My Twin And Faincé Betrayed me...So I Married His Rival

Chapter 9

* Liam's POV *

“Tell me about your Dad,” Elena asked softly after we sat down to eat lunch together at a restaurant near the hospital.

I paused with the fork halfway to my mouth. The question hit me harder than I expected.

“Whenever Dad had those same episodes before,” I started, my voice low, “it was just me and me alone. I would struggle through it all by myself. Calling the doctors, watching the monitors, sitting there praying he’d pull through. No one else was there. It was just me.”

Elena’s eyes softened. She reached across the table and touched my hand lightly. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“No, no,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “I want to talk about it. Really.”

I took a deep breath and continued. “Dad may not be the perfect father. He’s harsh most of the time. He lacks emotion. Not to forget he is very strict and completely business-oriented, not family-oriented at all. But… he sure does love his only son. That’s me.”

Elena nodded, listening carefully.

“He doesn’t really know how to express love,” I went on, my voice cracking a little. “He shows it by pushing me harder than anyone else. By building this empire so I never have to struggle. But I know deep down he loves me more than anything in this world. Ever since he fell sick… I miss him. The real him. The man who used to yell at me for being lazy but would secretly smile when I closed a big deal.”

I looked down at my plate. “I know there’s nothing I can do to stop what’s coming. But there’s no other option than to just be with him during these last moments of his life. Every single day.”

Elena’s eyes filled with sympathy. “I’m really sorry, Liam. That sounds incredibly hard.”

I forced a small smile. “Thanks. What about your parents? How are they handling everything?”

Her face turned sad instantly. She looked down at her food. “My parents… they’re not currently in communication with me. Because of the whole issue with my ex. They believed the media. They think I cheated and humiliated the family. They blocked my number and they haven’t spoken to me since the wedding day.”

I felt a sharp pang in my chest for her. “Damn… I’m sorry, Elena. That’s not fair. You didn’t deserve any of that.”

She shrugged, trying to play it off, but I could see the hurt. I quickly decided to change the subject before it got too heavy.

“Hey, you know what?” I said, leaning forward with a grin. “When I was ten years old, I tried to impress my dad by sneaking into his office and pretending to be him during an important video call. I put on his huge coat, sat in his chair, and when the client asked about quarterly projections, I answered in the deepest voice I could make: ‘The numbers are looking… uh… very number-y, sir.’”

Elena burst out laughing, covering her mouth. “No way! What happened?”

“The client thought it was hilarious. My dad walked in right at that moment and nearly had a heart attack. He grounded me for a month, but later I heard him telling his assistant that his son had ‘natural business instincts.’ I was so proud I didn’t even mind the grounding.”

She laughed harder, her bright white teeth showing. “That’s adorable! Gosh, you must have been a handful.”

“Oh, I was the worst,” I continued, feeling lighter already. “Another time, at thirteen, I tried to cook dinner for Dad on his birthday. I burned the entire kitchen. The fire alarm went off, sprinklers came on, and the whole house flooded. Dad came home to me standing in ankle-deep water holding a completely charred chicken like it was a trophy. He just stared at me and said, ‘Next time, order pizza, son.’”

Elena was laughing so hard now she had tears in her eyes. “Stop! You’re killing me. How did you survive to adulthood?”

“Barely!” I grinned. “But the best one....when I was sixteen, I snuck out to a party and got caught by Dad’s security team. They dragged me home at 3 a.m. I told Dad I was at a study group. He looked at me, covered in glitter and smelling like cheap perfume, and said, ‘Son, if you’re going to lie, at least make it believable. Study groups don’t usually involve glitter.’ I was grounded for six weeks.”

She wiped tears of laughter from her cheeks. “You’re ridiculous. I can’t believe you survived your own childhood.”

I laughed along with her, staring at her face a little too long. God… she was very beautiful when she laughed. Her eyes sparkled, and that smile lit up the whole room.

Elena noticed. She brushed a strand of hair off her face and tucked it shyly behind her ear. “Is there something on my face? Is that why you’ve been staring at me for so long?”

I blinked and quickly looked away, feeling my cheeks heat up. “What? No! I mean… yeah, there’s something on your face.”

She raised an eyebrow, still smiling. “Oh really? What is it?”

I leaned in with a serious face. “It’s… uh… beauty. Too much beauty. It’s distracting. I think I need to call the manager and complain.”

Elena burst into another fit of laughter, slapping the table lightly. “That was the cheesiest line I’ve ever heard! You’re terrible at this.”

“Hey, it worked!” I defended myself, grinning. “You’re laughing, aren’t you?”

We kept talking and joking for the next half hour. I told her more silly stories from my teenage years, and she shared a few funny moments from her university days. In no time, I completely forgot about Dad’s situation. The heavy weight on my chest lifted. I was happy. Genuinely happy. And it was all thanks to her.