I packed up and headed out it was almost six and my stomach had been making sounds for the last two hours that I was choosing to ignore.I was starving and all I could think of was food, specifically about what was in the fridge at home and how fast I could get my hands on them, when something happened that made me forget I was hungry entirely.Ophelia was walking toward me.Let me explain something about Ophelia.In sophomore year she slept with a guy that Zara had a very obvious and very public crush on. That alone would have been enough to put her on the list but she didn't stop there. She went as far as taking pictures of herself with him while he slept and sent them to the general group chat for our whole set to see and particularly Zara. I had never forgotten it.O

I had just come back from seeing Zara and honestly, for a few hours, things felt a bit lighter in my chest. We had talked like nothing ever happened, like the silence between us had not stretched into something awkward for weeks. That was the thing about Zara, no matter how bad things got between us, we always found a way back to normal eventually. I walked into the house still feeling that small relief in my system, the kind that only came after you’ve laughed too much with someone who actually understands your chaos. I closed the door behind me, dropped my bag somewhere near the chair and exhaled slowly, already thinking about food, rest, and maybe scrolling my phone for a while before dozing off. But the moment I stepped further inside, I stopped. Carol was home and that was unusual. She never got back this early, not unless something had gone wrong or she was too tired to continue her day outside. I looked at her properly and immediately knew something was off. She was sitting in