Chapter Six #2
Charlotte had definitely picked up on something. Naturally, she thought it was about Sebastian and his boyfriend and not the family shit—because even though I’d been in touch with our dad for a while, I hadn’t exactly told her about that either.
She’d cut off all contact with him a few months after the wedding, after everything went down.
We hadn’t talked about it, but I had a feeling something else had set it off.
But, staying on brand, neither of us brought it up.
Like we had an unspoken agreement—never talk about him, and it’s like it never happened.
And apparently, I was a fan of replicating that strategy with everything else in my life.
Still, she’d been calling more often to check in—like now, as I walked into the apartment after a full day of classes, wrapping up my first week and already feeling wrung out, with two unanswered emails and five straight-to-voicemail calls to my father.
I was already trying my best to keep it together.
“Have you talked to him again?” she asked.
I hummed, dropping my keys and my bag on the counter. “Texted a bit.” I was keeping the Sebastian talk vague.
“Are you really not going to give me more than that? I’m home with two kids all day—I need grown-up gossip.”
“I’ve already told you about the last time I saw him, and that was three days ago.” I pulled out my laptop and logged in. “I have no more updates for you.”
“Oli and I are thinking about popping over for a visit. Without Liam and Amelia.” Her tone wobbled, just a bit.
“Are you ready for that?”
“I need a little time to myself, E. And with Oli. I love them to death, but that whole losing-your-identity thing is no joke. Just a little breathing room, you know?”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I think it’s a great idea. For both of you.” I refreshed my email. Still nothing. “When were you thinking?”
“We wanted to go for Ash’s birthday, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to make it. Maybe a couple of weeks after that… maybe.”
“Well, I think you should, but I’m completely biased and being extremely self-serving about it.”
She laughed. “You sure you don’t want to talk about it? Him?”
My phone buzzed. I pulled it from my ear to check the screen—my dad.
“Shit—I have to take a call, Char,” I said quickly. “Talk to you later.”
“Sure. Everything alright?”
“Yeah, perfect—just need to take this.”
“Okay, then…”
I apologized before switching over.
“Ethan,” Dad’s voice boomed through the line.
I let out a rush of air. “Dad—finally. Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you since last Monday.”
He was silent for a second—long enough for the unease to claw its way back.
“Been busy. Thought we should have a chat before I leave for Boston.”
I frowned. “Boston?”
“Yes, I’m handling a new investment there.”
I tapped my fingers on the counter. “What?” It came out as a whisper.
“The one I told you about.”
“Yeah, but we said we were going to talk about that before—”
“I had to take the opportunity before it was too late. You can understand that, right?”
More tapping. Harder. “Dad, that was my—”
“You’ll earn it back. It’s not like you need it anyway,” he said, tone dismissive. Like he hadn’t just stolen my fucking life out from under me.
“What do you mean I don’t need it? Dad, that was the whole thing. I’m doing my master’s right now—I’m not working. I couldn’t even get a place to live.”
“You don’t need it, Ethan. You’ve been smart about the choices you’ve made. I’m proud of you for that.”
Those words should’ve felt good. Should’ve meant something. Instead, they jammed somewhere in my head, and every alarm in my body went off at once. “I don’t get it.”
“With the Langleys,” he said. “Your sister will support you no matter what. You have Henry there with you. And I know you went to Madrid after Sebastian. He definitely has more than enough to keep you comfortable for the rest of your life.” He laughed—like any of this was actually fucking funny. “Several lifetimes, in fact.”
My heart fell straight through the floor. “You can’t be serious…”
“I’ll let you know when the investment starts paying off. Thanks for being there for your old man, son.”
“Dad—”
Silence. Wrong, heavy silence.
“Dad?”
I held the phone away to look at the screen. He fucking hung up. I tried calling again, and an ominous automated voice informed me the number I’d dialed was no longer in service.
He didn’t… He didn’t actually just block me?
Fuck.
Don’t panic—
My breath started coming in short, clipped bursts.
Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Don’t panic.
I dragged a hand through my hair and pulled. “Fuck!”
This didn’t just happen. It couldn’t have. He stole it? All the fucking money? He could just run off into the sunset with it? What was I supposed to do? Call the police? Tell Charlotte?
Charlotte—fuck. How the hell was I going to admit any of this to her?
I was such a fucking idiot; believing he wanted to reconnect with me. Why the fuck did I trust him?
My eyes burned as I paced the kitchen, thoughts slamming around in my head with no rhyme or reason, just: You fucked up! You fucked up! Over and over again, like a notification ping—cruel and mocking.
What the fuck had I done?
He wasn’t going to give it back—it was as good as gone, and I couldn’t tell anybody. I couldn’t let anyone know how stupid I’d been.
I pressed my back to the wall, knees giving out as I sank to the floor, holding my head in my hands, fingers twisting, pulling. “Idiot.”
My chest tightened painfully. I wasn’t getting enough air.
A soft patter hit the floor beneath me.
Great. Now you’re crying. What a fucking—
“Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.” Each word came with a harder tug. My teeth clenched so tightly it felt like they might crack.
The door creaked open.
“Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.”
Footsteps.
“Henry?” Sebastian’s voice called out.
No.
Are you fucking kidding me?
My head snapped up, and our eyes met. Sebastian was standing by the doorway, body angled to the living room but gaze locked on me—curled on the floor by the fridge, crying like a fucking kid.
Why did it have to be him?
His expression shifted instantly—from surprise to worry—and he hurried to my side, dropping to his knees. “Darling, what’s wrong?”
Idiot.
“Nothing,” I muttered, rubbing my hands over my face.
“Ethan.” His fingers brushed my wrists.
I flinched. “Nothing. Can you go away? Please go away.”
“Hey.” His voice softened, as he slid in closer, heat radiating off him.
His bent knees boxed in my sides, and his hands settled gently on my shoulders.
“I’m not leaving you alone like this. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I’m not leaving.
” His rough, deep voice vibrated in the small space between us.
I shook my head.
Sebastian’s hands slid to my shoulder blades, applying the faintest pressure—just enough to ask a question without saying it. My body answered before my mind caught up, and I leaned into him. The backs of my hands, still covering my face, pressed against his chest.
His arms came around me, and he lowered his chin to the top of my head. “It’ll be okay, my darling,” he whispered.
My eyes squeezed shut. “It won’t.”
But breathing was getting a little easier.
“It will. I promise. Anything that’s been broken, we can fix. I’ll help you in any way I can.”
I let my hands drop and shook my head against his shirt. “I don’t want you to fix it.”
Because then he wins. Then he’s right.
“It can’t be you.”
We stayed silent for a while, a small stretch of time where he kept gliding his hands over my back. Comforting.
The longer it went on, the more I melted into him, until my ear was pressed over his heart and its steady thumping drowned out the noise in my head. Everything smelled like him.
His palm brushed over my arm.
Up and down.
Up and down.
How could I have been so stupid?
“I’m always going to be on your side. Always, okay?” His voice was even deeper now, rumbling straight from his chest. “Even if you feel like you can’t tell me, I promise I’m never going to think less of you.”
Was that true? How could he not? I was supposed to be a grown man. I was supposed to be proving a point right now. Instead, the only thing I was proving to him—of all the fucking people in the world—was that I was still too na?ve and immature to function in society.
“I fucked up,” I said.
“Tell me about it. If you don’t want my help, that’s fine, but I can still listen. I can still be here for you while you figure it out.”
Fuck.
And he was even better than before. Of course he was. It felt like the universe was mocking me. Why wouldn’t Sebastian Langley suddenly become mature and empathetic?
I took a deep breath. “I really fucked up, Ash. I don’t think there’s any way to fix this.”
His arms tightened around me. “Big problems feel like that sometimes.”
I bit my cheek and closed my eyes. “Do you promise you won’t tell anybody?”
“Not a soul.”
I sat up—not exactly pulling away, but enough to see his face. “I mean it. Nobody.”
Sebastian’s eyes ran over mine, his lips twisting a little before his thumb brushed a tear off my cheek. He nodded, concern still written all over him.
“I lost my trust,” I said, the words almost too quiet to hear.
But he did. His shoulders tensed just a little as he waited for me to continue.
“I’ve been talking to my dad again. I don’t know if you knew about that, but Char stopped talking to him too after…” My eyes dropped to my lap. I shrugged. “After.”
Sebastian’s hand returned to my arm, his knuckles moving back and forth in slow strokes. “Oli said something about that a while ago.”
“He showed up again last year. He apologized—for how he acted after the wedding—and said he wanted us to have a relationship again.” I bit my lip, a fresh wave of guilt washing over me. “He said we should keep it between us.”
Sebastian’s fingers stilled for a fraction of a second.