Chapter 36-1

It was usually the time when Claire was in her office, so Logan knew without a doubt that she would be there. With Heath trailing behind him, the two of them made their way to the general manager’s office to get Ava back. Before they even reached the door though, Logan heard his wife’s shouting voice. “-ther men! And you! I considered you a close friend of Heath’s! How could you betray him?” Logan opened the door and saw that Ava was standing in front of the general manager’s desk. Claire was sitting in her seat, but there was another person in there with them. Kane Jones. He was sitting on the edge of the desk, awfully close to Claire. He had his legs casually crossed as he stared at Ava with an unreadable look on his face. Logan liked Kane, mostly because the boy was similar to him. But like the face he was wearing at the moment, Logan couldn’t really see all of him. No one really could. “Ava.” Logan said and his wife glared over her shoulder at him. He could read it in her eyes that she completely blamed him for all that had happened. Though she wasn’t wrong, it was better this way. At least now they knew about Claire’s true feelings. “Let’s go. Heath needs to check back into the hospital as soon as possible.” He also glanced at his son and saw that he was staring at Kane with surprise. It seemed Heath didn’t know that Kane Jones was here either. “I’m not leaving until I get an explanation out of Claire.” Ava said in a low voice. “I need an explanation.” “Mom.” Heath sighed heavily. “Just leave her alone.” Claire leaned her chin on the palm of her hand. “I’m sorry, Ava. But it’s best to listen to Heath.” Ava turned back to Claire. “Please, Claire. Just tell me why. I thought you were happy with Heath.” “I was.” Claire answered before she sighed as her eyes became hooded. “But Heath’s not the one for me. Besides, we entered our relationship knowing it was going to end eventually. What we had between us was just…a little fun. Something for a short time period.” Logan saw Kane look down at Claire with a slight smirk on his lips—an arrogant smirk. “What is Kane doing here?” Logan asked, not able to hold it in any longer. Claire looked into Logan’s eyes and he felt as if time slowed down as she stared into him. Her eyes were…cold, impassive. Then she blinked, and the time-trance was over. “He’s just visiting.” “Does he usually visit often?” She looked up at Kane and he shrugged one shoulder before he answered. “I do when I can.” Logan felt his lips twitch into a sneer, but he fixed them quickly before someone noticed. “Why? You don’t have any business here in Bishop Lodgings.” “Claire’s my business.” Kane said as he didn’t even bother to look at Logan as he spoke. “That should give me more than enough reason to come visit this hotel.” “What are you talking about?” Heath slowly asked and Logan glanced at his son to see the look of betrayal on his face. “How long have you two been seeing each other?” Claire sighed. “It’s not like that, Heath.” “Answer me.” He demanded before looking at Kane with rage. “Kane!” “Don’t involve Kane.” Claire suddenly said as she stood up. “Leave him out of this.” Ava clenched her hands into fists. “If he’s not a part of this, then tell him to leave!” “No. He is involved.” Heath took a step forward. “How long have you been seeing Claire, Kane?” When Kane just gave him an indifferent look, Heath shouted, “How long?!” Kane slowly leaned on his hand, making himself lean closer to Claire. “Does it matter? Is it my fault Claire and I have been contacting each other without you noticing? Maybe you should’ve paid more attention to her rather than your work.” The sound of Heath’s teeth grinding resonated in Logan’s ear and he tried to calm himself down. His son was being humiliated right in front of him, but there wasn’t anything he could do—anything that wouldn’t be legal, at least. “Is he clingy as well?” Heath hissed at Claire. “Or does he allow you to fool around with other men?” “Heath.” Kane quickly barked. “Don’t say that about Claire.” The two men were practically wolves, growling and baring their fangs at each other. Ava was fearless though as she stepped right between their line of vision. “Claire. You’re making a mistake. You can’t just let Heath go like this.” Claire’s jaw ticked and Logan knew she had finally snapped. She glared at Ava as she said, “I believe Heath is old enough to defend himself, don’t you think? You’re not doing anything for him by defending him like he’s still a child, Ava.” The outer ring of Logan’s vision began to blur with red. That wasn’t a good sign. Even Ava was shocked that Claire would actually retort in such a way to her. Claire had always treated Ava kindly and with the utmost respect, but it seemed that continuously pestering her about her relationship with Heath was making Claire’s patience wear thin. “Heath is an adult. He understood what he was getting himself into with our relationship. You’re spoiling him, Ava. He’s already acknowledged our split. So should you.” Logan looked at his son from the corner of his eyes and saw that Heath was doing his best to keep his temper in. He wasn’t fine at all. He didn’t want to separate from Claire, but he had…because Claire was tired of it. The fun had ended for her. “Ava.” Logan said, and he noticed that his voice was huskier than usual. In fact, everyone had noticed because they all stiffened. “Stop this.” His wife was the only one who wasn’t affected by his voice. She had heard it so many times that she had become immune to the dangerous tone. Ava gave him a look that said she didn’t want to give up. She still desperately wanted Claire and Heath together…even though it wasn’t going to happen. “This isn’t helping you or your son. It’s ridiculous. We should quickly go back to the hospital.” Then he turned around and opened the door to the office. “Goodbye, Claire. Kane.” Claire replied, “Goodbye, Logan.” Heath turned around and walked out the office as Logan continued to stand at the doorway, waiting for Ava. His wife stared at Claire for a few seconds and she only moved once Logan called out her name. Slowly, she turned away from Claire. Her eyes were filled with disappointment. Logan stared at the couple in the office as Kane leaned down and said something into Claire’s ear. Right before the door completely closed, Logan saw a small smile form on Claire’s lips from whatever Kane had whispered to her. >>>>><<<<< As Heath got his physical checkup, Logan sat on the seat that he usually sat in. They were back in the room which Heath had slept in and Ava and Declan were there as well while the doctor observed Heath. Once the doctor was done, he left and said he would be back with the x-rays they took previously. Declan looked between his mother, father, and brother, and quickly caught onto the mood. Something had happened, but he didn’t know exactly what. None of them bothered to explain it to him just as he didn’t bother to ask. The heavy atmosphere in the room was almost tangible and Logan leaned the side of his head on his closed fist as he stared at Heath. His son was wearing a mask at the moment and he didn’t want anyone to see past it.