Chapter 73 Chapter Seventy Three: The House He Left Behind

Chapter 73 Chapter Seventy Three: The House He Left Behind
(Lior's POV)

I was scrolling through the pictures, from last night’s outing, that Aiden had sent me.

Jay and I posing together, the three of us at the bowling alley, a picture of me holding a bowling ball and looking far too proud of myself… and then there was one of Aiden and me. It had been taken while we were standing beside each other, both smiling at the camera.

It looked...

A little too much like a couple's picture.
I was still staring at it when a familiar voice came from above me,

“I see you had a good time.”

I looked up to see Adrian. He was leaning against the edge of my desk, his tie slightly loosened after his meeting.

“Yes,” I said. “Aiden is very fun to be around.”

His eyes dropped to my phone again. “And I'm not?”

I sighed and held up the piece of paper sitting beside my keyboard. “Not with your wife asking me to investigate and report to her if you're having an affair, no.”

Adrian's eyes moved to the number Vivienne had written down. “Trash it, you don't need her number.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You haven't been sleeping at home. Of course she's suspicious.”

“That isn't the reason she's suspicious.”

“Really? What could possibly make a wife suspicious of a husband that is suddenly not sleeping at home?”

“I've always spent nights away from home.” He shrugged. “That's why I have a bedroom in my office.”

I stared at him. Sometimes I wondered how Adrian could say things like that so casually. There's no ounce of worry in him.

“Then fix things with your wife,” I said. “And don't let it affect me.”

He gave me a tiny salute. “Yes, sir.”

Before I could say anything else, he leaned down and kissed my forehead.

Then he walked away.

I watched him disappear into his office, my fingers closing around the piece of paper.

I looked at the number again, before I crumpled it and tossed it into the trash.

I didn't want to be involved in whatever was happening between Adrian and his wife. And I can't possibly do her the favor if it means telling her I'm the one her husband has been fucking outside their marriage.

My phone suddenly rang.

It's Jay.

I answered. “Hey.”

“Lior?”

Something about his voice made me sit up straighter. “What happened?”

“I ran into your stepmother.”

I frowned. “Where?”

“Somewhere near my place. She recognized me and asked to talk to me.”

I leaned back in my chair. “What did she want?”

“She said she hasn't been able to reach you.”

I sighed. “I blocked her number.”

“I figured.”

“She wouldn't stop calling me for money, Jay. I don't have money to keep giving them.”

“I know.”

There was a brief silence…

Then Jay spoke again. “She said your dad is sick.”

My fingers tightened around my phone. “What?”

“She said he's been sick for a while. She didn't give me many details, but she looked worried.”

I stared at the documents on my desk without actually seeing them.

“What kind of sickness?”

“I don't know. That's why I think you should go see him.”

I didn't answer immediately. There were a thousand reasons not to go; this could be another stunt from my step mother, to get me to come so she could ask me for money, since she can't reach me on the phone. And the sickness could just be injuries from yet another gang beating him up for the debt he gambled himself into.

But if he really was sick...

“Fine,” I finally said. “I'll go after work.”

“Alright then.”

The call ended.

I sat there for a moment before looking toward Adrian's office. I needed money.

I got up and walked into Adrian's office.

He looked up when I entered. “What is it?”

“Can I use the card you gave me?”

He frowned slightly. “Of course, why not?.”

“I need to buy some things.” I hesitated. “You don't mind?”

Adrian looked genuinely confused by the question. “Why would I?”

I smiled faintly. “Thank you.”

He nodded before returning to his work. Then he paused. “I was actually meaning to give you another card.”

I looked at him. “Another one?”

“Yes.” He leaned back in his chair. “I forgot I'd already given you one.”

I laughed softly. “You really give people free money?”

“Not people.” His eyes met mine. “You.”

My smile grew. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

I returned to my desk.

_______

By the time work ended, Adrian offered to drive me home.

I shook my head. “Go home to your wife.”

He studied me for a moment. Then he nodded.

“Alright.”

He didn't argue. I appreciated that.

I stopped at a store on my way, to buy some groceries and necessities.

I bought more than I originally planned.

I stood in the checkout line surrounded by bags and wondered how I had managed to buy so much.

Then I remembered why.

If my father was really sick, I didn't want to arrive empty-handed.

I took a cab from the store to the house.

The journey felt longer than it should have. Maybe because I recognized every street; every turn, every building that hadn't changed much since I was a child.

When the cab stopped, I paid the driver and carried the bags toward the gate.

The house stood exactly where I remembered it.

I hadn't been here in almost a year.

The last time I'd seen my father, he had been lying in a hospital bed. Loan sharks had beaten him badly because of the money he owed them.

I remembered standing beside his bed and wondering why I couldn't bring myself to hate him.

Even after everything. Even after all the times he'd hurt me.

I set the grocery bags down beside the door.

My hand hovered over the bell. For a moment, I wasn't twenty-two anymore; I was a little boy standing in this same house, listening for his father's footsteps and trying to guess from the sound of them whether he was drunk.

I swallowed, trying to stop myself from remembering. But the house remembered for me.