I Can't Remember To Hate U

CHAPTER 25

Since Vivienne's death, nobody ever came to his place except for Lisa. So on Tuesday morning when the doorbell rang, Oren decided to ignore it. He knew it had to be her. What did she want? he wondered. She had no right to bother him.
The doorbell rang again, then once more, only this time whoever was there kept jabbing it. He heard deep voices coming from outside. That meant it wasn't Lisa ringing the bell. Then he heard his father's voice and another man's voice. Now he'd have to go and see if he was right, otherwise his father might use his key to come in.

He remembered to put away some of the mess in the living room. Even with the medications he'd bought at the drugstore, his headache wasn't any better. He opened the door just enough to see who had been ringing his bell. Maybe he heard wrong.
His father and Terry— his assistant were outside. I have nothing to worry about, Oren told himself. Lisa had probably reported that the gold was missing, or maybe he'd found out through his sources.

His father asked if he could talk to him. Oren knew he couldn't refuse— he would probably hit him. He could see that he was already angry and suppressing it. "Sure, I'll talk to you," he mumbled. His father asked Terry to wait in the car. Oren could see that he was dying to find out what was going to happen, and before he closed the door, he could see him trying to get a look into the apartment. He knew what he was thinking— that place was a mess despite his efforts to make it look clean. Vivienne liked everything neat and clean. Ever since she passed away, he didn't bother to tidy up on the regular. He didn't eat much, either, but when he did, he ordered takeout, to avoid washing the dishes.

He could tell that his father was taking in the room, noticing his pillow and blanket on the couch, the piles of documents on the floor, the bottle of red wine next to the laptop. The jacket he'd wore yesterday was placed on the arm chair. Before Oren could tidy up a bit more, his father slapped him.
"On your knees," his father said.
Oren fell on his knees with his face looking down on the ground. Oren's father picked up the jacket and threw it on the couch. There was a chair right beside the couch. Seated, he reached into his pocket and took a box containing cigars. He was trying to intimidate Oren even more. Be careful what you say, Oren warned himself.
"When did you plan on telling me about the gold?" He lit one and inhaled some of the smoke. Oren could tell that he was definitely in trouble. Talk about it, he told himself. "I was going to come to your office today. My headache has been killing me. I went to the drugstore to get some medications to relieve the pain."
"I'm getting tired of your excuses." His father raised his voice. "I asked you to get rid of Pauline Hutton but all you did was drive the company to ruins." He went on.
"I'm working on it. Please give me some time."
"I heard that her niece was in town and asking around for her aunt's whereabouts. If you can't take care of both of them, I'll have to do it myself. You know how I hate being involved, don't you?"
What if he actually harms Lorelei? Oren felt suffocated. If I marry her, father won't think about getting rid of her, he told himself.