For the whole night, Mike’s mind spiraled around the words of his old colleague—the sa man who had taken his money years ago to falsify sothing he never even changed, and then didn’t bother to tell him about it.
Had that man reached out earlier, Mike and Jasmine could’ve known the truth long ago. They could’ve done sothing in those early years. Instead, the man took their money and disappeared as if it ant nothing.
Now, seated in the driver’s seat, Mike didn’t even know where he had parked. He just sat there, motionless, staring through the windshield with vacant eyes. His thoughts drifted through mories of Lola—every word, every glance—and the growing dread of how he would ever tell Jasmine about what he’d just learned.
*****
[Flashback]
Mike hadn’t always been part of the Youngs’ lives, especially not at the start. But when he finally got the chance to visit their ho, he made sure to buy every gift for girls he could find—dolls, dresses, and sparkly trinkets. Deep down, he knew his daughter would never see him as her real father.
Still, he wanted to be soone she could co to and soone who mattered.
So, when he finally t lissa, he watched her unwrap the mountain of gifts he’d brought, one after another. Seated on the couch, the smile on his face was unmistakable. His eyes glead with affection as the little girl’s laughter filled the room.
"Wow! Uncle! Look at this!" lissa squealed, holding up a doll with shining eyes. "Are these really for ?!"
He laughed. "Of course, princess!" he grinned. "Do you like them?"
"Mhm!" she nodded excitedly. "Can I open the others?"
"Sure. They’re all yours," he said warmly. "Take your ti. If there’s sothing you don’t like, I’ll get you sothing better."
lissa’s smile stretched from ear to ear, her joy uncontainable as she unboxed each gift like it were her birthday. Though she was already spoiled by both Jasmine and Lawrence, her excitent for this batch of presents was no less pure.
Watching her filled Mike’s chest with satisfaction and warmth. He hadn’t been there for most of her life, as he was serving ti in prison while she grew up without him. Even after his release, he had to construct a persona to fit the narrative Jasmine had spun for Lawrence.
But as he admired the pampered young lady before him, sothing caught his eye. From the corner of the room, a small figure lingered. Mike turned his head instinctively and saw a girl around lissa’s age.
Unlike lissa, who was dressed like a little princess with neatly tied hair and shiny clips, this other girl was the opposite. Lola looked frail, her cheeks slightly hollow, with dark circles under her eyes. Her tied hair was ssy, with loose strands sticking out in awkward directions.
To an outsider, she would’ve looked like a servant’s child—soone who didn’t belong in that ho.
But Mike recognized her instantly.
Lola Young.
The corners of his mouth curled into a cruel smirk. He caught her staring at lissa’s pile of gifts, then at him.
Jasmine really put that bitch’s daughter in her place, he sneered inwardly, before calling out to lissa.
"Try on the dresses I bought you," he urged with exaggerated cheer, glancing toward Lola. He wanted her to see. He wanted her to feel the distance between them. Between who she was and who lissa was.
He did it to remind her that she had no place in that family, no right to stand under the sa roof.
*****
[Present Ti]
That wasn’t the only ti Mike had intentionally hurt Lola. There was another mory that clawed at his conscience—the ti he saw lissa and Lola fighting over sothing trivial. Without hesitation, he’d stepped in and struck Lola across the face. The slap had been so hard it sent her tumbling backward, blood at the corner of her lips.
And instead of guilt, he had threatened her.
If she told anyone, she’d be in trouble.
That mont had given him confidence. Whenever lissa cried or pouted, he took it out on Lola. When he couldn’t raise his voice at lissa, he would shout inches away from Lola’s ear—loud enough that he once wished it would bleed.
There were too many incidents to rember. He couldn’t even count them anymore. But Lola probably could. Every bruise, every slap, every cutting word that branded itself into her heart... she would rember all of them.
He made sure of that, after all.
Mike clasped the steering wheel, his forehead pressing against his knuckles. His eyes squeezed shut as he exhaled a long, shuddering breath.
"I did all of that..." he whispered, his grip tightening until his knuckles turned white. "...to my own daughter."
He had even nearly killed her just hours ago.
If not for luck—or perhaps for soone stepping in—Lola would have been hospitalized. Deep down, he knew it wasn’t luck that saved her. Soone had intervened.
"Damn it." He leaned back against the seat, head tilted toward the ceiling, eyes still closed as his mind spun out of control.
His chest burned with anger toward Loren. That woman had destroyed their lives. Who would’ve thought she was capable of sothing so cruel?
Slowly, Mike reopened his eyes, forcing himself to push away every emotion that dared to take his heart. Sure, he felt regret for Lola and rage toward Loren so deep that no words could describe it.
But there was also Jasmine.
"She..." he muttered, recalling how shaken and desperate she’d been earlier. It was a good thing he’d managed to calm her down... or so he thought. Deep down, he knew Jasmine had only let him convince her. She wasn’t blind. She just refused to see the truth.
If he could rember every vile thing he’d done to Lola, what about Jasmine?
Unlike him, Jasmine had been there every day of Lola’s life until the girl finally moved out. Even then, Jasmine had found ways to tornt her.
Resolve slowly hardened in him. His shoulders stiffened as he exhaled through his nose.
"lissa..." he whispered, voice trembling. "...she’s our daughter. She’s her daughter."
They had raised lissa. They had loved her. And even now, despite everything, she was still theirs.
So, in his twisted mind, there was only one answer.
"Jasmine doesn’t need to know," he told himself firmly. "Having lissa as her daughter is enough."
This never happened, he repeated in his head. lissa is my daughter, and no one else’s.
For the next few minutes, Mike sat in silence, convincing himself of that lie. That this wasn’t his reality. That this was all so cruel joke of fate.
It was better this way... for as long as he could pretend ignorance.
Unfortunately for Mike, while he was determined to protect Jasmine from the truth, soone else was just as determined to make them face it. Soone who would not allow them to keep living in denial because people like Jasmine and Mike...
...deserved to rot while still alive.
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