Chapter 50: Confront Him
Harper’s POV
Justin didn’t turn on the radio.
The silence inside the truck wasn’t awkward. It was heavy. His hands stayed locked around the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. Every stoplight. Every turn. Every lane change. Deliberate. He wasn’t driving recklessly. He was driving like a man who had already made up his mind.
I watched his profile for almost five minutes before he finally spoke.
"I need to see my father," he said, his voice calm. Too calm.
I looked at him. He kept his eyes on the road. "I’d like you to come with me," he added.
My stomach tightened. "Are you sure?"
He nodded once. "I don’t want you hearing about him." A pause. "I want you seeing him."
I didn’t know how to answer that. So I reached across the console and rested my hand on his forearm. He didn’t say thank you. He just turned his hand over and laced his fingers through mine. The rest of the drive passed in silence.
...
Farwell Enterprises rose above the rest of downtown like it owned the skyline. Glass. Steel. Power. Justin parked in the executive garage without slowing down.
"You’ve been here before?" I asked.
"A few times since my mum passed," he said, killing the engine. "Ready?"
No. But I nodded anyway.
The lobby was exactly what I’d expected. Marble floors. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Employees in tailored suits hurried past carrying tablets and coffee cups. The second Justin walked through the revolving doors, conversations faltered. People recognized him. Some smiled politely. Others immediately looked away. A few exchanged uneasy glances. He didn’t acknowledge any of them. He walked straight toward the executive elevators.
A woman behind the reception desk stood so quickly her chair rolled backward. "Mr. Hayes," she said.
"I’m here to see my father," Justin replied.
"I’m sorry, sir, but Mr. Hayes is currently in a meeting," she said carefully.
Justin pressed the elevator button. "I wasn’t asking." The doors opened and we stepped inside.
By the time we reached the executive floor, a secretary was already hurrying toward us. "Mr. Hayes," she said, forcing a professional smile. "Your father really can’t be disturbed."
Justin stopped walking. For the first time since we’d arrived, he looked directly at someone. "I’m asking you politely," he said, his voice never rising. "Stay out of this."
She swallowed. "Sir—"
"If you don’t," he held her gaze, "you’re going to become collateral damage."
She froze. It wasn’t a threat. It was a warning. Justin turned the handle and the office door swung open.
His father looked up from behind an enormous desk. "What the hell are you doing?" he said sharply.
Justin didn’t answer. He walked halfway into the office before stopping. I remained just behind his shoulder. His father noticed me immediately. His expression darkened. "You brought someone with you?"
"I know someone from this company contacted the hospital," Justin said, his voice cutting through the room.
Silence. His father leaned back in his chair. "I don’t know what you’re talking about," he said.
Justin took one step closer. "I’m going to ask you one more time." His eyes never left his father’s. "Who contacted the hospital?"
A dry laugh escaped the older man. "You brought a stranger into my office to accuse me?"
Justin didn’t even glance back at me. "This isn’t about her."
"No?" His father’s tone sharpened. "You’ve changed." He folded his arms. "My wife warned me this would happen." Still Justin said nothing. "Your mother would’ve been ashamed of the man you’ve become," his father continued.
Something changed. Not on Justin’s face. In the room. The temperature seemed to drop.
"Don’t," Justin said.
His father blinked. Justin took another step. "You don’t get to say her name," he said.
Neither of them spoke. The silence stretched until the office door opened again. "What is going on?" a woman in an expensive cream-colored suit stepped inside. I recognised her immediately, Justin’s stepmother. She stopped short when she saw us. Her eyes flicked from Justin to me to her husband.
"I’ll ask again," Justin said, turning toward both of them. "Which one of you contacted the hospital?"
She frowned. "What hospital?" Was she genuinely confused? Or acting? I couldn’t tell. Neither could Justin.
His father stood. "I’ve had enough of this."
"No," Justin said, shaking his head. "I’ve had enough." The room fell silent again. "You walked into the company my mother built," he said, his voice remaining calm. "You sat behind her desk." His father clenched his jaw. "You brought your mistress into her office." His stepmother’s face drained of color. "You gave her my mother’s title. You dismantled everything she spent years building."
His breathing remained even. Somehow, that made every word hit harder.
"And somehow," he laughed once, a humorless sound, "you still think you have the right to speak for her." No one interrupted him. Not even his father. "If anyone, anyone, ever contacts that hospital again," his voice dropped another octave, "I’ll burn every bridge between us." Another step. "I’m done pretending I don’t know what’s been happening around me. You’ve mistaken my silence for ignorance. You won’t make that mistake again."
His father stared at him for several long seconds. "You think you’ve become a man," he said quietly.
Justin didn’t flinch. "I became one the day I realized I couldn’t count on my father."
The words landed like a punch. Even I forgot to breathe.
Justin turned and walked toward the door without another word. I hurried after him. Neither of us looked back.
We’d almost reached the elevator when shouting erupted inside the office. Not Justin. His father. "What exactly did you do? What did you do? Tell me everything. Now."
Another voice answered, too quietly for us to make out the words.
The elevator doors slid open. Justin stepped inside. I followed. He was breathing hard now, not from fear, but from years of swallowing every angry word he’d never allowed himself to say. His hands trembled at his sides. Without thinking, I slipped my hand into his. He didn’t look at me. He simply held on. Tightly.
The elevator doors began to close. Just before they sealed shut, a voice echoed from the office down the hall.
"Find out who else knows."
The doors slid shut. And we descended into silence.
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