This Love

Chapter Forty-Six- Father Issues and Father Sides

Chapter Forty-Six- Father Issues and Father Sides

I felt like my entire chest was going to explode any minute now. To say that I was nervous would be the understatement of the year.

I was looking straight at dark brown eyes that sadly reminded me of mine. The man, the man as Kyla and I called him was that man claiming to be my father. I have done everything I could to avoid him. I ignored all his calls and messages. The man possessed damn good stalking skills. Hence, his visit to my home. One would think I should have learned by now that running is never the answer. Unfortunately, I was still that Madi who just run away. I guess not today because here I am, trying my best to be brave as I face this man.

He has introduced himself in one of his messages to me. Peter Thomas was a forty-something married with two kids businessman. I have no idea what kind of business he was running but I guessed it's either a big ass company or illegal as he could afford a fancy car.

Mr. Thomas here was a few inches shorter than Michael. His hair has started to turn gray and wrinkles were visible on his forehead. He wore thick-rimmed spectacles which made me without a doubt a carbon copy of him.

"Did I get it from you?" I broke the silence between us pointing to my own eyeglasses.

"I'm myopic." he said.

"Yup. Definitely from you." I gestured him to sit and we both settled on the couch. "That night, I was in a bad place. I wasn't ready to handle the situation. There was a lot going on with me."

"I understand, Madeleine."

"Please call me Madi."

"I just need you to hear me out, Madi. Juliet never got the chance to explain to you what happened. And I'm sure your grandfather was trying to protect you from a heartbreak."

I squinted my eyes and wanted to throw a sarcastic comment but I let him continue instead.

"I went to San Fernando for one summer and that's when I met her. She was a teacher at the public school near the resort I was staying. She almost ran me over with her bicycle. As an apology, she invited me to dinner at her house. Her father was a nice, gentle man. They were both much alike. I spent a lot of that summer vacation with Juliet. We fell in love. I asked her to come with me and she did. My parents disapproved of her. Things happened."

"What happened?"

"They told Juliet she was holding me back from being the man I was meant to be. They even bribed her to leave me. One day, I woke up and she was gone. They told me she left with the money but I never believed it. I was about to follow her and get her back when my father had a heart attack. He died and I took over his company. My family depended on me I had no choice but to prioritize them. I tried to forget Juliet but I couldn't. When I was finally able to go back to San Fernando, everybody told me Neil and Juliet were gone. At first, I thought they just moved but one of their neighbours led me to the cemetery. I was too late. They were both gone."

My heart ached at what he said. I was holding back the tears but the man in front of me has started the waterworks.

"I can't remember how long I sat in front of your mother's grave." he sniffed. "Then I saw she died five years before her father."

"She died giving birth to me. Papang had a heart failure. He died in his sleep."

"I found out about you after I hired a private investigator. The people there didn't exactly wanted to speak to me so I had to find another way to know what happened. Then, I found out about you. I searched everywhere. Nobody knew where you where. Nobody had a photo of you."