Leon was in his car as he was parking on a street near the university in a safe distance to confront his daughter at the right time. Although it was a surprise confrontation, the idea was that Oddey had no choice but to talk to her father.

While he waits, his mind wanders off to the past. It was the hardship in prison to pay for a crime he did not commit. He remembered how the inmates put him through hell, like not letting him eat, beating him up, and threatening to do all the hard labor in jail.

A year of agony that he did not deserve all because of one man who ruined his life, and stole his first wife from him, he knew he was going to do anything in his power to make Adrian pay for what he did. Leon had to be ten steps ahead of the enemy to take action, and so far, Leon had been succeeding with his revenge plan against Adrian.

If it were not for a guardian angel who had helped him prove his innocence and made it a secret, Adrian would not know. From that, he had time to plan his revenge against him with his newfound life by having his architect license back, then had a successful firm, got a fancy lifestyle, and was given a chance to be a father to a wonderful daughter.

After giving everything to Oddey by being the best parent, he could be to her, and like any parent, he wanted the best for her. He would let her have everything, just not Gage because to him, he was not the best. Maybe the reason was that he was Adrian's son.

So, how could a man plot his vengeance when he found out that his daughter was in a relationship with his rival's son?

All of a sudden, his phone rang and interrupted his deep thoughts, so he picked it up. "Hello?"

It was Eva. "Where are you?" she asked him. "Might I remind you that you have a meeting with an investor at one o'clock?"

"Relax, I'll be there," Leon assured her.

"Okay, but where are you? What's so important that you're not in your office right now?" That was when Eva realized something. "Oh! no, don't tell me. You're in Carmela University, aren't you?"

"Wow, that's a good guess."

"Oh, dear," the woman sighed. "I thought we talked about this that we're going to confront her together, and we'll do it calmly."

"Sorry, Eva, but there are times when a father has to take action," the CEO told her in a firm tone.

"Leon, I'm begging you. Whatever you're going to do, don't do it."

"I'll talk to you later." Leon ended the call before Eva could say anything more to him. Afterward, he continued waiting for Oddey.

Sometime later, it was lunchtime. The man saw his daughter walking out from the main gate, and that was when he put on sunglasses and then got out of the car to approach her.

Oddey's back turned and looked down at her phone she had no idea that her father was coming to her from behind.

Leon was almost halfway to his child with this determination in his eyes to separate her from the love of her life. Nothing was going to stop him from doing it.

That was when Gage came to the Juliet, which made the man hide behind a vehicle and had his eyes on the couple, then also listened to their conversation.

"There you are," Oddey said to her boyfriend. "I'm hungry."

"Sorry, I had to print an essay for my literature class in the library," the Romeo replied. Then he paused and noticed something about his girlfriend. "You look pale. You stayed up late again, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I had to because I was tutoring Rita on math."

"Alright." Then Gage held her face with both of his hands, which bothered Leon as he watched them, yet did not take action. "Just don't exhaust yourself again, okay?"

The girl blushed that her beau was all concerned about her well-being. "Don't worry, I won't. Rita was just having a hard time understanding, that's all."

"Still, you might get sick," He reminded her. Somehow, after listening to that, the prying father began to soften up because the young man genuinely cared for his daughter.

"I understand, my Romeo." Suddenly, Oddey's tummy began rumbling, which made the couple laugh.

"Come on, let's go get lunch." The couple held hands as they walked away together.

So after seeing that tender moment, Leon had a change of heart that he had no interest in meddling in his daughter's love life anymore. So he went back to his car. Before leaving, he took out his phone to send a text.

Later, he got back to his office with a distressed Eva inside. "What happened? What did you do? Did Odette cry?" She began attacking him with concern questions. "If she cried, I would kill you in a heartbeat."

"Relax, I didn't do anything," He said as he walked up to his desk and dropped himself to sit down.

The woman was taken aback and quickly calmed down. "So you mean, you didn't confront her?"

"Almost. I was there, you know. I caught them together with my own eyes, and in my mind, I should pull her away from him right there and then. Until I saw her smile."

"What are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is that I didn't have the heart to pull her away from him," He clarified in a bashful way.

Eva smirked. "Really? Why is that?"

"I don't know. Perhaps it's because this young man is not as evil as his father like I thought he was."

"I'm glad that you see that for yourself. So does this mean you accept her relationship with Gage?"

"No, not at all," Leon answered bluntly.

The personal assistant became confused. "You don't? I don't understand. You let Odette be with Gage, but you don't agree with their relationship?"

"I'm still worried for her safety, and also, as a father, I'm not thrilled that she's lying to be with that young man."

"I see. I feel the same way."

"But you know what else I discovered earlier?" The man added.

"What?"

"I saw how Gage cared for my daughter back there and how he looked at her. I hate to admit it that he's... right for Odette," Leon confessed reluctantly.

"I know, I see it too," Eva replied. "Don't tell me you're threatened by him. Having another man in her heart other than you?"

"Very funny. I know this day will come that my daughter is in love with a boy, even if it is Adrian's son."

"I still think we should talk about it to Odette."

"Yes, I agree," Leon said. "All I hope right now is that Adrian had no idea who she is."

----

Meanwhile, the happy couple were eating lunch together in their favorite cafe. Unexpectedly for Oddey, she received a text message, so she took out her phone and checked her notifications. She nearly choked on her food when she saw that it was from her father.

"Something wrong?" Gage asked.

"Ahem... I accidentally swallowed a cubed carrot without chewing," The girl lied and even reached for a glass of water to drink.

"Careful," He told her.

Oddey glanced at her phone again to read the message.

'I won't be able to meet you on Thursday after all. I will be busy this month.
Don't work too hard, okay?

Love you always, Dad.'

The art student found the message sweet, so she gave it a quick reply.

'Okay, Dad. Don't work too hard, too. I love you!'

After that, she continued enjoying her meal with her boyfriend. "Ahem... So what does your mom think about me?"

"She thinks you're wonderful," Her boyfriend reassured her once more. "My mom likes you. Next thing you'll know, you two will be FB friends and talk about me behind my back through Messenger."

Oddey giggled. "If that ever happens, it's because we love you."

"I know. Anyway, I'm just wondering. Now that you meet my mom, when can I meet yours?" He questioned her.

The girl gulped as she drank water once more. "Hmm... I'm not sure," She stammered. "She's pretty busy lately. I'll ask her and let's see from there."

"Great, so that she and I can add each other on Facebook, and then we'll talk about you behind your back."

"Oh, stop it. But you do realize that if you want to meet my mom, you might also meet Mr. Magnum?"

Gage paused with his mood changed. "I know."

"You know what, I can make sure that he's not around or I can tell my mom..."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Besides, He and my father are the ones who are having problems, not us, right?"

Oddey smiled at him. "Right."

"Let's just not let it come between us," He advised, then his girlfriend just nodded in response.

All of a sudden, Gage received a text message too so he checked it and noticed that it was from his father so he opened it.

'Do you have free time tomorrow? Let's meet.'

The message sounded serious to the architect student, so he replied:

'Is there something wrong? Is someone bothering you again?'

In just a second, he got another text from him.

'No, but it's important. Go alone.'

That time, it was the young man's turn to be worried from the message that Oddey noticed. "Is everything alright?" She asked him.

"Yeah," Gage stammered. "My Dad just texts me and wants to meet me tomorrow."

"Oh, do you want me to come too?"

"Uhm... no, it's okay, I think my Dad wants to bond with me first."

"Okay."

Later, it was rehearsal time in the auditorium. Gage and Courtney were still aloof towards each other as they were on stage being observed by Madame Vestia. The only time they got to face and talk to one another was if they had to practice their line since they were the lead in the play.

Oddey could feel the heaviness of the atmosphere while she decorated the Juliet by hand-painting the skirt for the masquerade ball scene. The artist felt bad that they used to be so close until she came into her boyfriend's life. She wanted to be with him but did not ask to break their friendship.

The two actors were acting on the balcony scene since it was fixed. The extended scene and not the shorter version. The young man climbed to the tower to get to the platform. Once he got to the top, they had to recite more lines.

So far, everything was going so well, like they didn't have any problems going on. Of course, they had to keep it together in front of everyone in the theatre. Although some of them were aware that there was hostility between the two, it was not their business since it did not affect their acting anyway.

Some time after nailing the scene especially when they had to go over the kissing scene. Once they were done, they just didn't look at each other in the eyes anymore.

"Great job, both of you," The professor praised them even though she could tell that there was tension between her two stars. "Go take a break. Next scene, please."

The two former friends went backstage together and were about to go their separate ways. "Good job today," Gage said to her.

"Yeah, you too," Courtney responded coldly, then rolled her eyes and walked away from him.

The architect major watched one of his best friends go away to be further away from him because she was still mad at him. Part of him missed Courtney since they had been friends for so long, and unfortunately, it got to the point for them to be apart just because of his girlfriend's real identity.