I look away from my mother and towards the door, to see him standing there with his hands in his pockets, looking at my mother with a condescending smile on his face.

My mother doesn't turn around. She remains rooted in her position but acknowledges my father with a shake of her head and closes her eyes in frustration.

Glancing toward Chase, I finally see him look a little nervous. He knows my mother will always be on his side, but my father would rather have me date a cactus than him.

"Don't." Mom mutters, still not turning around.

Dad starts walking towards us and settles beside me with his body a step ahead of me, almost shielding me.

"Don't what, Caroline? Don't reveal your hypocrisy?" His head tilts slightly to his left, staring at mom as she finally opens her eyes and stares back with equal ferocity.

"Don't come between my daughter and me. I'm trying to have a conversation here." She says, gritting her teeth.

"Conversation? Sounded like accusations to me." Dad mused.

"Please, Philip." She shakes her head like she's so done with us. "I'm just trying to convey my feelings to her. What's so hypocritical about a mother talking to her daughter?"

My dad chuckles. 

Actually chuckles.

I can practically see the fumes coming out of mom's ears when she hears that sound.

"There she goes throwing around the M word." He chuckles some more, and I had to grip the railing behind me to ground myself because oh my god, this is going to blow over so bad. "You're here trying to convey your feelings while you're completely ignoring the feelings of your daughter."

"I'm not ignoring her feelings. She just doesn't know what's right for her." She throws her hand in the air as if we simply can't understand her logical point.

Dad takes a look at me before a smile takes over his face. "Caroline, believe me, she knows what's best for her." He looks over to where Chase is standing and trails his eyes over him. "She's already making better choices. Choices that even you and I couldn't make for her."

My mom starts to speak, but Chase clears his throat, interrupting her. She throws him an irritated look before raising her eyebrow.

"I think this is a private conversation and maybe I should leave." He gestures to the door with his thumb and jerks his head.

"For once, you thought right, Chase. Please leave." Dad tells him in a firm voice.

Nodding his head rigidly, Chase walks towards the door, but right before he's about to step out the threshold, Dad calls out to him, making him turn around.

"If I see you around Iris again or even hear that you tried to approach her, physically or telephonically, I'll gladly do what Iris stopped me from doing all those years ago. You just might lose a limb or two in that process." He says and even from so far away, I could see Chase's eyes go wide. He knows Dad's talking about the night I found him cheating on me. "Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir." And with that, he's out the door and hopefully, out of my life.

For real this time.

Turning back to my mother, he smiles slightly. "So, where were we?"

"Oh my god, Philip. You are getting on my last fucking nerves." Mom's voice is filled with edge and I know she's going to burst any second now.

"Do I look like I care, Caroline?" Dad shrugged, riling Mom even more.

"Listen to me, Philip..." She starts but is cut off by Dad.

"No, Caroline. Today, you're gonna listen to me. What I did was a horrible thing and both of us have been paying for my mistake ever since, but it's not fair of you to dump all that on Iris. She doesn't deserve a selfish mother like you who only calls her when she wants something or a cowardly father like me who stood behind his mistake for the longest time and refused to take a stand for her. She's doing better than she ever has, and I'm not going to let you ruin it for her. She took a stand for you by cutting off ties with me and even then, you abandoned her. So, neither of us has any right to barge into her life and make choices for her."

For the smallest second, Mom's eyes widen and a shocked look takes over her features before she composes herself.

Breathing deeply, she slowly says, "Philip, she's my daughter."

"Yes, she is. And she was also your daughter when you didn't call her on her birthday or when you made her go to her college alone or when you forced her to get back together with the dumbass of the century."

"You have no idea what you're saying." She looks at him with narrowed.

"Maybe I don't, but I'm pretty sure she does." He tilts his head towards me. "Don't you, Iris? Don't you want your mother to stay away from your life and let you breathe?"

My eyes jump from my father to my mother, both of whom have made their own share of mistakes, but one of them caused a lot more hurt than the other. One of them took every chance to repair our relationship, while the other only cared about their needs and wants.

Taking a deep breath, I look at my mom, meeting her stare as she waits for me to tell her that Dad is wrong, "Yeah, I think it's better if you stay away from my life, Mom."

She stares at me dumbfounded before her features tighten. "There you go, being selfish all over again."

"Yes Mom, maybe I'm being selfish but for once, I'm completely okay with that. I did a lot of things to please you, but that just never happens. So, I want my happiness now."

My dad looks between the two of us as Mom and I stare at each other for a long period, "While we are talking about happiness, maybe it's time you and I get a divorce, Caroline."

Her head jerks towards my dad with a speed that gives me a whiplash. As his words register in her head, I see true fear flash in her eyes. "Divorce? Are you kidding me? Are you deliberately trying to burn my reputation today, Philip? What will I say to everyone? They think we're happy. Why are we getting a divorce?" She rambles on.

Dad simply shrugs. "What did you think, Caroline? That we'll go forever with this ruse? A divorce is the ultimate step in our situation. You should've thought about that."

Sighing out heavily, I see my mother's ego snap back into its place. She isn't going to beg my dad to not take a divorce. "If you want a divorce, then you'll get a divorce. I'm not going to fall over my knees and beg you to protect my reputation."

"Perfect. 'Cause I'm counting on it."

With a last glare towards the both of us, she turns around and leaves us standing on the balcony, alone.

For a long while, neither of us say anything, too amazed by everything that took place tonight. Again, it's my father who breaks the awkward silence by clearing his throat. He turns sideways to face me, and I mimic his position to meet his eyes.

"Look..." He starts saying but stops when I wrap my arms around him.

It takes him a few moments to react, but slowly, he wraps his arms around my shoulder before placing a light kiss on my head.

Pulling away, with a voice full of emotions, I say, "Thank you. For always being there, even when I pushed you away."

Squeezing my shoulder, he smiles at me warmly, "You could never push me so far away that I'll not look out for you."

"I know that now." I look at my feet as I think over my next words. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you."

"No, no." He says and I look up to see his brows furrowed with a sad smile on his face as he shakes his head. "I'm sorry for everything I did that messed up your life. Your anger was valid. It still is if you wanna stay mad at me."

I shake my head, swiftly, "No, I'm not mad at you anymore."

I know what he did was wrong, but as I said to Chase, he deserves a second chance. So does my father. Nothing in the world could erase his mistake, but the fact that he acknowledges it and is ready to repent for it definitely soothes the ache a little.

"I'd like to be a part of your life again. Not control it, but just be a part of your story." He tells me, softly, almost as if he's scared I'll push him away as soon as he says this.

I smile before saying, "I'd like that too."

He mirrors my smile before hugging me again. I hug him back as tightly as I could and close my eyes, sighing. I missed him. I'm not brave enough to say that out loud, yet, but somewhere deep in my heart, those words echo as I finally feel my world calm down.

A voice I'm all too familiar with makes me pull away. "Iris?"

Dad and I turn to look at the door at the same time before he looks back at me. "I'd leave you to him. I hope I'll see you again before you leave for LA?"

Bringing my eyes back to him, I nod, "Yeah."

"Well then, have a good night." He tells me, but I narrow my eyes with an amused smile. "I mean, whatever's left of it." He corrects himself, making me chuckle.

With a kiss on my temple, he walks off towards the door and my eyes move to Ethan, who's standing there looking at me with confusion written all over his face. On his way out, Dad squeezes Ethan's shoulder and closes the door behind him.

Ethan walks towards me and scans me from head to toe, checking to see if I'm okay. He comes to a standstill in front of me and cups my cheek, making me close my eyes and lean into his hand, finally feeling my body relax at his contact. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I nod at him with a smile. "In fact, I think I'm better now."

"I'm glad." Pulling his hand back, he wraps his arms around my waist and tugs me towards him. Breathing in his familiar cologne, I rest my head on his chest. "I was worried sick when I saw Chase leave and you still didn't come back."

"Family drama. Mom and dad joined us."

"What happened?"

"Long story." I sigh.

"Do you wanna tell me during the car ride?" He asks, making me pull back, but he still keeps me pressed against him with his hands intertwined behind my back.

"Car ride?"

"I have something planned for us, away from here." He tells me, but also looks a little nervous. "But if you wanna go back and sleep, we can do that too."

"Sleep and miss the beautiful surprise Mr. Knight has prepared for me?" I pretend to contemplate before smiling, "No chance in hell."

He chuckles before pressing his lips against mine in a light kiss. "Let's go, then."

⤎❁⤏

Hey guys! It's been a hot minute since I posted. No more personal life excuses but yeah, honestly shit went down in my personal life. So, there's that. How're y'all doing?

How did you like this update? Did we like the final confrontation between Mr. and Mrs. Reed? Who are we siding with? Honestly, I love Papa Reed's subtle bitch side. 

Fun fact: Next chapter is the last chapter before the epilogue. 

Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter. Also, follow me on Wattpad and Instagram (spiicychoco) for more.

QOTD: Anything that's a huge red flag for you other than the obvious ones?

Stay Safe, Stay Grateful!