Chapter dedicated to leonastar7710 for the amazing cover! Thanks a lot! 😘

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Chapter Thirty Eight - Wine Cellar

I stifled a yawn and leaned my head against the cushion, staring at the side rotated images on television.

After college, I had spent the rest of the day studying for my finals. Finally, after having dinner, I was now waiting for Alec to come back.

It was 10 p.m. already.

I was exhausted and must have taken a short nap before the sound of footsteps around me woke me up.

I was lifted up and then put back down, only this time, I felt a pair of arms around me. His deep masculine scent filled my nostrils. I peeked my eyes open to find Alec sitting at the couch holding me up on his lap.

"Hi there," He flashed me a smile.

"Hey," I smiled back. "What took you so long?"

"I haven't attended to a lot of clients because of working from home the past week. So, a lot of meetings," He rolled his eyes.

"Oh," I nodded and lifted my hand to rub circles on his stubbled jaw.

"Please tell me you had dinner already," He placed a quick kiss on my hand.

"Yeah. I was hungry. But I can sit with you while you're eating to keep you company."

"No. You seem tired. Go to sleep."

"Okay," I closed my eyes and placed my head on his chest.

He chuckled.

"Wait. I need your help with something," He muttered.

"Mm?" I mumbled sleepily.

"Look at these," He spoke.

I opened my eyes to find him holding up his ipad infront of me.

"Help me choose a location for shooting an advertisement."

"Advertisement? Since when did you get into advertising?" I asked in confusion.

"It's a tie up. Will you help me?"

"Sure. What is the ad about?"

"It's about a family adapting to the product. I want you to select a house for our location," He clicked on a folder and showed me pictures of houses.

"These are mansions," I muttered under my breath.

"Do you like them?"

"Of course. They're so beautiful," I muttered while swiping ahead.

"Now I want you to choose one. The best one."

"They're all really pretty. It's hard to choose."

"If you were asked to live in one of them, which one would it be?"

I stopped at a beautiful white mansion with a huge fountain in the front garden right infront of the main entrance of the house.

Alec must have realized I liked it as he clicked on it, opening another folder of pictures of different parts of that house.

There was a beautiful garden for a backyard, a huge swimming pool and I was in awe of the interior of the house. The rooms were spacious and everything looked so elegant.

"You like it?" Alec asked.

I looked up at him and smiled. "All of them are beautiful but this one.....it's magical."

A soft look reached his eyes as he leaned forward and placed a kiss on my forehead. "Thank you for your help."

"Anytime."

"Scarlet?"

I shuffled at the voice and opened my eyes.

Looking around, I found myself in my room back at dad's house.

Was that another flashback dream of my time with Alec?

I miss him so damn much.

"Yes, Jimmy?" I asked.

He settled beside me on the bed and took the book from my hands. I must have fallen asleep while studying.

Looking out of the window, I realized that it was morning now.

I had been here for over a week now.

I checked my phone which caused my heart to drop. Today, there wasn't a single text or missed call from Alec.

Well, you've been ignoring him for a week. What do you expect?

I sighed.

"Are you okay, Scar?" Jimmy asked me.

I nodded. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged and looked away for a moment.

"Did Alec hurt you?" He finally spoke.

My eyes grew wide for a moment. "No. He could never do that, James."

He let out a sigh of relief.

"Then why are you mad at him?"

I frowned. "I'm not mad at him."

"Don't lie to me, Scarlet," He scowled.

"Jimmy, I'm not-"

"I saw it, okay? I'm not an idiot," He snapped.

"What did you see?" I asked in confusion.

"I can see how sad you are. Ever since you've come home, I haven't seen you talk to him or even mention him once. Dad doesn't talk about him either. And then, when he stopped by yesterday, dad wouldn't let him see you."

My eyes grew wide. "What?"

Jimmy was a bit taken aback by my sudden outburst as he stopped abruptly.

"What?" He asked back.

"Alec came here? To our house?"

He nodded. "Yesterday in the evening."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Dad asked me not to," He seemed guilty.

I sighed. "Then why did you now?"

"Because I figured that you are sad because of him. I just wanted to make sure he didn't hurt you."

I ruffled his hair. "He didn't. He could never."

He nodded reluctantly and got up to leave.

"I know I'm not mature enough to understand some things, but if you ever wanna talk....," He trailed off.

With a smile, I pulled him for a hug. "You're the best, Jimmy."

He chuckled softly and the happiness was back in his eyes. "I'm glad I could be of help."

"Yeah."

He seemed hesitant to leave. "Bye, Scar. See you after school."

"Bye, Jimmy."

He went back downstairs and I followed shortly.

Dad was in the kitchen, making coffee. He turned around when he saw me entering the living room.

"Hey, Scar," He went back to preparing coffee, obviously avoiding eye contact.

"Hey, dad. When were you going to mention Alec stopped by yesterday?" I spoke while walking into the kitchen.

He cut a glance at me.

"I thought you didn't want to see him," He shrugged.

"I wonder where you got that idea from."

He faced me squarely. "Then why are you still here, Scarlet?"

I rolled my eyes. "We've been through this, dad."

A look of anger crossed his face. "No, seriously. Tell me, why don't you go back to him?"

"Because-" I snapped. "-I can't face him after what my father did to him."

"Then what is your plan?" He snapped back. "Divorce?"

"What? No! Don't be ridiculous."

"What else? How long do you plan to stay away from him? How long before you think he forces his way in our house and takes you back with him?"

I took in a deep breath. "I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me what happened twelve years ago."

At this, dad let out a chuckle and sipped on his coffee. "Been telling you that everyday since the past week, Scarlet."

I kept my gaze on him firm.

After a few seconds, he looked up from his mug and frowned.

"Everything Alec told you.....is true."

"But?" I raised a brow.

"See? That's our dead end," He shrugged and walked into the living room.

"Dad, please."

He stopped in his tracks. "Scarlet, the rest doesn't matter. After what I did to him, all of that means nothing, okay? The bottom-line is that I ruined him. Nothing can change that."

"I still need to know, dad. Please," I begged.

There was a long moment of silence as he just stood there with his back to me. Finally, his shoulders slumped down and he turned around.

"When I heard about what Richard did to himself, I realized my mistake. I wanted to help the boys, Scarlet. I swear I would've taken care of them but it all happened so fast. Nick and Adam were gone with the wind," Dad shook his head.

"There was nothing I could do. Back then, I would've taken any chance to correct the horrible mistake I made. But now like I said, none of this means anything, Scar. The damage has been done."

I pressed my lips into a thin line.

"Thank you," I muttered.

I could see the guilt in dad's eyes as he nodded at me.

I know it was wrong to think of him as a better person but he was my dad. Just knowing the fact that he wanted to help Alec and his brother, assured me that he wasn't the monster I thought him to be.

Atleast, I knew the truth now.

I cleared my throat before speaking. "Have you talked to Alec about this?"

Dad blinked at me. "You want me to talk to him?"

"Yeah?" I shrugged.

"And tell him what? That 'hey I know I ruined your family but I intended to help after your father killed himself'? Scarlet, he would probably knock the living daylights out of me. Not like I don't deserve it."

"But he needs to know, dad," I argued.

"And what good will it do? Let's not be selfish, Scar. I know you want him to forgive me but there's nothing I can say that would earn me his forgiveness. Don't you understand? I took his family away from him," He snapped.

Tears pooled in my eyes as I pondered over his words.

I had heard Alec say all those things but hearing them coming from my dad's mouth, hurt so bad.

Blinking back my tears, I nodded and turned around to go upstairs.

"Scarlet?" Dad called.

"Yes?" I choked out.

"I'm sorry," He whispered.

I let out a shaky breath. "Right words, wrong person."

Once again, there was a long pause.

"I hate to see you like this," Dad muttered.

I didn't know what to say.

"I might not be able to change the past but let me help you."

I turned around in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"How long do you want to sit in this house like a prisoner?"

"I don't understand."

"This might be completely out of context but there's a party I have to attend tomorrow. You can come with me."

"A party? Seriously?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"It's business stuff," He raised his hands up in surrender. "All my investors, shareholders and other work people are going to be there. I have to go."

"Alec is going to be there," I deadpanned.

"You think I'll take you to a party and invite the last person you wanna see right now?" Dad raised a brow.

"But he is your investor," I frowned.

"So what? Invite's on me," He shrugged.

"Um okay," I nodded. "I mean I'll think about it."

"Okay," Dad nodded.

*****

"Dad, are you sure Alec is not going to be here?" I asked.

"Yes but I'm confused, Scar. He didn't do anything wrong. Why don't you wanna see him?" Dad asked as we got out of the car and he handed the keys to valet.

"It's complicated," I shrugged. "I'm not mad at him, just a little sad because he lied to me about his initial feelings for me. I'll get over it eventually but I need some time."

Dad nodded in understanding.

"I'm sorry once again. It's all because-"

"Dad, let's not talk about it today, okay?"

"Okay," He sighed.

We entered the large hall and as I looked at the men in tuxedos dancing with their women in flowy gowns, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Barbados party.

My heart skipped a beat as I remembered him being so close to me.

I miss you, Alec

Taking in a deep breath, I looked around myself and my eyes landed on the glass bead coating on a nearby wall, taking in my reflection.

I was wearing a beige halter neck gown, only this one had a shorter slit unlike my previous ones.

But still, Alec would have loved to undo it.

I chuckled at the thought.

"What's so funny?"

I turned to dad and cleared my throat. "Nothing."

He gave me a weird look but didn't ask me anything. We walked further into the party and dad got busy talking to his business people.

I was getting bored and wished more than anything for some company.

A waiter approached us and said something to dad. I couldn't hear it because of the music.

Dad nodded at him and turned to me.

"Come on," He spoke and started walking.

"Are we going home?" I asked hopefully.

"No. The party is just about to start," He smirked.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"I need your help at the wine cellar, Scar. You have a fabulous taste in wine. Come on," He started walking again and I followed him.

He opened a door and we left the large party hall, blocking the loud music. I followed him downstairs to an empty basement and turned to a corridor.

He opened the first door and I stepped inside.

There were large shelves with bottles in the entire room.

I took my own time to check out a few shelves and only realized that dad wasn't there when I heard the door being shut.

I quickly turned around to find myself alone in the cellar.

Running towards the door, I tried to open it but it was locked. "Dad?"

There was no answer.

What the hell was going on?

"Dad? Are you there? I'm locked in here," I shouted but still no answer.

I was about to shout again but stopped when I heard some shuffling behind me.

Footsteps.

A chill ran down my spine as I slowly turned around.

"Missed me, love?"

I gasped.

Well, well, well.

Who do you think it is?

We all know who it is. Hehehehe *rubs hands excitedly*

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