AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, maybe she knew you’d be pissed,” he points out, and I look at him incredulously.
“Are you seriously taking her side right now?” I ask, stopping dead in my tracks.
“No, I’m just giving you the perspective that you refuse to see, son,” he tells me, voice comforting and familiar. “There is a chance she’s telling you the honest truth, and it’s just that her timing was terrible.”
“Maybe,” I mutter with a sigh. “But the fact that she didn't tell me just makes me feel like she doesn't trust me enough. And if she doesn't trust me, then how can she truly love me?”
“I know it's tough, Dan,” he says sympathetically, squeezing my shoulder. “But try to put yourself in her shoes. She might have thought that you would react the way you did, and didn’t want to put that stress on your relationship. Sometimes it’s hard to know the right thing to do, especially in matters of the heart.”
My thoughts are a jumbled mess, feeling like a dark tangled forest even in the light of day. I know my father is trying to help, but it still doesn’t change the fact that I feel hurt and betrayed. I'm not sure if I can forgive Elise for keeping this from me, but I'm also not sure if I'm ready to let go of her completely.
“I just need some time to think,” I tell him, walking forward once more, unable to keep still.
“And you’re completely justified in taking it,” he assures me, catching up. Dad runs his hands over the bushes as we walk, disturbing small butterflies resting on the blooms. “If Elise cares for you, she will happily give you that space and time. Elise is a good girl, I’m sure she will come around, but she’s also very young.”
So now he’s defending Elise? I can't believe it, throwing my hands in the air and saying, “How can you defend her, Dad? After everything that's happened? After all the lies and the secrets?”
Dad remains calm and tries to reason with me. “Dan, I understand that you’re upset, but let’s not be too hasty. Maybe there’s more to the story than you know.”
“More to the story? What more could there be? She was hiding the fact that her ex was staying at her parents’ estate, and now you’re trying to make excuses for her? That’s just ridiculous!”
I can feel my blood boiling. I’ve been a fool to believe that Elise could ever love me the way she loved Johan. I thought that after everything we went through together, she would finally tell me that she loved me. But of course, it never came.
“And what about the fact that she hasn't said those three words? We’ve been hooking up for like two months now, and she still hasn’t said she loves me. After everything we've been through, you still think it’s okay?”
Dad looks at me with sympathy in his eyes. “Son, I know it’s hard, but maybe she’s just not ready yet. Or maybe she’s afraid of losing you. Who knows?”
But I'm not listening. I’ve had enough. I need to get out of here, to clear my head and think. I stand up and say, “Forget it, Dad. I know you mean well, but it’s all too obvious. My relationship with Elise was bound to fail.”
He lets me leave, sitting on a concrete bench along the walkway, but calls out to my back. “Where are you going, Dan?”
I turn to face my father. “I don’t know. I just… need to get my head straight.”
“Okay, text me if you need anything,” Dad says, clearly concerned. “I love you, son.”
“Love you too, Pops,” I sigh and with a heavy heart, I walk out of the family gardens. I’m not sure where I'm going or what I’m going to do, but one thing is certain: my relationship with Elise is on incredibly thin ice, and it will only take the smallest shiver to make it all break into pieces.
32
Elise
It's Friday,and still I haven’t heard a single word from the man that is supposedly so in love with me. The office is rowdy as everyone prepares for the upcoming weekend, and work is… well, work––boring and monotonous––but at least it’s something to do and to keep my mind occupied while my family melts down and my boyfriend is having his fun pretending that I don’t exist.
Dan hasn’t spoken to me since we had that argument about Johan's visit to my parents’ estate, which is frankly stupid in my opinion. I knew we would argue somewhat about Johan’s visit, but I never thought he would shut me out so completely. I have given him space and time to cool off, hoping that once he was calmer, he would be more willing to listen to me, but clearly, that is a fallacy I have convinced myself to believe. I thought that maybe if I just waited a little bit, everything would go back to normal, and I’m pissed at myself for being so naive.
As I try to call him again, I realize that my contact number is still blocked. He hasn’t even tried to reach out to me, and there is no way for me to get a hold of him. What if there was an emergency and I really needed him? It almost feels like Dan doesn’t care about me at all, and it is breaking my heart into a million pieces. Since I was fifteen, Dan was always available for me if I needed him, and now it’s like he’s fallen off the face of the earth.
The fear and uncertainty inside me are growing with every passing moment. I thought we had something special, that our relationship was strong enough to weather any storm. But now, as I face the reality of our situation, I'm starting to wonder if I’m just foolishly clinging to something that was never meant to be.
The thought of losing Dan is almost unbearable. He's been my rock, my support, my everything. But now, I fear that all of that might be slipping away. I don't know what to do or how to fix things between us. All I know is that I have to try. I can't just let everything we had together fade away without a fight.
I check my watch and sigh. In five minutes, I’m supposed to meet Dad and the PR team for a meeting, and something tells me I’m not going to like what it entails. Dad gave me no information about what we’d be talking about, but knowing that I’m the only intern who is supposed to attend makes it pretty clear that it will have something to do with the family drama and not just work things.
I amnotlooking forward to it.
The walk to the meeting is lonely, and as soon as I enter the room I can feel the pressure building. I know that my father called me here for a reason, and I can sense that it’s not going to be a good one. The room is filled with tension and everyone is on edge.
Once we are all sitting, Dad clears his throat and begins speaking. “I’m sure you’ve all heard the news by now, but, regarding the case against my son’s fiancée, the prosecutor has dropped the charges against Roxanne and is now targeting Karl and myself.” The room falls silent as the weight of my dad’s words sink in. “I want to know if any of you had anything to do with this,” he continues, his tone serious and accusing, and while he doesn’t look only at me, I know that I’m the only true suspect in the room.
