BLOODLINES.
1174 Words
I went home with a bruised face and broken bones. My ribs ached with every step, my jaw throbbed, and I could still feel the heat in my cheek from Zach’s punches. The image of Shayla screaming, trying to hold him back, haunted my mind. But nothing compared to what I saw when I got home.
Two sleek, black Porsche SUVs were parked in our front yard. Not the kind of cars you’d mistake for a neighbor’s or a delivery vehicle. They screamed power, authority, wealth.
My gut twisted.
I rushed to the door, my heart pounding…not from fear of pain this time, but fear of the unknown. I burst in through the front door, limping slightly, and there in the living room sat a man. He looked to be in his late fifties, maybe early sixties. Grey streaks at his temples, a well-cut suit, strong posture, and an aura that said he was used to being listened to. He was sitting directly across from my mother.
“Mom?” I called.
Her head jerked around. The moment she saw my face, her eyes widened in horror.
“Oh my God, Lucian…what happened to you?!” she gasped, rushing up to me. Her arms flew around my neck, careful not to touch my bruises but pulling me close all the same. “You’ve been in a fight? You’re hurt!”
“I’m fine,” I mumbled, not bothering to explain. My eyes stayed glued to the stranger. “What’s going on here?”
She didn’t answer immediately. Her grip on me tightened.
“He’s not going anywhere with you,” she said over her shoulder, her voice sharper now. “You have no right to show up here after all these years.”
I pulled back from her embrace, stepping slightly to the side.
“Wait…what? Who is he?”
The man stood. He had a calm, unsettling grace about him. His eyes were a piercing shade of gray, and when he looked at me, it was like he already knew me.
“I’m your father, Lucian,” he said. Just like that. Like he was telling me the weather.
I blinked. The words didn’t process at first.
“My what?”
“Your biological father,” he repeated, with a small, almost guilty smile. “We’ve never met properly. I… didn’t know about you until recently. But I’m here now.”
I turned to Mom, who was trembling. Her hand was pressed to her chest like she was holding back a scream.
“Is this true?” I asked, my voice cracking slightly. “Is he really…?”
She nodded once, her lips pressed tightly together.
I turned back to the man. “Why now? After eighteen years, you just show up out of nowhere and expect me to believe you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart?”
He sighed and moved closer. “It’s not as simple as that. Years ago, your mother and I had… one night. A mistake. I didn’t know she got pregnant. I wasn’t around.”
“That’s a convenient story,” I muttered.
“No,” he said firmly, “it’s not an excuse. It’s the truth. I was in an accident shortly after. A bad one. Left me unable to have children. Ever since then, I’ve… tried to move on. I got married. I adopted two kids. But they’re not mine by blood. And recently, my health’s been unstable. I don’t have time to start over anymore. I need someone to carry my name. My legacy.”
He paused. “And then… I found out about you.”
I just stared at him. “So, what? You just want an heir? Someone to inherit your fortune? Your company?”
He nodded. “Yes. But more than that, I want to know you. I want to do right by you. I want to be your father.”
“Lucian, don’t listen to him,” my mother interrupted, her voice breaking. “He doesn’t care about you. He didn’t care then, and he doesn’t care now. He just needs a backup plan. That’s all you are to him.”
The man—my supposed father—looked at her with a tight expression. “That’s not fair, and you know it.”
She glared at him. “Fair? You walk into our lives like some messiah and expect my son to just forget eighteen years of silence? Of struggle?”
“I didn’t know!” he snapped.
“You could have found out if you tried!” she shot back. “You could have cared enough to check!”
I raised my hands. “Okay, enough. Both of you.”
They fell silent.
I looked at the man again. “What exactly are you offering me?”
He exhaled. “A future. A chance to take over my company. To live in comfort, luxury, get the education, the opportunities you deserve. I have resources you could only dream of, Lucian. But I also know it’s a lot to take in. I don’t expect an answer now. Just… consider it. Talk to me. Get to know me.”
I turned away, staring at the wall. My head was spinning.
“I’ll think about it,” I said finally. “I’ll get back to you.”
His face lit up slightly with hope. “That’s all I ask.”
He gave me a card. His number. His office. A private line. Then he left. The roar of the Porsches echoed down the street until silence returned.
Mom sank onto the couch, covering her face with her hands.
“You’re not going, are you?” she whispered.
I didn’t answer immediately.
She looked up at me. “Lucian, please. Don’t go with him. He has a wife, a whole family. He’s using you. He’s desperate, not sincere.”
“I know,” I said quietly. “I know what it looks like.”
“Then don’t go,” she begged. “Don’t even talk to him again. We’ve made it this far without him.”
“I’ll always love you more than anything else, Mom,” I murmured. “But… I can’t promise anything.”
Her eyes welled with tears. “Don’t say that. Don’t say ‘but’—”
“I have to think about my future too.”
“You think your future lies with a man who only came because he lost everything else?” she asked bitterly. “You’re worth more than that, Lucian. You’re not someone’s backup plan.”
I sat down beside her.
“I need time,” I said. “To think. To breathe. To figure things out.”
She nodded silently, wiping a tear from her cheek.
That night, I stared at the business card for hours. I felt like I was standing at a crossroads, and no matter which path I chose, something would be lost.
Family.
Or blood.
Truth.
Or loyalty.
I wasn’t sure which one mattered more.
- Writer
