"How dare you call a thief?" Amanda’s voice tore through the stillness, prompting Mr. Valen, who watched from the stairs, to raise a brow.
The air in the living room was thick enough to taste. It stank of expensive perfu and cheap air freshener, the kind you’d get at a discount because it was about to expire.
King (his father) could be seen standing in the center of the room, his posture slumped.
’What could be the problem with him?’ Mr. Valen thought noting this imdiate detail, his eyes squinting in the dim light.
He could see Amanda, who, in spite of his father’s state, refused to look up from examining her flawlessly manicured nails.
"Amanda, please," King begged, his voice raw, weak. "Just talk to , where did it go? The savings account, the joint one... it’s... it’s just gone, I don’t even care about the infidelity, I can-"
"Infidelity?" Amanda growled, her tone imdiately taking a high pitch. "I only invited the professor for a cup of coffee. I was doing you a favor, ah, so you thought your freak of a son could get into RD by his rit? Do you know how much ass kissing went into his admission?"
"Ass Kissing? You slept with the professor! In our ho! multiple tis!" King yelled, his eyes widened to express his shock and frustration. "At first, I didn’t believe it. I even had to install secret caras at the insistence of our neighbors; there’s video evidence."
"You did what?" Amanda stood up, her eyes widening. "Delete that video imdiately."
"I’ve already deleted it. I couldn’t bear to watch such a disturbing scene for another minute," King growled. "All I want is my money and we can go our separate ways."
Amanda cald a bit at King’s words, her hard expression softening. "I don’t owe you any money, King, we spent it on living expenses."
"No! No! You spent it on yourself," King Shot back. "Who in God’s na spends Three Million Val on living expenses. The statents show withdrawals, every few days, a few thousand at a ti. You didn’t spend that on groceries, did you?"
At those words, she looked away, folding her arms. "It’s a joint account. My na is on it. I had every right."
"The right?" King’s voice cracked. "That was for ergencies! That was Valen’s college fund! That was our safety net! My God, the mortgage is due next week!" He stumbled forward, falling to his knees before her, a gesture of utter defeat. "Please, honey. Just tell you moved it. Another account. Sothing. Just give it back. We can fix this."
Amanda’s face scrunched into a look of faint disgust. It was the first real emotion she’d shown, and it was vile. "Give it back?" she repeated, her voice dripping with mockery. "You want to vomit up the money I spent making this pathetic existence tolerable? On maintaining this house you can barely afford? On putting up with your moping and your failure and that sullen, worthless bastard of a son you call-"
"Don’t you talk about him!" King roared, finding a shred of strength in his paternal instinct.
"Why not?" she spat, leaning forward now, her eyes flashing with genuine malice. "He’s just like you. A drain. A black hole of diocrity. Do you really believe I’m supposed to be here? I was on track to beco a professor at RD and yet I abandoned it for you, I thought you had what it took to take care of both of us, I didn’t take you for soone with a asly three million in their account, god knows how you’re gonna afford Valen’s admission."
King froze on his knees, the anger draining from his face, replaced by dawning, horrific comprehension. "What are you saying?"
"I’m saying your boy is a student at RD only as long as I allow it," she said, her voice a poisonous whisper. "Let’s just say he’s on a pity scholarship; left to , he wouldn’t be there at all, but Albright is a generous man."
Her words seed to tear up King from the inside, his breath hitching in his throat.
"You..." he stuttered, his words a breath of devastation. "So that’s why you were sleeping with him."
Amanda threw her hair back, the look of disgust growing on her face. "Don’t be so crude, King. Professor Albright is simply more stimulating than you in every way. I was simply tired of listening to you whine about your failing business. Look on the bright side, I got your son into a top-tier school. You should be thanking . It’s the only notable thing that boy will ever accomplish."
King stared up at her, tears welling in his eyes (not of sadness), but of pure, unadulterated rage and betrayal. "You are simply disgusting, I’ll-"
"You’ll do nothing," she cut him off, her voice dropping to a lethal calm. "You have no proof. It’s your word against a respected professor’s. And let’s be clear: the money was in a joint account. I broke no laws. You can’t sue for spending my own money. All you can do is look like a jealous, pathetic fool."
With those words she turned away, smoothing her dress before moving for her car keys at the bowl on the side table.
As she picked them up, she caught sight of a young man, his eyes dark and unnaturally calm as he stared at her. There was no bla, no anger, no judgnt.
’Freak,’ She thought as she walked away.
"Where are you going?" King whispered, his tone defeated as he rose to his feet.
"Out," she said, not even glancing back. "I won’t be coming back, you can sell my things."
With those words, the front door clicked shut, leaving King there, standing, his body shaking with silent, ragged sobs.
’So I’m a scholarship student,’ Mr. Valen thought while watching the man he’d never seen cry, now broken by the woman he’d chosen.
"What do I do with him?" Mr. Valen muttered, walking down the stairs and into the kitchen.
There was already coffee in the coffee maker, so he poured a cup, sipping the hot, bitter liquid as he walked out.
His father had slumped on the sofa, looking into the distance, his eyes blank, a bit watery.
"Father," Mr. Valen spoke, his voice calm as he sat down opposite him. "What do you plan to do now?"
"You heard everything, didn’t you?" King spoke, his tone bleak. "I suppose you’ll tell where you were yesterday?"
"I got kidnapped by a serial killer who turned out to be a demon," Mr. Valen responded, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Ha," King chuckled, dryly. "Your sense of humor is improving, kid."
After a mont, he turned to look at his son, his eyes widening slightly as he asked. "My God, Valen, when did you get so large?"
"Like I said, demon girl," Mr. Valen said with a shrug, prompting King to chuckle faintly.
Wiping his face with his sleeve, King took a breath. "I’m sorry you had to see that son, you have nothing to worry about, we’re not going under just yet, if you want you don’t even have to go to RD-"
"I’ll go, I’ve been looking forward to it," Mr. Valen responded. "So should I start packing or-"
"No no, God no," King answered, "I have so ergency funds, it’s nothing much but it’s enough to get by for a while-"
"Then what?" Mr. Valen asked, his head tilted as he sipped from his cup. "You don’t have a job now I presu."
"I’m thinking of doing sothing in the military, so I won’t be around for a while," King answered before saying. "Don’t worry about anything, I swear I won’t let you suffer another day."
Mr. Valen went quiet at those words; his father always said those words about him suffering. He was referring to his ti with the Shadow Stalker.
Getting up, Mr. Valen made his way to the stairs (presumably to return to his room), but he was stopped by his father’s voice. "And would you calm down with the pornography? We use the sa account."
"Em, alright father." Mr. Valen smiled awkwardly, as he scratched the back of his head.
But then he realized sothing and turned away, his smile fading as soon as he was out of sight.
’That kid,’ King thought, shaking his head, a lengthy sigh escaping him.
anwhile, Mr. Valen hurried to his room, careful not to break anything.
The minute he approached, he opened his laptop and went straight to the gallery, scrolling through his father’s pictures with Amanda.
’It’s not here,’ he thought as he clicked on the trash bin, and when he did he noted one single video with a blank thumbnail.
Clicking on it, he saw the option to restore and he did, waiting for a while as the file loaded.
He then took his USB drive from his table’s drawer, and transferred the video to it, letting out a breath as he deleted the video permanently this ti.
He now had footage of his stepmother’s infidelity; what he planned to do with it now remained unknown.
Reviews
All reviews (0)