Chapter 89 Chapter Ninety

Chapter 89 Chapter Ninety
So, I think it’s time for another chapter from Jace’s POV. Reason being, they’re going to have a very special moment after this chapter, and it’s important to show the emotional backstory 
Jace’s POV
My palms were a little sweaty as I took the elevator up to my dad’s office, my tie a little too tight around my neck to breathe properly. I reached up with a frustrated grunt, my fingers hooking beneath the knot to loosen it, but my dad’s text flashed through my mind before I could.
“Dress properly. You’re a man now, and you have to show it. I’ll be sending a suit over to the house. I know where you’re staying, but that’s a discussion for later.”
I wasn’t scared of him.
I spent years trying to win his approval, and now, I wanted nothing to do with him. Everybody thought my mom was the worst parent, but it was my dad who stood by and watched while she compared me to my brother.  
He was the one who collected the keys to my car after I came home late one night during summer so I couldn’t drive to one of the other houses we owned after they locked me out.
He got Ryan the job at the law firm through the connections he’d built from the position my grandfather handed him, and then forced all of us to attend a party at the firm, where I had to stand there and watch my brother get showered with praise.
As if I didn’t already know they saw me as the disappointment of the family.
By the time the elevator doors opened onto the executive floor, I’d changed my mind.
I yanked the tie off, stuffed it into my pocket, shrugged out of my jacket and slung it over my shoulder before rolling my sleeves up to my elbows. If he wanted me to dress like him, he could settle for half the effort.
I walked over to the receptionist’s desk, where a brunette looked up from behind her computer with the kind of smile people reserved for kids who’d wandered into the wrong place, even though she couldn’t have been much older than me.
She was new.
I knew because my father changed secretaries every couple of months. I’d overheard one of my parents’ arguments once, my mother telling him to “keep them out of her house,” and that if he insisted on humiliating her, “he’d better keep it to his office.”
It hadn’t taken much to put two and two together.
“Hi.” She smiled brightly, flashing a row of pearly white teeth. “How may I help you?”
“I’m here to see my dad.”
She blinked. “Your dad?”
I told her his name.
Her eyes slowly widened. “That’s your dad?” she asked, genuine surprise written all over her face. “Oh, my God. I had no idea he had kids. He looks so… young.”
She actually looked disappointed.
I wondered if he’d told her the same thing he’d probably told the others—that he was separated from his wife, or that she didn’t mind whatever he did outside their marriage.
Not that I felt much sympathy for my mom.
She spent all her time playing pretend, performing so everyone would think we were the perfect family. And whenever she wasn’t doing that, she was doting on Ryan.
They were their own little family.
I was just the extra they tolerated because they had to.
“Is he in?” I asked.
She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Mm. He told me not to let anyone in because he’s super busy, but since you’re his son, I guess you can go right ahead.” She pointed toward the corner office. “It’s just down there.”
A quiet sigh slipped past my lips as I walked away.
She was definitely getting fired.
Not because she’d done anything wrong, but because my father had told me to come without fail, then apparently decided he didn’t want to see anyone after all.
That was just the kind of man he was.
I pushed the door open without knocking and walked in, unsurprised to see the woman on his lap.
She had one hand braced on his shoulder, her skirt riding up, and for a second neither of them noticed me standing there. 
I cleared my throat loudly. 
She jumped up so fast she nearly knocked over the tumbler of scotch sitting on the edge of his desk, smoothing her skirt down, patting at her hair like that would undo the last five seconds.
“Oh—” she started.
“Leave,” my dad said, not even looking at her. He just straightened his collar, picked the tumbler back up as if nothing happened.
She grabbed her heels off the floor and hurried past me, not meeting my eyes. The door clicked shut behind her.
I didn’t say anything. I just looked at him.
“What,” he said, like I was the one who should’ve been embarrassed.
“Nothing.” I hung my jacket and dropped into the chair across from him, crossing my arms. “I didn’t know you were that kind of busy. Although I’m sure your secretary will be heartbroken to find out that you weren’t actually busy.”
“Watch it,” he said, but there was no real heat in his voice. He was already reaching for his phone, already three steps past the moment. 
Nothing ever mattered to him. My opinions, my mom’s endless screaming sessions whenever they were in the same house.  
No wonder my grandfather thought he was a deadbeat. 
“Does Mom know this one’s a redhead?” I couldn’t help the snark in my tone. “Or do you keep a spreadsheet?”
His eyes cut to me sharply. “That’s enough.”
He picked up the phone, dialing someone, dismissing me with the gesture alone. Then he stopped and set the phone down, his gaze assessing me. 
“Sit up,” he said. “You look like you slept in an alley.”
“I look like a normal person,” I retorted with a loose shrug, “whose father doesn’t get caught with someone half his age during business hours.”
Irritation flickered across his face as he sat straighter. “You should learn to mind your business, son. That’s how you get ahead in life. Or else you’d be like your mother, nitpicking on every little detail.”
“But she’s the reason you’re ahead, isn’t she?” I asked quietly. “Grandpa gave you everything you have. And he did it by sticking his nose into everybody’s business. So maybe,” I smiled tightly, “you should stick to working and skip giving advice.”
A cloud of anger crossed his face, dark and sudden, and he lunged half across the desk—
I braced myself, not moving an inch.
He’d never laid a hand on me. He left it for Ryan, because he was a coward underneath all his expensive suit and smooth talk. 
He caught himself at the last second, his fingers curling into the edge of the desk instead of into me. 
“Fuck—” He hissed under his breath, sitting back down. 
“I’m not going to entertain this,” he said, smoothing his tie with a sigh. “I’m not going to fall for your childish tantrum."
“It’s not a tantrum. It’s a fact.”
He ignored that. “I want you to attend college in the state—somewhere nearby. If you haven’t picked any, then I’ll handle it. I have some connections I can reach out to.”  
I tilted my head, frowning. When did he start giving a fuck about my education? My mother was the one who dragged him to Beacon High every time, because she just wouldn’t come by herself.
How else were people supposed to know they loved each other? 
 “Why?” I asked. 
“Because it’s time you started acting like a man.” He said flatly. “You’ll spend your spare hours working for the company under me, and I’ll teach you the ropes.”
I sat there for a moment.  
A full moment, wondering if I heard him correctly. 
A short and disbelieving laugh rumbled through my chest. “I don’t have plans to work with you.” I shook my head. “Under you. Anywhere near you, actually. And just because you decided that I have to, I’m going as far as I possibly can. A different state or time zone, if I can manage it.”
I stood up, the chair scraping back against the floor. 
His eyes flashed with anger. “Sit down,” he ordered. 
“I’m done sitting. I’d like to leave now.”
My father clicked his tongue, the corner of his mouth twitching with a mocking smile. “That’s rich, coming from someone with your grades. You think any decent school is taking you as far away as you’d like with an academic record like that?”
I didn’t answer, even though his words hit hard. My fingers curled and dug into my palms as I fought to stay silent. 
“You’ve always been slow,” he scoffed. “You take after your mother that way. She never could keep up either.”
“Good thing,” I said, reaching for my jacket off the back of the chair, “my girlfriend’s the smartest person I know. So I think I’ll manage.”
I didn’t wait for whatever he had to say to that. I walked out, past the empty desk where the secretary should’ve been—poor her—past the elevator bank, and didn’t let my hands shake until I was outside on the sidewalk. 
My phone buzzed before I even made it to the car.
Grace. I had her number saved as “My amazing, brilliant, gorgeous girlfriend.” A mouthful, but not for me. 
I stared at her name for a second before I picked up, taking a deep breath to hide the anger in my voice. “Hey,” I said. 
“Hey, yourself,” she giggled. Her voice made my chest feel a lot lighter. “How did your meeting with your dad go?”
I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see me. 
“That bad, huh?” She said softly. “I thought as much. So, I was thinking, since we have to go to my mom’s place tomorrow, since it’s technically the day before Christmas, we could do something special together?”
“Like what?” I didn’t have to ask, because I was down for whatever she wanted. Anything at all. 
The wheels in her brain went round and round, with her quiet hm and hmm. “Fireworks? I heard there’s a display tonight. I’ll text you the address. It’s a pretty place. That’s if you’re up for it.”
“Will it have you?”
“Will what?”
“The place.”
“I’m going with you, silly. I’m the one who suggested it; why would I leave you to go alone?”
That was all I needed to hear. “Would you like me to pick you up?”
“Mm. Nope. I want to wear one of the dresses you bought, so it’s going to be a surprise.”  
My heart skipped a beat she couldn’t hear. “What would I be doing till then?”
“Find a place to hang around? You’re definitely not allowed to come back home. Because I know you’ll want to see the dress.”
“You got it.” I grinned. “I’ll hang around until then.”
“See ya!” “Oh!—” she added quickly. “I picked out a college that we could both go to. It’s late applications, so we might have to hurry up.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Her giggles lasted an entire minute before the call ended. I slipped the phone back into my pocket, turning to look at the building towering over me. 
I was right. 
I had the smartest girlfriend in the world—and I was looking forward to spending the next four years with her.