The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 85

"A snake stabbed you in the back, so you went ahead and got a snake tattoo over the spot she stabbed?" She didn’t know how much sense it made. "Why did she stab you anyway?"

"I investigated her. Turns out that wasn’t a good idea." He laughed, but she knew it broke his heart more than he was letting on. Even if he didn’t love her, he must have felt betrayed.

But the more she thought about it, the more doubt registered in her mind. "Please don’t tell me she’s the only thing you and Chloé have in common."

"It is, actually. Why?" He asked.

"Do you not get it? You could be..." She swallowed her words in case they were being overheard and lowered her voice to nearly a whisper. "You could be falling for another trap. Do you ever learn?"

"You think Chloé could have faked heartbreak, a suicide attempt and depression over the love of her life just to get me into a trap?"

Her eyes went wide.

"Don’t worry. I researched and found all their childhood pictures when they were friends up until they started dating, all the way to their engagement. And before you say they could be in cahoots, I don’t think anyone would waste their entire life to trap someone else."

She had to agree to that. If the women had known each other for so many years, it explained why Chloé was so heartbroken. It must be why she hadn’t used the impostor’s real name—because she couldn’t bring herself to call her girlfriend of so many years a snake.

"I discovered her when I still wanted to make Shirley pay for what she did. She was at her lowest so I introduced her to Mabella." He added.

"And Mabella is a shrink. She would know if Chloé was up to something else." She knew psychologists didn’t have an upper hand in knowing anyone’s secret plot but this was Mabella they were talking about. That woman could read anyone like an open book.

"But why did she make it sound so weird when she tried to convince me to take her as a model?" She asked. That was what had brought about all this walk down memory lane.

"She tries to do what she loves and will grab onto everything that interests her. Agencies don’t find her. She finds them if their products please her and every time, they are too charmed to pass up the offer."

She nodded in understanding.

"Do you have plans for today?" He asked, knowing she was about to make an excuse and leave. "Don’t tell me anything about work when it’s a holiday."

She smiled, left with no excuse. "I wasn’t going to say that."

He knew it was a lie but didn’t call her out for it.

"I’m going to pay my father a visit." She said and waited for his reaction. "I know. He’s the man who almost had our son killed and I shouldn’t even think of visiting him but he..."

"He’s your father." He filled in. "You have every right to want to see him. However, I just need you to be careful. Once a criminal, always a criminal. And although the law might be ready to put him in his place for what he did, men like him don’t usually stop just because they are behind bars. They always try to find a way to finish what they started."

She placed her head on his shoulder. "I know. I’ll be careful."

____ 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

That was easier said than done. She knew, and the only reason she was doing this was to clear things up.

"Vaillant, you have a visitor." Avery heard the loud bellow that informed Bryce of her visit. He didn’t look interested when he came out of his cell, and when he saw her, he wanted to take a U-turn.

"We need to talk!" She called out and received a glare from one of the wardens, prompting her to lower her voice. "We need to talk."

He walked over to the bench across her table, to her relief.

"What do you want to say to me? It better be something important." He looked impatient as though he would change his mind and walk out as soon as she said something he found the slightest bit boring.

"Everything." She didn’t know how to start. "A lot has happened over the years but if we dwell on it, what will happen to us? The little family we have left is going to break apart."

He smiled. "So you forgive me for being a horrible father? For...trying to kill your son, and pinning it on your mother who I eventually finished off?"

"No." She bit her lip, admitting it was rehearsed. "I would never forgive you for wanting to hurt my son. However, I still need to know how you feel. Do you regret anything?"

She knew she was opening up a can of worms she was probably not ready to face but crossed her fingers. It was better to clear the air even if it was partial.

Bryce’s response was a tale she had not expected. "If you mean to ask whether I regret what I did to my wife of decades, I need to tell you a story. When I first met your mother, I was a love-stricken fool. I loved her, so much that I didn’t ever think she would betray me. Especially not with a man twice my age."

She still wanted to throw up at the thought of that. "Can you skip that?"

"Of course." He laughed. "When Gabriel was born, I thought he would be everything I wanted my son to be."

She frowned in discomfort. What did he mean by that? Children were not supposed to live their lives for their parents!

Still, Bryce continued. "The little loser I ended up having was not what I expected. I was disappointed. To my luck, it wasn’t long before Amelia was expecting you, and I thought you’d be a son. You have no idea how disappointed I was to learn I was having a daughter. What was the use?"

She couldn’t take it anymore. "Are you trying to say daughters are useless?"

"Do you think they’re useful?" He bombed her with the statement that made her want to ask him a gazillion questions she was sure he couldn’t answer. She held her breath and let him continue spouting his nonsense. "I then hoped you would be less trouble, at least. Then you turned out to be that man’s daughter! How could I take it lying down? If you were me, would you have loved you?"

"What are you saying?" Her body froze.

He gave her an impish smile. "You wanted the truth, I told you everything. It’s time to leave." He stood to leave.

"Wait! You can’t just drop a bomb on me and leave!" She tried to follow him but she was soon stopped by a wadern. "Father!"

"I think it’s time you stop calling me that." He let the wadern lead him back in and she had no choice but to leave.

The parking lot felt ten miles away and she couldn’t get there fast enough. When she finally got into her car, she took a deep breath.

"He’s lying." She said to convince herself that Bryce was only trying to mess her life up now that he had realized he no longer had any control over it.

"He’s lying." She heard a low voice from outside and looked over, puzzled to see Gabriel knocking the window for her to open the passenger door.

"What the fuck?" Her hands trembled as she finally opened the door after the scare. "Are you and your father trying to scare me into an early grave?"

"You mean our father who we both don’t want?" He grinned and corrected himself after sitting. "Nobody’s father then. I don’t like him either."

"What did you mean when you said he’s lying?" She desperately grabbed at the tiniest hope that he knew the truth better than she and Bryce did.

"He knows you are his daughter. He is messing with you." He reached over to pat her head, only for her to swat his hand off. "What do you mean by that? You’re not his son?"

"I’m your brother, Vivi." He sighed in defeat. "I can’t believe he managed to make you think I’m not."

She thought deeply about his words and realized he was leaving out a loophole no matter what she asked. By declaring himself her brother, did he mean half brother, that they both had Amelia as their mother, or full brother and whoever her father was—who was not Byrce—was his father too?

Besides, what if he meant he was her brother despite not having the same set of parents?

She stared at the man in her passenger seat and tried to check for the similarities between their appearances. She had not thought of it before but there wasn’t any significant similarity except their eyes—but how many people in Olphire had blue eyes?