Adrian disconnected the call and tossed the phone on the bedside stand.
The phone started ringing almost immediately again.
It was Richard calling back.
He disconnected the call again.
Then he put the phone on silent mode and returned it to the stand.
Then he flopped back into bed, stared at the ceiling and waited for feelings of doubt and anxiety to flood in.
Instead, his heart was calm.
Once in college, at the height of Daniel's cruelty and Richard's indifference to even the most glaring evidence, Adrian had thought of leaving home.
His chest had tightened with panic then, knowing fully well that in a city like Aurion, where a man's destiny is interwoven with his family background, being cut off from one's family is like a death sentence.
But as he stared up at the intricately c
