Love at the Nth Time

Odds Not in Thy Favor

Chapter 44

Celine kissed me on the forehead, a cure for the emotions all drowning me, and pulled me up to reality with nothing bearing in mind. My cyan eyes on her black orbs gleamed; they smiled.

"I'll be fine. Trust me, okay? It would help if you worked on other things you value," she stated gently.

"I, how- make sure to contact me at all times." Celine nodded and took the hair strands that were blocking my face, fixing them behind. Her action calmed me down. I took a deep breath and held her hand on my face. My phone rang, and a sense of taking responsibility came into existence. I pressed myself to disregard it.

The place of patience wearing hospital gowns reminded me of the old record that kept playing in my head after leaving the area in 4 years. With the yowls, blathering, and constant supervision of the staff alongside the smell of the chemical, I eventually tracked down the sickening name, which was iodoform. However, it's different in this kind of hospital where dad was currently lying in a VIP bed. I was sitting a little bit restless on a couch next to a massive TV placed on the wall and the marbled table holding a bottle of red wine in a glacette, and flowers in vases filling the bay window at my back, similar to the bouquet on the table. Crowding my mind with Celine's safety every second of every minute and initially cleared out from the worry over dad's condition.

He got a heart attack and, fortunately, he was with Ms. Anna, heading to a meeting when it happened. Calling my name as he's losing his breath, since when did he call my name each time he experienced heart failure before? It's strange, and it wasn't a good thing. More than 20 minutes had passed. I could no longer loaf around as Celine was taking care of her mom and siblings as if an aberrant fight hadn't occurred, and her messages of encouragement pushed me to take care of my matters.

"These are the documents you left and also the pending ones," said Win, putting a stockpile of folders on the table. I scoured each, seeing no labels.

"Are these for the company?" Win nodded and glanced at dad sleeping on the area's right side.

"Are you still planning on not accepting the company?" Eyes on the folder, I put it down and bent over, leaning my elbows on my knees, and watched my old man with a bump underneath the blanket, providing him with warmth throughout the cold room.

"I'm still thinking about it." Jaw clenched with intertwined hands. The right to let my older brother know about this decision wouldn't fall over my voice. He'd know it eventually, but I'd choose to die rather than tell him myself. On the other hand, the opinion of Win, that perhaps be the reason why dad got a sudden cardiac arrest. I doubted leaving the company, yet.

"What about Celine? Did she know it?" I picked up a folder and leaned on the couch, skimming the contents of the paper.

"Not yet. Ah, speaking of, do you have any idea how to keep an eye on someone without them knowing?" He looked at me with suspicion. My eyes furrowed as though the first thought that came to mind was asking the question to the man in action, which was me. I raised an eyebrow at him. "If you think I'll be the one to stalk her, you're wrong. Don't treat me like a stalker." I led the right path in the conversation.

"Why do you wanna stalk her? I mean, aren't they the same even if you aren't gonna be the one who'll stalk the person?" I smirked. He snickered, trying to obtain more information.

"Sure, I'll tell you. Serve me tea first," I demanded. Win chortled and stood up, mumbling about his craving for pizza. He billed it to the company's expense.

All the scenes I witnessed, Win put judgments on them. In his own opinion, we had the same reaction as the two members of the family who were leading it, both martyrs, taking a blind eye to protect something of great value. It's invigorating. However, Win and I were the only supporting characters of Celine's life who had no right to decide what was best, and the worst case could utmostly happen.

Win nodded, later gobbling another slice of pizza, constructing words to utter which formed in his critical mind. "You can do the normal way, set up a tracking device on her phone. It won't help you a lot, though, or if you wanna be close with the other siblings to know her status all the time, you can just also hire a secret bodyguard. That'd be the easiest," he suggested.

Sipped on the tea, I chose what I thought was better.

In fact, I was sick of it myself, having someone tailing me everywhere and watching every movement resembled a species in a lab test. This time, it's hidden.

Dad grunted in the sudden pain as he sat slowly on the bed. Crossed arms over the other, and eyes ought to blame him about it. His weak laughter prompted me he knew all along. Spending most of his time working his ass off, not getting enough sleep and exercise, piling schedules on the fields he owned layer by layer. A bittersweet reality of a wealthy businessman who failed to achieve other things in life which actually mattered.

I passed him a glass of lukewarm water. He thanked me and drank it empty. Offered to refill it, he refused constructively. He took a deep breath.

"How's Celine, hun?" Eyes on him and mind carefully formulate words to express objectively.

"She's fine."

"If you wanna bring her to Europe, I'll support you." I scoffed a little and faced the window showing a view of a city with advanced infrastructure.

"And what's gonna be the bargain?" Dad frowned and massaged the top bridge of his nose.

"I'm doing this for your sake. Why can't you understand?" Dad mumbled. My eyes darted at him, seeing myself as he was, persuaded me to find my path to what he called success. Passively, not an excellent reason to blurt it out in his state, and keeping it unpublicized spared my quietude. "Try it first, hun, okay?" I sighed.

"I already did," I declined. No intention of making dad's condition worse, but this was I, the blunt daughter of a damaged family led by the know-it-all dad who incited his wife to end her life. I shut my eyes to stop my awful flashbacks from starting to exist. I turned around to face dad. His exhausted expression drew back the urge to bring back the past and the words left unsaid.

"Celine will live with me for two years, or who knows the time? I won't leave the company with your current situation. I'm not that despicable," I muttered. The pain dwelling inside me remained like boiling water inside a metallic kettle, merely waiting to erupt, and leaving the leading cause of it was the only way not to let it succumb to me.

Calm down, me. I've made it this far. The past wouldn't help me in any way, and burying it together with the affection I treasured most saved the pitiful version of myself.

I rested my head on the seat and contacted the only person defending self-abhorrence.

"Hello," a low tone of my voice and a force one merely to utter anything.

"Seth, how's your dad?"

"Really, you asked other people's situation than mine first," I mumbled, a little pissed off. Celine chuckled. Sudden screams of Carla and Rocky echoed in the back.

"Sorry, how are you so far?" She yelled at her siblings to lower their voices and told them I was on the other side.

"Bro, bro, are you coming today?" asserted Rocky. Carla, calling my name, roused the reason I had because the young boy who wanted me to and chuckled as Carla declared it as fact, shouting my name to come to visit them.

"They wanna sleep in your unit is all, but mom needs us here, you know," Celine responded. I stared at the steering wheel with my hand on it. It was hard to mention the lodging in Europe, even though Rose could substitute watching the family as she had to neglect her responsibilities. She would be the only one who'd provide financial support, and of course, I wouldn't let that be.

I wanted to speak with Celine and gave her the notion of opening her eyes to see the painful yet necessary truth of allowing her family to suffer temporarily without having a father or bear it forever, another alternative method to show it instead.