Betrayed by Family and Fiancée Chapter 2

Standing on the porch of the house I had not visited in years, a storm of messy emotions brewed in my chest.

I raised my hand to knock. Before my knuckles even grazed the wood, the door swung open.

"Phillip. You actually came. Come in, get out of the cold!"

My father ushered me inside. I swapped my boots for slippers and immediately noticed the dining table. It was piled high with fresh fruit, all my favorites.

"Your mom has been having dizzy spells. I asked Professor Adler to see if you would come by."

"I bought fresh fruit every single morning. I figured whenever you decided to show up, you would have something good to eat."

My dad stood there, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

I reached out to grab an orange, but the second my fingers touched the rind, a screeching voice echoed in my head.

Put that down! We did not raise you to eat our food and talk back to us!

I violently jerked my hand back and stood up straight, staring blankly at the walls. Everything was so familiar, yet utterly suffocating.

My dad took a step forward, his eyes full of concern. "Phillip? What is wrong?"

I swatted his hand away, my voice dropping to an icy chill.

"Where is she? I have places to be. Let us get this over with."

His face fell. The forced cheerfulness cracked, replaced by a pathetic begging look.

"Could you stay for just a couple of days?"

"No."

I spun on my heel, ready to walk right back out.

"Phillip!"

Two stray tears rolled down my dad’s cheeks.

"Your mom is at the hospital. She wants to see you."

"We know we messed up. She wants to apologize to your face. She is your mother, Phillip. Please just go look at her."

My hands balled into tight fists. A blazing, uncontrollable fire shot straight to my brain.

"You know you messed up?" I barked.

"The only thing you know is that Simon is never coming back from Europe!"

"You finally realized he is not going to stick around to spoon-feed you in your old age. So suddenly, you remember you have an actual biological son!"

"Where was this energy when you let Simon and Freya poison my food? When I was hooked up to a ventilator, did it cross your minds that I was your real son?"

My dad stumbled back as if I had shoved him. His usually rigid posture crumbled, his shoulders sagging in defeat.

"It has been years, Phillip. Can you not just give us a chance to make it right?"

"Freya is coming back. She promised us that the moment she lands, she will marry you."

I let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "Dr. Brooks, do you honestly believe I would take back someone else's sloppy seconds?"

He choked on his words.

The silence stretched out, thick and heavy.

"You two still have a history," he finally mumbled.

"She is coming back specifically for you. We all know how much you loved her. Growing up, whatever she wanted, you gave it to her. Whatever she broke, you fixed."

I stared at him with absolute disgust.

"So that was your logic? You banked on my love for her to get away with ruining my life?"

"No!" He shook his head frantically.

"Simon is your cousin. His parents died. We just wanted to help him get a leg up."

A cold smirk played on my lips.

"Help him? You wanted me to drop out of the fellowship competition and hand him my spot on a silver platter."

"But why did you let them spike my food? I almost died in that ER!"

My dad looked away. He could not meet my eyes.

"Simon told us it would just give you a bad stomach bug. We never thought..."

I did not let him finish. I walked right out the front door, leaving him with one final thought.

"I will go to the hospital. But whatever little family reunion you are plotting, drop it."