Chapter 27

Iris Parker

I found Jace crying inside their closet. 

The triplets had been playing outside when all of a sudden, he left and hadn't returned from then on. I was more than terrified when I couldn't find him. I felt like he was taken away from me. 

I broke into cold sweats, my heart jumped out of my chest and the strength abandoning me. 

I searched the whole house and it was only at my second time going in the triplets' room when I heard little sniffs from the closet. 

As I opened the doors, I prayed with all my heart that he was inside and God must have heard my prayer because there he was. A great wave of relief dawned me and I could finally breathe. 

I rushed inside and hugged him. "Oh my goodness, Jace! I thought you were gone. Don't do that again!" I said, unintentionally raising my voice. But instead, his cries became louder. 

I let go of him to take a good look and tried wiping his tears away. What's going on? Why is he like this? 

My heartbeat was fast at the same time warm, the familiar hurting was there. 

"Jace, baby. What's wrong? Why are you crying?" I ask, trying to calm him down at the same time. 

However, he kept crying. Both of his hands were trying to wipe his tears but it was useless since his tears kept coming. "You can tell me, baby. What's wrong?" I tried again. This time, his ragged breathing was calming a bit.

"I--I want to s-see daddy." he said. His eyes were red of tears and his voice choked as he told me that. My heart sank and bled. 

Has it been that bad? If it has, then I have no choice. I have to call him... even if it's hard for me. 

"Okay, okay. Don't worry. I'll call him, okay? He'll come right away." I told him, trying my best at feigning a smile. His breathing has steadied and I wiped his tears away as he put his hands down. 

"Is that true, mommy? Can we really see him?" 

I nodded immediately. "Of course. Now, why don't you go downstairs with your brothers while I make the call?" 

Jace nodded slowly and left the closet while I grabbed my phone from my pocket and dialled Liam's number. I waited for a few rings before finally, I heard his deep baritone voice from the other line. 

"Hello?"

-----

I sat alone in my room, looking outside the window. I didn't cry, no. I was the one who was being selfish the whole time and in the process, I was just hurting the ones I promised myself never to hurt. 

I already knew it, but I ignored it. Again. It seems that I never learn from the same mistakes, do I? That's why I keep making the same mistakes. 

It's true. I can't just give the triplets something only to take it away. They should not be the ones to suffer from Liam and my issues. It's unfair to them and unfair to him. 

Right now, they were at Venialgo to spend the next few days with him. I didn't even see him when he came here. 

I got scared because even if I would never admit it, I missed him terribly so much too. When I heard his voice from the other line, I wanted to tell him how much I missed him, how much I needed him. I got scared because if I saw him again, I probably would ask him to take me back. 

I probably would've told him how much I still... loved him. 

My love for him scares me because if he hurts me again in the future, if he uses me again, I might just turn a blind eye and keep loving him as if he was the most perfect person I've ever met. I've hit an all-time low, haven't I? 

I heard a knock and soon enough, the door opened and lights were opened. 

"Well, the house is certainly much more quiet." my dad joked. I turned to him and smiled. I sat up to face him as he sat at the chair in front of me. 

"Yeah, it will be for a few days." I say quietly and looked outside, avoiding his eyes. I knew he felt bad for me, I could see it very well in his eyes. 

And it was silent for a few minutes. He wanted to say something but he wasn't sure, so I waited.

"Do you know why our company hasn't died completely back then? Why, until today, somehow it's still running and I'm still the major shareholder?" he started. I couldn't help but furrow my eyebrows at him. 

"Didn't you try to save the company from mommy's insurance?" I ask. It was her last wish also. My dad smiled and nodded. 

"I was going to, but no. I kept that money for you. I just hope she doesn't get mad at me for that." he chuckled to himself and rubbed his knee. "I want to tell you a story, love. And I'm going to need you to listen very carefully. Is that a deal?" 

I wasn't sure, but I nodded anyways. 

"It was around five months after your mom died and one month after you disappeared. The company was in chaos, all the shares were getting sold at such a fast rate and I was losing everything I built. My partners and some friends have turned their back on me. I was at rock bottom. Your mom was gone and so were you. I've lost all reasons to live." I could notice the tears brimming his eyes and I had to hold back mine. "Everyday, it was getting harder to get up. It was getting harder to face the problems. Your mom wasn't there and you weren't there. I wanted to give up. I was going to. So through a few shady connections, I got my hands on a gun." I gasped and my eyes widened. 

"D-dad!" he chuckled lightly and I couldn't understand why.

"Just listen, love. So there I was one night in my room. Sitting in front of a gun, contemplating the life that I'd lived. I was ready to do it, Iris. But then I heard a commotion going on downstairs. I was quite irritated of being interrupted, but I had to check it. I was getting up from my chair when the door opened violently. Do you know who it was, Iris?" 

I thought for a while. "No." Again, my dad laughed knowingly. 

"It was Liam. That bastard son-in-law of mine rushed here to stop me from killing myself." My eyes widened in shock and I took a moment to let his words sink in. Liam came here? To stop my dad? "Well, it turns out that he had been keeping me followed and found out about the gun. Can you believe it?" he laughed out loud again when honestly, there was nothing to laugh about. 

"D-did he really do that?" I question through my shock. 

He nodded, taking his glasses off and wiping them. "We even got into a big fight after that. I blamed him for everything. I blamed him for your mother's death, for your disappearance, why my life was a mess. I punched him numerously, believe me, Iris. I gave him what he deserved. But he didn't even fight back. He just let me beat him up and when I stopped, he said 'Is that all?' That bastard." he laughed again. 

"After that, he bought back the shares that we owned and gave them back to me. The company wasn't as successful as it was when I got it back, but it was still running and making more than enough. For these past five years, he's been taking care of me in his own way." he says, a tone of finality in his voice indicating that his story had ended. 

I just sat there, thinking about everything that he had said. Was that true? Did Liam really do that? 

"I'm not asking you to get back with him, I'm just asking you to give him another chance." 

-----

Happy 💕's day y'all! I'm sorry it took me two weeks to update and wasn't able to respond to your comments. I've been through quite a few troubles. 

BUT HERE Y'ALL GO. 

What do you think of this chapter? Are y'all getting annoyed at Iris too? Haha, just joking. She has every reason to be how she is. Anyways, I'll be updating very soon so stay updated! And I'm also updating The Alpha Broke the Omega very soon so stay updated as well! 

Love y'all! 

-sky 💕

P.S (the end is very near also)