-Maya’s POV-


    I could count the number of times I had seen my fatherugh throughout my life. The numbers were very limited, yet here he was, Daniel Stone himself,


    like chair–the one that always seemed to inte his already gargantuan ego –


    hisingughter echoing through his office. My gaze bounced between him and Natalia, whose re could make someone melt ice.


    Seriously, what the heck was so funny?


    We’d managed to finagle our way into hispany headquarters – the same one that had been teetering on


    the brink of copse just weeks. ago after the whole investigation and moneyundering fiasco. I had to give it to him. My father got back on his feet fast


    He had almost bitten his secretary’s head off when she let me and as he called her, ‘my nuisance friend‘ in unannounced. Me, his own daughter and the


    direction growled at me to ‘get on with whatever this was


    So, here we were, the somewhat threatening text messages disyed prominently on his sleek desk, and instead of the expected outrage or concern, m


    Natalia finally snapped. “Alright, enough! What on earth is so side–splittingly hrious?”


    Her words hung heavy in the air, momentarily silencing


    the room. My father wiped a tear from his eye, his chest heaving with exertion. A slow, mischievous grin spread acroos hos face. It was a look I didn’t rec


    a glint of something akin to… enjoyment? Maybe even a hint of respect flickering in those cold, calcting eyes.


    The boomingughter that had filled the room moments ago died down abruptly, reced


    by an unnerving silence. My father’s sharp gaze snapped to me, his lips curling into a humorless smirk. “So, you finally decided to follow in my footsteps


    you?” he drawled, his voiceced with a hint of amusement. “Stole something from the bastard?”


    Before I could even formte a response, Natalia jumped in, her voice sharp with indignation. “Seriously? That’s what you find so amusing? The fact tha


    The amusement vanished from my father’s face like a me doused with water. His eyes narrowed into icy slits, and a vein throbbed prominently on his


    I have to give Natalia credit; even faced with that kind of chilling threat, she didn’t so much as flinch. Her re remained unwavering, a silent challenge t


    “Can we please just focus on the issue at hand?” I pleaded, my voice betraying a hint of exasperation.


    My father tore his gaze away from Natalia, his face a mask of irritation. “And what exactly is the issue, Amaya?” he inquired, his tone clipped. “The mess


    unnecessary tension. “I need your help to find out who’s sending them.”


    He cocked his head to the side, steepling his fingers in a gesture that spoke volumes about his arrogance. “And why, pray tell,” he drawled, “should I was


    My jaw nearly hit the floor.


    Disbelief washed over me, quickly morphing into anger. “Are you serious right now?” I eximed, my voice rising in pitch. “Someone is threatening me, y


    He leaned back in his chair, “Don’t raise


    your voice at me or I wille and teach you how to show respect,” he warned, his voiceced with a barely concealed threat.


    Natalia immediately opened her mouth to defend me, but I silenced her with a reassuring smile. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I


    turned back to face him.


    “Don’t you ever get tired of this? Every single time we even try to have a conversation, it ends up with us screaming at each other. With threats. With yo


    part of the cold, uncaring father? Don’t you get tired of being a terrible


    father?”


    A muscle twitched in his jaw, and I could see a flicker of something akin to annoyance pass through his steely facade. “This isn’t about me ying a part


    I wasn’t done yet. “Then what is it about?” I pressed, my voice gaining strength. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask to be


    born into a rivalry, or to be treated like a ghost all my life and I will not apologize for it because


    I never asked to be your daughter and it is not my fault he fucking died!”


    The silence that followed my outburst was unlike anything I’d ever experienced–


    It wasn’t just quiet, it was a thick, suffocating nket that choked the air out of the


    room. Everything seemed to fade away, the office furnishings, the glint of the city skyline through the window – all of it blurred into insignificance..


    All that remained was the raw, naked pain etched on my father’s face.


    It was a look of such profound hurt, such soul–


    deep agony, that the words I’d spoken lodged themselves in my throat like lead. Regret, sharp and bitter, flooded my system. I hadn’t meant to say them


    but the anger, the years of unspoken resentment, had alle spilling out with a force I couldn’t control.


    The silence stretched on, cach tick of the clock on the wall a hammer blow against my already shattered heart. Finally, my father spoke, his voice so low


    you that?”


    It was so low that I barely heard it then he repeated, “Who told you about Jeremiah?”


    Hesitantly, I stammered out a single name. “Ivan.”


    He lifted his head slowly, his gaze locking onto mine with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine. It was as if he was seeing me for the very first tim


    It was a look of… despair?


    “I never tried to love you. I never did, because you could never be him. His voice cracked, betraying the raw emotion he was trying so desperately to sup


    everything. Everything. And then he was taken away from me. And then what did you


    do? You chose the son of the man who took the person I loved most in this world.”


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    Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision, I hadn’t realized I’d started crying, but now the sobs wracked my body with a force I couldn’t control. The


    it all paled inparison to the crushing weight of his words.


    This wasn’t anger anymore. This was a different kind of pain, a soul–


    sucking emptiness that threatened to swallow me whole. The rejection I’d always known was


    there, a constant ache in the back of my mind, had finally beenid bare.


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    10:26 Sat, 22 Jun K


    He didn’t just dislike me; he hated me.


    My own father hated me.


    The words echoed in my mind: I never tried to love you.


    1 clung to the edge of my chair, my chest tightening with each shallow breath. My gaze went back to him but his face was an unreadable mask. The raw


    The room began to spin, the air growing thin. The world seemed to shrink until all I could see was was the crushing weight of his hatred.


    the using glint in his eyes, all I could feel


    Before I could crumblepletely, aforting weight settled on my shoulder. Natalia wrapped her arm around me, her touch a lifeline in the swirling ch


    As I stumbled towards the door, Natalia’s voice filled the room, ringing with righteous anger. “You are a terrible person, Daniel Stone,” she spat, her voice


    Then the door mmed behind us.


    I don’t know how i managed to get outside because I couldn’t feel anything other than the excruciating pain like someone had taken out my heart and wa


    right in front of me. It hurt, so so much and then when Natalia whispered, “I am so sorry, Amaya.”


    The dam finally burst.


    I fell at the middle of the street and I just cried.