Chapter 53 Hello Father
Gavin’s POV
The phone buzzed on my desk.
I picked it up without looking at the screen. “Talk.”
“Sir, it’s about the situation you asked me to monitor.” Marcus’s voice sounded through the phone. “He approached her again. Twenty minutes ago. Outside the building.”
I said nothing. The cigarette between my fingers burned slowly, smoke curling upward in lazy spirals.
“I intervened before it escalated,” Marcus continued. “But sir, he’s getting more desperate. I took pictures.”
“Watch him closely.” My voice was flat, devoid of emotion. “If he tries anything, handle him.”
A pause. Then: "I understand.”
I ended the call and set the phone down . The only reason Jason was still okay was because Malissa cared for him, but the moment she gives the signal I’ll run him to the ground. He will ask for mercy that I won’t give.
The office was silent except for the muted sounds of the city beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. I leaned back in my chair, taking a slow drag from the cigarette. I rarely smoked anymore…hadn’t in years, actually. But the need was much stronger today.
The door opened without a knock, and only one person had the audacity.
“Hello, Father.”
Jason stood in the doorway, filled with youthful arrogance and careless confidence. Ripped jeans, leather jacket, hands shoved in his pockets like he owned the world.
I didn’t speak. I just watched him through the veil of smoke.
He shifted slightly under my gaze but recovered quickly, walking in and dropping into the chair across from my desk.
“I was starting to think you’d never come here,” I said finally, sounding a bit amused.
“Don’t get too sentimental.” He flashed that cocky grin. “I’m not staying long.”
I tapped ash into the crystal tray on my desk. The sound was sharp in the quiet.
“I just came to see how work is,” he continued, glancing around the office. “It seems you’re doing good.”
“Why are you here, Jason?” I kept my tone neutral, almost bored. “I know it’s not because you’re considering joining my hockey team, is it?”
“Nah.” He leaned back, trying to look relaxed. “I’m good as a racer, Father. Don’t need the suit-and-tie life.”
Silence settled between us like a living thing.
The tension built with each passing second.
“Isn’t Melissa supposed to be around?” he asked finally, too casually. “I thought she worked here for now.”
I didn’t answer. Just looked at him with that same steady, unblinking gaze that had made grown men confess their sins.
Jason’s smile faltered.
He stood abruptly, like sitting had become uncomfortable. Walked closer to my desk,with his hands still in his pockets, trying to maintain that careless facade.
But I saw the tension in his jaw. The slight rigidity in his shoulders.
“Father,” he said, stopping a few feet away. “Why does it seem like you’re fond of the girl?”
I took another slow drag from my cigarette. Let the smoke fill my lungs. Exhaled gradually.
I Said nothing.
“That’s…” He cleared his throat. “That’s weird. Anyway, I came to tell you something.” His chin lifted slightly, defiance creeping into his posture. “You should break off the engagement. To your so-called fiancée.”
I tilted my head just a fraction. “And why is that?”
Jason’s hands came out of his pockets. His jaw set. And when he spoke, his voice was firm.
“Because I want Melissa.”
The words dropped into the silence like stones into still water.
I didn’t react. IJust sat there, perfectly still, cigarette burning between my fingers, watching my son tell me he wanted what belonged to me.
The air in the room changed. Thickened.
Slowly…deliberately…I stood.
Jason’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. He took a half-step back before catching himself.
I moved around the desk unhurriedly. And I stopped directly in front of him.
He was tall. But nowhere near my height. He might as well have been a child again.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed.
I let the moment stretch. Let him feel the weight of what he’d just said.
“Stay away from her, Jason.”
My voice was quiet. Calm. The kind of calm that preceded violence.
“That’s the only warning you’ll get.”
His jaw clenched. I saw the war in his eyes…the desire to push back, to assert himself, to prove he wasn’t intimidated.
But he was.We both knew it.
“Father…” he started.
“Do you understand me?”
The question was soft. Almost gentle.
But there was nothing gentle about the look in my eyes.
Jason held my gaze for three seconds. Four. Five.
Then his eyes dropped.
“Yeah.” His voice came out rougher than he probably intended. “I understand.”
“Good.”
I turned away from him, walked back to my desk, and sat down. Picked up my cigarette and took another drag like the conversation was already over.
Like he was already dismissed.
Jason stood there, fists clenched at his sides, clearly fighting the urge to say something. Anything.
But what could he say?
He’d made his play. And lost.
“Right.” He cleared his throat, trying to salvage some dignity. “Guess I’ll go then.”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t even look at him.
He walked to the door, each step measured, refusing to rush despite the tension radiating off him in waves.
At the threshold, he paused.
“She deserves better than this,” he said quietly, not turning around. “Better than whatever game you’re playing.”
I took a long drag from my cigarette. Letting the smoke curl around me.
“Jason.”
He stopped but didn’t turn.
“Close the door on your way out.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. Then he stepped through and pulled the door shut with little force.
The moment he was gone, I crushed the cigarette in the ashtray, feeling a wave of sadness in my heart. I never wanted such a relationship with my son. But he turned out that way regardless.
And now he wanted Melissa.
The thought should have amused me. The naivety of youth, thinking they could claim something simply by wanting it.
Instead, it made something dark and possessive coil in my chest.
I pulled out my phone and made a call.
“It’s me,” I said when she answered. “Diana. We need to talk. Tonight. Be ready in an hour.”
“Gavin? What’s this about?”
“Just be ready, it’s been a while since we went out.” I stood, already reaching for my jacket. “I’ll explain when I see you.”
I ended the call before she could ask more questions.
Jason was right about one thing.
Melissa deserved better than this limbo I’d trapped her in.
Better than stolen moments and hidden touches.
She deserved to be claimed. Properly. And that’s exactly what I was going to do.