Chapter 213 Let’s get this over with
Chapter 213 Let’s get this over with
I tossed my phone onto the bench, showered quickly, and threw on a clean button-down shirt and dark jeans. I had one stop to make before I met my parents.
The precinct smelled like stale coffee, wet floor wax, and industrial floor cleaner. Fluorescent lights hummed loudly overhead as I sat at a metal desk across from Detective Stan.
"Appreciate you coming in so quickly, Tobias," Stan said, clicking his pen as he opened a thick manila folder labeled DARIEN, ARTHUR. "We just need your official signed statement regarding the incident at the Darien residence last Tuesday."
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, my voice dropping into a low, firm tone. "Did you find everything in the house?"
"More than enough," Stan said with a grim nod. "Thanks to the detailed tip you provided regarding the serial numbers on your father’s stolen company equipment, we recovered three high-end laptops, two cameras, and a safe containing stolen bearer bonds right from Arthur Darien’s basement workshop. The man didn't even have time to fence them."
A cold, dark sense of satisfaction settled in my stomach.
It had taken weeks to set it up. After I realized how much emotional abuse Lisa was enduring under her uncle’s roof, I couldn't just stand by and watch her suffer. I had gone through my father’s old business ledgers from the month before my accident, matching missing inventory receipts to Arthur’s access logs at the warehouse.
I had personally handed the evidence to the police, ensuring they had an airtight warrant that Arthur couldn't slip out of.
He was locked behind bars now, facing grand theft charges. He would never threaten Lisa again.
"And what about Frank?" I asked, my grip tightening on the armrest of the chair. "Is he still in custody?"
Stan sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Frank Darien slipped through the perimeter during the raid. But we’ve issued a state-wide warrant for his arrest. Possessing hard drugs with intent to distribute carries a heavy sentence, Tobias. He’s a wanted fugitive now. He can't show his face in this city without getting cuffed."
He didn't know the full story. He didn't know that my mother had secretly helped me with that part.
When I realized Frank was diving deeper into dangerous drug circles, I knew I didn't have the legal leverage or the money as a teenager to track his movements myself. So I had gone to my mom. I had sat in her living room, swallowed my pride, and laid out everything Frank was doing to Lisa—how unsafe she was, how terrified she was in her own home.
My mother had listened in silence, her dark eyes hard as flint. The very next day, she used her personal funds to hire a private investigator through one of my father’s high-profile legal friends.
They tracked Frank’s illegal transactions, gathered the narcotics evidence, and dropped an anonymous line straight to the narcotics division.
We had cut off both heads of the snake that was poisoning Lisa's life.
"Just sign at the bottom here, son," Stan said, sliding the white paper across the desk toward me.
I took the pen, scribbling my signature across the bottom line. I stood up, adjusting my jacket. "Keep officers near Lisa's house. If Frank is stupid enough to try and come back for his things, I want him caught before he gets anywhere near her."
"We have units patrolling the block," he assured me. "She’s safe, Tobias."
I nodded, but as I walked out of the police station into the cool evening air, the tight knot in my chest didn't loosen. She wasn't safe. Not while that mystery gift basket was sitting on her floor, and not while she was keeping secrets from me.
I pulled out my phone as I unlocked my car, pulling up Lisa’s chat.
Tobias: Hey, baby. I have to take a raincheck on meeting up tonight. My parents called an emergency family dinner downtown. I’ll text you the second I’m done. Please make sure your front door is locked.
I pressed send, watching the message flip to Delivered. I sat in the driver's seat for a long moment, staring at her name, before throwing the car into drive and heading toward the restaurant.
Le Petit Jardin was just as grand and oppressive as I remembered. Soft piano music drifted through the air, mahogany pillars stretched up to vaulted ceilings, and waiter staff in crisp white aprons moved quietly between linen-covered tables.
I walked past the host stand, my eyes scanning the private dining section near the back glass wall.
When I spotted my parents, my footsteps instinctively slowed.
Something was severely wrong.
They weren't sitting across from each other like normal diners. They were sitting side by side in a velvet booth, but the space between them felt like an ocean. My mother was wrapped in a thick, expensive cashmere shawl, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, staring blankly out the window at the city lights. Her face was pale, cold, and entirely devoid of emotion.
Beside her, my father wasn't even pretending to pay attention to the environment. He sat stiffly in his tailored suit, his jaw locked tight, aggressively tapping away on his phone with his thumb.
Neither of them spoke. Neither of them looked at each other. The atmosphere surrounding their table was so heavy, so suffocating, that even the waiter standing a few feet away looked hesitant to approach.
I took a deep breath, smoothing down my collar, and walked over. "Mom. Dad."
The moment my voice cut through the air, both of them flinched slightly.
My mother looked up, and a sudden, rehearsed smile instantly snapped onto her face. It was tight, artificial, and didn't reach her eyes at all.
She pushed herself up from the booth, leaning over to press a soft, lingering kiss against my cheek.
"Tobias, sweetheart," she called, her voice sounding thin and strained. "You made it. You look so handsome."
My father didn't bother smiling. He didn't even bother standing up. He locked his phone screen with a sharp click, slid it into his inner jacket pocket, and straightened his silk tie.
"Sit down, Tobias," my father said, his voice cold, flat, and completely businesslike. "Let’s get this over with."