At night, Oddey stayed in the house with her father and Eva. The encounter in the precinct saddened her from facing Gage the way they did. It had already been a month since their split, but the pain was still here.

The poor girl sat down on the carpeted floor, hugging her legs, and buried her face on her knees in front of the foot of her bed inside her room with lights off. Tears rolled down from her eyes when she felt the pain in her heart. She had been doing that since they got home.

She also had the Love Knot in her hand and remembered all the happy moments she had with her Romeo. All those wonderful memories were over just like that because of her lies. The Juliet missed him, his comfort, his protection, his touch, his kind voice, his embrace, and his kiss.

Leon then came to her opened doorway, carrying a small book. He saw how destroyed her beloved daughter looked. It was like the spark in her vanished. Seeing her hurting hurts him even more.

"Ahem..." He pretended to clear his throat to get the girl's attention.

"Dad." Oddey turned to him with her eyes red and sore, and her face got all soaked from the crying.

"Can I come in?" Leon asked with a gentle smile on his face. Oddey nodded in response so the man entered her room and then sat next to her. He opened the book, which was a photo album, and pointed to a picture of him and Oddey, who was just a kid at that time. "Remember this? You were so adorable."

"It was the first photos of us as father and daughter back in the orphanage," the Juliet sniffled as she slowly began to lighten up. Her loving father turned to the next page of the album it was a photo of her crying. "This was when you promised me that you'd be back from your work trip. I didn't believe you at first because all the others just left me or threw me back in the orphanage."

"That's because you're not hard to love, and to hell, to those who left you or returned you in the orphanage, that's their loss. You are a wonderful daughter," Leon told her as he wiped the tears from her face and then turned to the next page. "Remember this one?"

Oddey glanced at it and beamed. It was her sitting on her father's lap and holding her hand while she held a pencil. "Yes, this was when you taught me how to draw. You always made fun of how I draw mountains."

The man chuckled. "That's right, it was also the time I decided to name you Odette because it means wealth, and I want to have the best of everything that I can give you," he explained and pulled her in to hug her sobbing daughter. "Because I love you."

"I love you too, Dad. I'm always so grateful that fate brought me to you."

"Me too." Leon was starting to bawl as well.

"Dad." Oddey pulled away from him to look at him in the eyes.

"What is it, Mochiepie?"

"I'm sorry."

The father became confused that she was apologizing out of nowhere. "Sorry for what?"

"Sorry that I lied to you," the poor girl whimpered. "About Gage. I'm sorry that I loved him and lied to you about me and him when you told me not to..."

"Honey, shh... no, it's alright. You don't have to be sorry for that."

"Aren't you mad?"

Leon was hesitant to admit that he was after seeing his child weeping because of the break-up. "Even if I was, it's not going to make me love you any less. You're my daughter."

Oddey hugged her father again and burst out in tears from all the heartache and guilt she was feeling. "I'm so sorry, Dad."

"It's okay, Mochiepie," the man assured and patted her daughter's head. "Listen to me, I know it all hurts now, so remember that I'm always here to pick up the pieces. Plus, if anyone is to blame here, it's me."

The young lady gazed at him in an odd way. "You? How is that?"

"Maybe I should have known that their son goes to Carmela University."

"Dad, that's no one's fault."

"I know, I just hate seeing you like this. I know this pain so well," Leon sighed after remembering what his ex-wife did to him.

"Does it still hurt what Gage's mom did to you?" Oddey asked.

"Not anymore, because she's married to mad man."

The daughter laughed a bit. "Oh, Dad."

"I'm just joking, but it doesn't hurt that bad anymore. In life, you'll realize that there are people that are not worth being with," the father answered.

"I suppose..." The girl mumbled.

"But sometimes, they are."

Oddey flinched and lifted a brow at him. "Hmm?"

"Sometimes." The man playfully rolled his eyes. "In my case, I see that Marie is not worth coming back to. It didn't matter that she cheated on me with Adrian, I would have forgiven her and gotten her back. But no, she doesn't love me."

"That's her loss, Dad."

Leon snickered. "It is. Look, I didn't mean to scare you about how I feel about Gage."

"I get it. You just want to protect me from his father. He is evil." Oddey said as she wiped her tears with her hands. "Don't worry, I'm gonna be okay. I'm just glad that the most wonderful Dad in the world is right here with me."

Leon smiled and kissed his daughter's forehead. "And I am glad to have the most wonderful daughter in the world."

Eva watched them and was in awe to see the father and daughter together and talked it out the way they did at the side of the doorway of Oddey's room.

----

The Juliet was not the only one moping around at night after what had happened at the police station and that his father had to stay in prison for a few days. Gage was also in his parent's house to be with his mother as he stood under the starry night by the balcony, staring at the front page of the Romeo and Juliet script.

He still thought about Oddey as he looked back at how Oddey helped him rehearse and remembered the day of the audition when he glanced at the way that he made him nail his lines and got the role in the first place.

Even after he got the part, Oddey was happy to practice with him as long as Gage gave her a hand with the sets and props in the play. Those were the most special moments he had with her.

Then the time, he confessed his feelings to her in that balcony set and had their first kiss together. He remember how happy they were before finding out the truth about her.

After that, their a short altercation with one another. It bothered the poor guy at how Oddey looked at him and spoke to him. It was very different than before. Even though their treatment of each other was not the same, there was part of him that missed her terribly.

His mother passed by until he noticed her son had been glum ever since they got home from the precinct, so she decided to check on him. "Honey," she called to him with her soft voice.

"Oh! Hey, Mom," Gage sniffled since he was tearing up.

Marie saw the script in his hand, so she took it from him. "So when can I buy the tickets?" she asked just to make small talk first. "I want to watch you be Romeo."

"Didn't say yet."

"Aww... Honey, are you thinking about Dad? He's going to be fine. Good thing the lawyer arranged to place him in a single cell."

"Yeah..." Gage smiled and nodded.

"Is there something else in your mind?" The mother held her son's face. "Is it about Oddey?"

"Maybe..." The young man admitted reluctantly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The Romeo let out a heavy sigh as he glanced down at the script. "Oddey helped me rehearse my line, and because of her, I got the part. Whenever we practiced, I remember thinking how easy it was with her, and I thought how great she was, and I wanted to be with her all the time. We even talked about our dreams and our aspirations in life."

Marie listened to her son's woes. "I remember you telling me that."

"When Felix arranged that double date, he invited Oddey so that she could come with our friend, Jerry. It made me upset that she agreed to go with another guy that I didn't want to talk to. I talked to Dad, and he told me how I should tell her how I felt before it was too late. Looking back, I wish I shouldn't have."

"Honey, don't say that."

"Mom, she lied to me," Gage whimpered. "I gave her so many chances, and she could've told me the truth earlier, but she didn't. Courtney warned me about her, and I pushed her away. I feel like a total idiot every time I think about it."

"No, you're not. You fell in love, and automatically, you trusted her with all your heart. It happens, but you are not an idiot," his mother told him. "I know you don't want to hear this, but I still believe she did love you, and she still loves you."

The Romeo just shook his head, refusing to consider that fact. "She has a funny way of showing it. I shared with her my problems the time when the news spread about you and Dad, and she didn't say anything. She just watched me suffer. I bet she was enjoying seeing me like that. So if she did love me, she should have been honest with me."

"Yes, she should have." Marie saw her son's point.

"What's worst was seeing her with Mr. Magnum, and they looked down at Dad when he made him go to jail. Whether she's Mr. Magnum's daughter or not, I should have known she was at his side all along."

Seeing her child crushed right in front of her, broke Marie's heart. However, it did make her remember how she betrayed her first husband by being unfaithful to him with Adrian, and that, it led them to their situation. "Honey, your father is in jail because he made a scene in court," she said to him.

"But still, he wouldn't have to be in court if it weren't for Mr. Magnum's accusations about Dad. What is his problem anyway? He's the one who stole all that money, and he blamed Dad for going to prison and then making up a crazy story about getting shot. What a loser. I bet he's just doing it to get back at Dad."

"Gage, that's enough. We don't know anything yet," his mother blurted. "For all we know, it could be true."

The son was taken aback and darted his head to her. "You mean, you think Dad could do all those things?"

Marie gulped, so she shook her head. "No, I'm just saying that maybe Hal could have been in danger back then. We both know the truth, Gage. If your father said he didn't do it, then there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Yeah. You're right, Mom."

"As much as possible, I don't want you to get involved in this, and I'm sure that Hal felt the same way about his daughter."

"Mom, look what they're doing to Dad. How can I not get involved or even Oddey in all this?" Gage said to his mother.

Marie held her son's face. "I understand. I'm just saying that we can handle this, okay? The truth will come out."

"Okay, Mom." However, the poor guy began to cry again.

The mother hugged Gage, knowing that he was hurting from the situation they were in. "I know everything has been hard on you, Honey. Give all the pain to me. I can bear all of it."