Redress (gxg)

Chapter 32 "Encounter"

Watching him intently as he walked back and forth behind his desk, I readied myself for what he was going to do next. Noticing how his nose was flaring as he was clenching his jaw, I knew he was getting angry for what I just asked him. He had hurt me before when he got angry, and that started to make me feel apprehensive towards him, and the fact that he could do more than just hurting me, made me feel unsafe with him.

Normally, making him angry was the last thing I wanted to do before. I didn't want to let him down, it was why I did everything to make him proud, but finding out he wasn't my real father, I recalled how he treated me all those years, making me question if I just wasted those years trying to please him. I was grateful that he took me in, and gave me his last name, even trusted me to run his company, but even those wouldn't be enough if I got to prove that he agreed with the plan of killing Alex.

Finally he stopped pacing, and unexpectedly slammed his palm on his desk, eventually snapping me out of my thoughts.

"How dare you come back here, and demand to give you back the position, after resigning just like that!"

"I wasn't demanding, I was merely asking if it was possible, dad..." I argued, clenching my jaw as I unintentionally called him dad, and for some reason it didn't feel right to me anymore.

"Don't call me dad, I'm not your father!" he hissed, making me purse my lips hearing him said that. 

"You're right..."

"I regret I took you in, fed you, clothed you, gave you a job, and even gave you my name, when I shouldn't be doing all those in the first place...If only I found out your mother's infidelity early..." he mumbled while shaking his head, and for some reason, I still felt a pang of pain at his words even if I already heard the same things that time I confronted him as I still wasn't used to hearing them.

"You can continue rubbing it in, but that wouldn't change the past, and I'm not here to listen to your jeers, Isaac..."

"I know...That's why from now on, I want nothing to do with you, Lauren," he informed, and all I could do was keep up my composure so he wouldn't notice how his words affected me.

I slowly nodded, "So...I guess that's a no?" I asked, bringing the topic back as I wanted to divert his attention from the matter he was stating. I didn't want to be continuously reminded about how worthless I was for him as it still pained me, thinking I once loved him like my own father, and even until now, there was still a part of me that loved him.

"A big no, Lauren," he answered, and I just stared at him intently, before grabbing my bag, and heaved myself off the couch. "There's nothing left for you here," he added smugly.

"Fair enough, though...I know we'll be seeing each other again soon," I said, forcing a smile on his way, causing him to briefly narrow his eyes, "I'll see you, Isaac," I added, before making my way to the door, without even sparing him a glance, and eventually exited his office.

Once I was out of his sight, I finally let out the breath of relief I was holding in, feeling my tensed muscles slowly loosened as it felt lightening without his presence. It felt uncomfortable around his presence after finding out the truth, but now it was unbearable as I didn't come here just to see him. I came here to do something, and it was unnerving for me as I hadn't done it before. I wasn't sure if I did it right, and just the thought of it made me think twice of what I was doing, although it wasn't enough to make me stop from carrying out my plan.

Letting out a sudden breath, I started walking towards the secretary's desk, still trying to wrap my mind around what I just did. I was lucky enough that I managed to get into his office before him, after convincing his new secretary. It wasn't that easy as I didn't have a scheduled meeting with him, but after showing her my ID and saw my last name, she finally gave in, and reluctantly let me in.