Chapter 40: Daring Me

Lex's POV.

I couldn't tell if it was the alcohol in my veins or the anger I was feeling, but I had this fire within me, ready to attack anyone who dared to question me, and I didn't care if it was my father.

"No son, that is exactly what you are going to do. Fix this. And this isn't even a request; this is an order. I want you to make sure that by tomorrow all of this is completely gone, and you will do whatever it takes to make sure that you wipe it off completely."

I nodded my head slowly as he spoke, as if listening to him all along.

"And how exactly do you expect me to do that when I am not the one entirely at fault here? Do you even care to know my own side of the story? Why do I have to fix it when I didn't start it?" I questioned him, taking two steps closer to him now.

"Like I said, I do not care. You should be wise enough to know that all of these things are not what you should involve yourself in as the kind of person that you are!" His voice was so loud now that I felt like hitting him on the head with something very hard to make him just shut up.

"And what kind of person am I? I would like to know who I am aside from being the son of a tyrant father who thinks he can use his money to fix everything and not even care about how his son feels."

"You can call me whatever you want to, Lex – tyrant, wicked – I don't care. All I know is that I would not have my son throwing away everything that I have struggled to build all these years because of his nonchalant attitude towards every reasonable thing he should be doing. Sometimes I wonder how you turned out this way."

"Oh please, do not speak to me like you ever did put in any efforts. I am like this because you made me like this. I hate you, Dad. I've always hated you since I was nine. You know it, but you still don't care about that. Why do you care now that I am about to ruin my own life? Can't I have my own space and do the things I want to do without you interfering in my life?

If you're going to stay away when I need you, why don't you also stay away when I do not need you?"

"Now you think you do not need me? Wait until the press hears about what happened in that clinic, and you will understand perfectly well what it means to be a public person."

"I don't care."

I said 'curly' and made to walk away when I felt his hand pull me by my shoulder, pushing me backwards.

"What is it now, Dad?" I questioned as I tried to gain my balance, but before I could stand up straight, a heavy punch came on my jaw, making me cough out blood in a matter of seconds.

For about five seconds I tried to convince myself that it was all in my head and my dad didn't just hit me like that, but as I touched my mouth and saw the blood stain on my palm, I slowly raised my gaze to him as I stood panting like a provoked tiger.

"You just hit me? Why? Because I try to defend myself in school and you think the press is going to drag you for it?"

I didn't ask those questions because I wanted answers from him. I asked because I wanted to find a reason to convince myself that this was supposed to happen.

"I am giving you 24 hours, Lex. If you do not fix all of this, I am going to make sure that the punishment you'd receive would be 10 times more than what you'll expect." He warned.

I stood right there at the spot, staring at him in confusion as he walked away into the corridor and disappeared completely. I was wondering what exactly he wanted from me.

I had tried my best to avoid trouble all these years and just be that lonely kid whose father is the wealthiest man in the city; no one ever wants to associate with me except Landon and Nick.

The first time I ever got into trouble, a kid at school attempted suicide and accused me of being the reason he wanted to die. That confession alone made my father's hatred and torture of me grow by a thousand per cent.

I was never the perfect son to him, and despite how I tried to avoid him, I just seem to never be able to escape.

I walked into my room and stayed in the shower for almost two hours until I began to feel so cold.

When I got out, all I wanted to do was lie on my bed and try to forget everything that happened. As I picked up my phone, I saw a text from an unsaved contact.

'Can we meet at Hanger's Groove? I have something I want to tell you.'

Hangers Groove was some miles away from my house, but what I was worried about was who was behind the text and why they would want to meet.

I texted back asking who it was and why they wanted me to be there, but the messages were not delivered, as it seemed like whoever it is that sent the text had switched off their device.

I hesitated for a while, wondering why I even had to be there, but then I convinced myself I've had the worst day already and it could not get any worse than it is.

I took my car and drove myself down to Hanger's Groove, and as I walked into the large open floor of the ancient bookshop, I saw her sitting alone at a table.

It had to be a joke, right? I mean, how could I have been invited out by the one person who is the centre of all my troubles right now?