Chapter 51 Giving Him A Second Chance

Chapter 51 Giving Him A Second Chance
"I'm offended. It's because I don't like to be controlled. I make my own decisions. No one else has the authority to make decisions for me. That's one thing my parents won't get. You should be glad they aren't here. They're quite snobbish," he states.

"They won't like me being here?" I ask.

He shakes his head.

I look down, getting lost in horrifying thoughts.

"What if they find out that we're pregnant?" I ask, nervously. I don’t want to be in that position.

"God, Emma. You're overthinking. As I said, I make my own decisions, and I want you to be here with me. I don't need their approval."

"You said you wanted to marry me?" I ask.

"I still do," he replies matter-of-factly.

"But your parents would never agree to that. If I had married you, it would have caused a great number of problems. You're just leading me on to a dead end."

"The question is, are you being led on?" he asks, eyeing me cautiously.

"What? No!" I deny abruptly, feeling a red tint spread across my face.

"Emma, I mostly keep them out of my life. Even my company is separate from theirs. So if someday you change your mind, I promise you won’t have any problem from their side," he assures.

"What if they force you to marry someone from a wealthy family?" I ask, not knowing why I keep bringing it up.

"Emma, they can't force me. It doesn’t work like that," he says, laughing.

"Let me ask you something. Have you been watching too many K-dramas?" he asks.

I nod, looking at him.

"You need to stop watching those. They aren’t reality," he says, still cackling at my question.

"It's late. I should go," I state, finally getting up.

"You should. And don’t be too hard on Tim. All he needs is time to adjust," Lucas reminds me.

We both leave the dining room after that.

I expected Lucas to be a little angry at Tim, but he isn’t. Or is it just a facade?

I talk with Tim and tell him a bedtime story before putting him to bed. I then go to my room.

The next morning, we go down for breakfast again. I realize I forgot to charge my phone last night and it’s almost dead.

"You didn’t eat much last night, buddy. Was it because you didn’t like the food?" Lucas asks gently.

"It’s because I don’t like you," Tim replies bluntly. I stare at him, but he ignores my warning.

"Oh… too bad. I thought you and I could have some ice cream for breakfast," Lucas replies in a playful tone.

"Did you say ice cream? Em never allows me to have it in the morning," Tim complains.

"Well, Em is mean. You can have all the ice cream you want, but…" Lucas pauses, and Tim’s smile fades.

"But?" Tim asks.

"You’ll have to be my friend," Lucas says.

Tim ponders for a second.

"Do you have the choco… choco… flavor?" Tim asks, struggling to say chocolate.

"I do. I also have chocolate chip, chocolate fudge, and cookie dough," Lucas completes, proud of his little ice cream collection.

"Friends!" Tim exclaims, and Lucas brings him his ice creams.

I’ll have to confiscate them before Tim eats too much and gets sick, but for now, I let him be. Moving has been hard on him too, even though he’s just a child, he feels the change.

Just then, I get a call from John. I’m about to pick it up, but my battery dies.

"Lucas, John was calling me, but my battery died. Can I call him on your phone?" I ask.

"Yeah, it’s in my bedroom," he replies. I scurry away to his bedroom to call John. It must be important.

I open the phone; surprisingly, it has no passcode.

I talk to John, and after a few minutes, we say goodbye. Just then, another call comes in.

I call Lucas to tell him his phone is ringing. I try to pick it up but struggle. Do I swipe left, right, or down?

It’s confusing. Swiping in every direction, I accidentally open the gallery.

There, I see a video with my face as the thumbnail. I open it and realize it was recorded the night Lucas and I went to the club.

The video was shot by me. I can be seen swinging the camera while holding a glass of alcohol. In the corner, Lucas is also drinking, actually, he consumes more than I do. The video ends in the club.

Just then, Lucas arrives.

"You… you have a missed call," I say, extending his phone.

"I accidentally opened the gallery," I inform him.

"It’s okay," he assures me with a smile.

"I opened the video after that, the one I shot in the club. You… you never mentioned you were equally drunk. I blamed you for what happened that night, and you didn’t even tell me you weren’t sober either," I say.

He stops scrolling and lifts his head, making direct eye contact.

"Would it matter, Emma? I’m the bad guy, and I always will be in your eyes no matter what I do," he says, then departs, leaving me uneasy.

I blamed him. I even thought he took advantage of me that night, but he didn’t deny it. Why would he take all the blame when it wasn’t his fault? Why wouldn’t he try explaining himself?

Would it matter, Emma? I’m the bad guy, and I always will be in your eyes no matter what I do.

Maybe I’ve thought wrong of him all along… maybe he deserves another chance.