STARGIRL

57. Veritas

It was six in the morning, and the sun wasn't even up yet, but his father was.

Maddox entered the kitchen through the dining room and was greeted immediately by his husky voice.

"Coffee?" He generously offered his son.

Maddox, who had already made his way to the refrigerator, eyed the freshly brewed pot for a moment.

"Nah," he said to his father, "I'm gonna grab a juice and head out, thanks though."

Opening the fridge, he couldn't help but notice what a mess there was inside of it.

Maddox bit down on his lower lip as he began to rummage through all of the misplaced food and drink for a can of his favorite strawberry-guava juice.

Usually, it was his mother was the one who kept everything in the entire house stocked and organized, and that also included the fridge.

"It's a mess," Stanford muttered, "I called grandma to come over for a while and-"

"Foreals? When? For how long?" Maddox's entire mood changed the moment he heard that his beloved grandmother would be coming over, "I can't wait for the food."

Maddox hadn't had a proper homemade meal in weeks already, and whenever his father would make soup or porridge for his mother, he felt wrong for taking the leftovers. He had it imprinted in his head that his father was solely cooking for his mother, not him, and he was okay with that.

Stanford drawled for a moment, "She's catching a flight tomorrow morning. I think your mom would feel better if she saw someone other than me."

Maddox finally found one of the juices he was looking for, and it was the last one in there too.

"So? Does that mean you're going back to work?" He closed the fridge and watched his father take a drink from his coffee mug.

Stanford smacked his lips together as he set the ceramic mug down on the granite countertop.

"No," he said, "I want to, but I can't, not yet." He explained to Maddox.

Maddox's face contorted into an expression of confusion, "You forced me to go back to school on the last week before summer, but you don't want to go back to work?"

Stanford sighed, "I'm working from home; everything is fine."

"Dad-"

"Who else is going to take care of your mom, huh?" He stretched his arm out in front of him, "When we got married, we took sacred vows to always be there for each other, 'in sickness and in health,' and I have no problem staying here with her until she feels better."

After hearing that, Maddox fought back the urge to smile. Hearing so much hypocrisy leaving his father's mouth left him feeling amazed by his self-righteousness. He was going to leave the kitchen but found himself gravitating back towards him.

He didn't hate his dad. Far from it, he still admired and looked up to him, but all he wanted to know was why.

Why would someone like Stanford Reign, a self-proclaimed family man, and excellent analytical strategist, allow himself to succumb to the betrayal of an extramarital affair?

Maddox didn't know the answer to that, but he wanted too.

It was apparent that having an affair wasn't part of the formula for leading a successful company or life. So why do it at all?

"If those vows are so sacred to you, then why did you cheat on mom?" Maddox asked his father as he looked back at him and put his can of juice down on the countertop.