Chapter 176
“That brat!” Olivier Horvath harshly placed his phone on the table in front of him. He leaned back and loosened his tie.
“This is my fault,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face. “He hates me. He’s hated me since he was a boy.”
Margarette sat on the edge of the couch, legs crossed, arms folded tightly against her chest. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” she said. “Liam was just spoiled by your father. That’s all this is.”
He didn’t respond. Margarette was beside him when he called Liam and heard Isabella’s words toward him.
“He never listens to anyone but Philip,” she continued. “It’s always been like that. And your father never disciplines him, no matter what. He just let it slide. But when it comes to Eli…”
She stopped, her lips trembling. “He’s so cold to Eli. It’s like he doesn’t even see him. That child has done nothing wrong. My poor Eli.”
She covered her face with her hands. “It’s not fair. Why blame a child for something that happened in the past?”
Olivier slammed his hand on the table again. The sound echoed in the room.
“I’ll talk to him myself.”
Margarette shook her head quickly and stood up. “Don’t. That’ll only make it worse.”
“He can’t let other people–talk to me like that.”
“You think showing up now will fix anything? He’ll just push you further away. And from the looks of it… It looked like he dotes on Isabella too… perhaps this was just her way of protecting him.”
Olivier didn’t sit back down.
Margarette immediately wiped at her eyes. “But maybe I’ll talk to him or that girl… Isabella Rossi. He seemed close to her.”
“What about her?” He recalled how she answered his phone. As far as he was concerned, Isabella grew up with Liam.
“I don’t know. They looked comfortable. Do you think they actually got married?” She walked toward the hallway, then turned back. “I’ve never seen him act like that before.”
Olivier’s jaw tightened. “He wouldn’t marry someone without telling me. I’m still his father.”
Margarette didn’t answer. She grabbed a tissue from the table and dabbed at the corner of her eyes.
Olivier took a long breath. “Get ready. We’re going to the old house. We’ll have dinner with Father.”
Margarette opened her mouth to argue, then closed it.
“You’re not even going to ask me about my father?” Liam asked as he sliced some apples in the kitchen.
Izzy didn’t look up from her book. She was curled up on the living room couch, her legs stretched out and resting comfortably over Liam’s lap. A soft blanket covered her legs, tucked in under her arms. She looked settled.
“You’ll tell me when you’re ready,” she said, flipping a page.
Liam smirked and placed the apple slices onto a plate. He brought it over and handed it to her without saying anything at
first.
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Chapter 176
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“You know,” he said as he sat back down, shifting slightly to support her legs again, “your idea of spending a Saturday like this is actually really good.”
Izzy smiled and took the plate. “Thank you for the apples.”
She picked up a slice and bit into it. “Now that I only have a week left before I become jobless, I figured I should start getting used to the lifestyle.”
Liam leaned back, watching her eat.
“Are we going to have dinner at Grandfather’s tonight?” she asked, setting the plate on the coffee table after a few more bites.
Liam looked at her. “You already told my father we’re not attending dinner,”
“Is that what you want too?” she asked, shifting slightly on the couch to face him more fully.
He paused for a second. “I’d rather spend the weekend with you. But if you’d rather go, I won’t stop you.”
Izzy didn’t answer right away. She kept her eyes on him, waiting.
“Then no,” she said. “I’d rather stay here. With you.” She pulled the blanket up slightly and settled deeper into the cushions. “We can go tomorrow. Or Sunday.”
Liam nodded. “That’s fine.”
He reached under the blanket and started massaging her legs, his thumbs pressing slowly into her calf. She didn’t say anything right away, just closed her eyes and let him continue. The room was quiet, the only sound coming from the occasional rustle of a page or the soft hum of the heater.
Izzy placed her book down on her chest, still holding it loosely. “I might not hate being jobless as much as I thought,” she muttered.
Liam didn’t answer. He kept his focus on her legs. Then he said, “My father… never liked me.”
Izzy lifted an eyebrow, yet she didn’t say a word, letting him continue.
“He said I looked too much like my mother.”
Again, Izzy couldn’t help the look of surprise on her face. Liam looked like his mother?
with my
“I do look like her. My mother was a very beautiful woman.” Liam lifted his gaze and smiled at her. “I grew up grandfather and yours. My father was in Europe most of the time. He tends to stay there for months and sometimes not come home during holidays and even birthdays,” he said.
Liam leaned back on the couch, one arm draped over the cushion behind Izzy. He looked at the ceiling for a second before speaking again.
“When I was younger, I used to wait for him to come home on my birthday.”
Izzy didn’t move. Her eyes stayed on him, but she didn’t interrupt.
team I didn’t even like. But he never
“I’d get all these gifts. Watches. Gadgets. One year, he sent me a signed jersey from showed up.” Liam exhaled through his nose. “At first, I was still happy. I thought maybe something came up. Maybe next
time.”
Izzy didn’t say anything. She just pulled the blanket up a little more and kept watching him.
“Then I stopped expecting anything. I’d open whatever was delivered, say thank you over the phone, and that was it. It just… became routine.”
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Chapter 176
He paused. His hand rested on her shin under the blanket.
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“And then he had another son,” Liam continued. “I was older by then, but I remember wondering maybe that kid looked like him. Maybe that’s why he spent more time with him.”
Izzy’s expression didn’t change. She reached over and picked up another slice of apple, then offered it to him.
Liam glanced at it, took it, and bit down without a word.
“I don’t think like that anymore,” he said after a few seconds. “Now, I just don’t care.”
Izzy looked down at her legs, then at his hand resting on them.
“You still waited, though,” she said.
“Yeah,” Liam nodded. “I did.” Then he smiled at her. “But those things were nothing but remnants of the past,” he leaned in closer, his face just inches away from hers.
Liam looked at her for a moment, then lifted his hand and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“But you’re here now,” he said. “And I’d rather spend a quiet weekend with you like this than wait for anyone else?
Izzy met his eyes. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t look away either.
Liam’s thumb brushed lightly against her cheek. “I don’t need anything else. Just this. You and me, like this… it’s enough.”
AD
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