IN MY FATHER’S SHADOW

Hayden's pov

Calm down..Calm down...

She's here.

She's here in my Villa.

Is this a dream? If so I'd like to sleep for a little more. I sizzle coming from the frypan was merely background noise compared to the chaos in my head.

There was a blend of emotions battling for dominance in my mind; anger, excitement, worry, curiosity, and more. Some of them were directed at her and the rest at my sperm donor.

He never even deserved someone like her.

Then he dared to go around sleeping.

I was at war with myself every day, resisting the urge to just grab my car keys and drive over to take her from right under his nose. His affairs were more or less like a open secret, and Golden Cove was his usual spot for his disgusting extramarital affairs.

I thought she already knew about it, and just nipped it in the corner of her mind without thinking about it

I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to gaslight her into thinking it was her fault he was cheating and to accept it.

"Hayden?" A tingle ran down my back hearing my name from her plump lips, her voice ever calming like light ocean waves.

I mentally cemented myself to be unmoved when I turned around and almost immediately failed. I'd given her one of my smaller shirts that stopped fitting right after I hit the gym. It inhaled her inside, stopping at her hips. I'd also given her some briefs I'd ordered online that ended up arriving in the wrong smaller size.

I was pissed off back then but now I'm almost grateful for their callous mistake.

I thought the day she'd wear my shirt would remain in my shirt would only remain in my dreams... no, Hayden, bad Hayden! Not now... that's not what she needs right now.

"Take a seat,"  I said gesturing to the bar stool placed in front of the kitchen Island.

It was physically painful to watch her move, each motion was unbearably slow and while they were brief, she'd pause as well. I'm sure she wasn't even aware that she was doing it, my body had probably grown accustomed to that after all the stress Elliot put it through.

If I didn't need to be here right now I would have driven back to Golden Cove and done something that would have landed me in a mugshot tomorrow.

"Is there something on my face?" The question shot at me unexpectedly, my face warmed up and I snapped my attention back to the noodles I was cooking.

"No, why would there be?"

Should I tell her that she's lost weight? No, maybe that would be body shaming... What if I just casually say it?

I ended up saying nothing, I served her a helping of the stir-fry instant ramen with vegetables and sunny side egg and she gawked at me like I just found the final clue to solving world hunger.

"This is too much..." She said her tone wrapped in embarrassment, "I don't deserve all this..."

I never knew that I could feel such an intense mixture of rage and sadness at the same time.

She deserved the world and yet looks like she was about to break down over instant ramen.

So much hard to changed about her since the first time I met her.

Too much.

I can't forget the way her eyes sparkled like they had stolen the stars and hidden them behind those hazel orbs. Back then she was plump and skipped about with reckless abandon.

From the moment I saw her, I knew she didn't belong with a scheming wretch like Elliot.

Elliot had invited me to join them for dinner at his home, normally it was hard for me to ingest food knowing that his face was going to be at the other side of the table. But we had some business to discuss that day, and he hadn't stopped talking about his new catch for weeks.

It made my stomach twist just thinking about it.

There are very few things in this world that are more discomforting than knowing your father's 'girlfriend' was around the same age as you, pure, undiluted revulsion would mix up in my stomach just watching him mess around with them.

That night, she was the one who answered the doorbell.

I was doom scrolling through my phone, when her voice thrown up an octave entered my ears.

It remains the most musical thing I have heard to date.

"Hayden, right?"

I couldn't speak for 10 solid seconds when I saw her, time slowed down and my phone nearly slipped from my fingers.

Then everything was bleak and dark again when my father showed up from behind, gingerly wrapping his hand like a snake across her waist. I watched it as my gaze sent invisible lasers at his spiteful touch.

"Welcome, Son," he said in that grating voice of his, squeezing her even tighter. My knuckles formed as I subconsciously knew what he was doing, he was drawing a line while showcasing a fresh catch.

I never had any problem with getting women, in fact the way the ones falling out of my feet even when I lacked interest.

Despite being partially aware of that, Elliot had this one-sided competition going on for years. Showing me that at his big age, he was able to get girls around mine, he was so proud of himself that I'd shifted between pity and disgust just looking at him.

But that's night I experienced something with Michelle, it was utterly different from the revulsion I was used to, no it was the complete opposite.

I was on edge for the entire dinner, and when I went to my apartment that I lived in at the time I tried to push her away from my mind and also the anger that came from thinking about her in my father's arms.