"Jake, did you hear a word I just said?" I snapped back to reality, still groggy. I’d pulled an all-nighter gaming, got my ass handed to me repeatedly, and then got dragged out of bed before eight. Stumbling downstairs in my pajamas and slippers, I saw a woman about my age—curvy, poured into tight clothes, heavy makeup plastered on. She saw me, smirked, and tossed her hair back. I blinked. "Is this the blind date you set up for me?" Dad had been nagging me about finding a girlfriend again. "Don't be stupid, Jake. This is your mother!" Dad snapped, yanking at his tie, clearly pissed. The woman actually looked a little awkward for a second, fussing with her hair again. Mom? My brain finally kicked into gear. I rubbed my eyes. My mom was dead. "Chloe, honey, come over here. Say hi to your brother." Just then, a pretty girl with a dark bob haircut, maybe sixteen, dressed in what looked like a prep school uniform, shuffled forward, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "Hi... uh... Jake," she mumbled. I frowned, looking her up and down. Pale skin, cute features. Okay, I got it. The old bastard found himself a replacement wife, and she came with a kid. I scoffed. Mom died of cancer just last year. Back then, he was drowning himself in booze and cigarettes, swearing he’d never remarry. And now? Less than a year later, he brings home this dolled-up tramp to replace Mom. Was he seriously asking for my blessing? The three of them were looking at me with these hopeful, expectant eyes. It made me want to puke. "Married already? Don't call her 'Mom'," I snapped. Dad sucked in a sharp breath. Looked like he was about to blow. Yep, same old control freak. Never gave a damn about how I felt. What a selfish prick. My 'stepmother' – Heather, I guess her name was – saw things were going south and quickly put on a fake smile. "Rick, honey, he's just a kid. Don't get mad." "Who the hell are you calling kid? Take a look in the mirror. You think you could pop out a son my age?" I sneered. The little girl, Chloe, immediately ducked behind her mom. Dad waved for Maria, our housekeeper, to take her upstairs. "Wow, Rick," I kept going, "real protective of the new daughter, huh? What, you like the freebie that came with the package? Getting too old to get it up anymore?" Heather's face went white. Dad rubbed his temples, looking like he wanted to deck me again. Lucky for him, he's getting old. I shot the woman a look. "Okay, you can leave. We need to talk." "Rick…" Heather started, trying to grab Dad’s arm. Looked like she knew what was coming. "Get lost," I spat, turning my back and heading towards the study with Dad. The second the door clicked shut behind us, Dad slapped me. Hard. My cheek stung. Yeah, take off the suit, and he's just an animal underneath. I felt numb. "What's her magic trick, huh? What potion did she give you? You hitting me over her?" He actually looked a little guilty hearing that. "You don't leave me any dignity in front of people." Ah, there it was. I nodded slowly. Still the most selfish person I knew. For a second there, I almost thought he was actually falling for this woman. I fiddled with my phone, acting bored. "When did you meet her? How long has this been going on?" "Last year," Dad mumbled, lighting a cigarette and blowing smoke rings. "She listens, doesn't mess around. Having a daughter doesn't matter." "You mean you're just scared if she had a son, it wouldn't be yours, right?" I smirked. He glared. "You little asshole. Stop grilling me. What about you? Still planning on taking that gap year instead of reapplying to grad school?" School, school, school. That’s all he ever cared about. Man barely finished college himself, and here he was lecturing me, a grad student—or supposed to be one. The only thing he ever gave a damn about was my grades. Last year, Mom was in the final stages of cancer. They hid it from me until she only had days left. Bringing this woman home without a word was the same damn thing. I hated it. He never treated me like family. As soon as I got the news about Mom, I booked the first flight back from Europe and hadn’t gone back since. If I had, who knows what kind of crap this woman would have pulled? Probably would've been married with a new family photo on the mantle by the time I got back two years later. "Weren't you talking about me interning at your company?" "You need the degree for that. Finish your Master's." "Why don't you just pull some strings and get me in?" I said, shrugging. I knew he was planning on it anyway; making me wait was just another power play. "You..." His face darkened. Looked like he was about to explode again. I was dead tired and didn't have the energy for another fight. "I'm not okay with you and that woman," I said, turning to leave. "It's not happening." Walking out, I saw Heather posing for selfies in the living room, chatting loudly on the phone with some friend. Looked trashy and desperate. I threw a couple of sarcastic comments her way. She looked like she was about to cry. Felt good. Yawning, I headed back upstairs to crash. 【02】 I woke up to the sound of furniture scraping against the floor. A bad feeling crept over me. Rubbing my eyes, I saw her—Heather—acting like she owned the place, directing movers to haul stuff into a room down the hall. Chloe stood nearby, looking lost. My blood started boiling. What the hell did she think she was doing? "STOP!" I yelled. The movers froze. Heather and Chloe jumped, looking scared. Then I saw it clearly. They were moving her stuff into Mom's room. Dad actually agreed to let them stay here? In Mom's room? This was beyond messed up. Heather took a step back as I glared daggers at her. I stormed into the room. Mom’s things... her personal belongings... Heather had already started putting her own crap everywhere. Mom worked her ass off helping Dad build his business; she barely had time for herself later on. And this woman had taken the makeup, the designer bags, the jewelry Dad and I had given Mom over the years and arranged them on the vanity like they were hers now. "GET OUT!" I roared. My shouting obviously reached Dad. He came out, looking groggy from his nap. Seeing Dad gave Heather some courage. She practically draped herself over him, tears welling up. "Rick..." "Rick my ass! Look what your little girlfriend is doing!" I sneered, staring Dad down. He looked at the helpless movers, then at me. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "What? What’s all the fuss about? It’s just a room." My vision went red. Just a room? Did he even remember this was where his dead wife lived? I’d spent the last year making sure nothing was touched, keeping it exactly as Mom left it. Even Maria wasn’t allowed in without permission. And now? He dismisses it all with a few words. He wasn't just disrespecting Mom's memory; he was spitting on everything I'd tried to preserve. Right. This selfish bastard only cared about himself. He never gave a damn what anyone else thought or felt. Fine. Whatever. I looked at Heather's slightly smug expression and felt a cold calm wash over me. I smirked. While they stared, confused, I grabbed an armful of her clothes and shoes from the pile and stalked towards the master bathroom. I started stuffing them into the toilet bowl. "Stop! What are you doing?!" Heather shrieked. I wasn’t going to let Mom be disrespected like this. What wouldn’t flush, I’d smash. I grabbed a heavy glass paperweight off the vanity. They just watched me, frozen. "You're crazy, Jake!" Dad yelled, his face a mask of disbelief. "You're the crazy one! How long has Mom been gone? And you're already moving your mistress into her room? Where’s your conscience? She was your wife!" Dad flinched, but his pride kicked in. "Is this necessary? Hurting the living over the dead? What’s past is past." Past. Dead. Typical him. I threw a punch. He exploded. We started fighting, really going at it, neither of us backing down. He kicked me hard in the side, knocking the wind out of me. As I looked up, I saw Heather filming the whole thing on her phone. Rage surged through me. I scrambled up, snatched the phone out of her hand, and smashed it on the tile floor. It shattered into pieces. Heather screamed and burst into tears. Dad seemed to cool down a bit then. He pointed a shaking finger at me. "Get out. This house is in my name. I’ll do whatever I want." I spat on the floor. "Fine by me." Grabbing some clothes, I walked out the front door without looking back. I crashed at my buddy Ryan's place that night. We drank way too much. I ended up crying, telling him everything. "Damn, man. That's rough," Ryan said, shaking his head. "Seriously," I mumbled, feeling sorry for myself. "How much is this condo worth? Now that I think about it, I've been blowing money like crazy, haven't even bought my own place yet." The thought of moving out was tempting, but right now, I just didn't want that woman to win, to get her hands on anything that should have been Mom's. He lit a cigarette. "Honestly, man, I didn't even finish college before my dad put me in charge of the company branch. Making decent money now. You going for a Master's... that's years you could be using." He had a point. Starting a business takes time, trial and error. Ever since Mom died, Dad and I had been constantly at each other's throats. I started thinking hard. Just then, my phone buzzed. A text from Dad. I opened it immediately. 'Apologize to Heather...' Apologize my ass. She's like five years older than me, and he wants me to call her 'Heather'? Like she's some respected elder? Please. Whatever hope I had fizzled out. I tossed the phone aside. A minute later, it rang. Dad again. "Heather's worried about you. She wants you to come home. Says she feels really bad about everything." I saw red. "Bullshit! I met her once! Worried about me? Give me a break!" "Jake!" he yelled. "If you keep this up, I'm cutting off all your cards!" "Go ahead! See if I care!" I yelled back and hung up forcefully. 【03】 I spent the next day zoned out, playing video games at Ryan's. Total zombie mode. That evening, I checked my accounts. Sure enough, every single card was declined. All I had left was maybe two hundred bucks in my wallet. My eyelid started twitching. "Hey Ryan, you think your company could, uh... find a spot for me? You know, pull some strings?" Ryan, looking sharp in his work suit, chuckled. "Just hiring you as a regular employee? Where's the fun in that? Look, I've got this subsidiary, about to go public. We're still negotiating the last twenty percent stake. How about I cut you in? You come on board as a manager?" It sounded amazing. Almost too good to be true. "Seed money is ten million." Okay, reality check. That meant I needed to come up with at least two million myself. If I were still back in Edinburgh, I could just sell my car, maybe hit Dad up for the rest, and boom, two million. But I was stuck here, stateside. "We actually need someone with international experience, back from overseas," Ryan continued. "You studied management, right? And you're my boy." I hesitated. "How soon do you need the investment money?" "ASAP. Everyone else's capital is already in. If you can't swing it soon, I'll have to cover it, but... it messes up the structure we agreed on with the other partners. Ideally, within two weeks." He’d laid it all out. Opportunities like this didn't just fall into your lap every day. I clenched my jaw. "Okay. Give me some time." I packed my stuff, ready to go home and get the money. If this deal worked out, I could finally tell Dad to shove it, ditch the grad school plans for good. More importantly, I could deal with my dear 'stepmother.' Maria opened the door when I got back. She was holding some kind of fancy health smoothie. Seeing me, she muttered, "About time you came back." Her tone set off alarm bells. I didn't even bother taking off my shoes, just bolted upstairs. Mom's room was safe, thank God. But Heather had moved into the room right next to mine. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was she doing it on purpose? But that wasn't why I was back. I swallowed my anger. "Where's Dad?" "In his study. Working," Maria said. I saw Heather in the kitchen, 'helping' Maria with chores. Rolling my eyes, I muttered, "Fake." I ignored the look on her face and went straight to the study. Pushing the door open, I saw Dad wearing reading glasses, sipping some kind of green health drink, and coughing. My anger instantly softened. I lowered my voice. "Dad, I'm home." He glanced at me. The first words out of his mouth? "Did you apologize to Heather?" Heather, Heather, Heather. Was he completely under her spell? My face hardened. I changed the subject. "Dad, I'm going into business. With Ryan." He slammed his hand on the desk. "You're not going back to school? Why would you go begging for scraps from someone else when you have your own family's company?" Begging? What the hell? I gritted my teeth. "You won't let me run the company." "I told you to finish your Master's first!" We were at a standstill again. I laughed coldly. "You just want your precious Heather to pop out a perfect little son to replace me, right? You've wanted me gone for ages, haven't you? That's why you keep pushing me away?" Dad looked like he was struggling to breathe. "You... you damn..." And then, right in front of me, his eyes rolled back, and he just... collapsed. For a second, I froze, completely stunned. Did I push him too far? Did my words do that? "Maria! Maria! Call 911!" .......
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