Chapter 15

- Ace King -

Since Mia declined my offer, and I had nothing else to do, I ended up going to visit my father. I didn't really want to go, but I had to follow orders. There were multiple questions I wanted to ask him, and I don't even know where to start. What I do know, is that I wasn't going to leave with unanswered questions.

I sighed heavily. Let's just get this over with.

Right after Mia said she couldn't hang out today, I signed up to go visit my father, filling in the necessary paperwork and such. Thankfully, I wasn't on the waiting list for too long, and I was notified that I was able to visit my father today.

After a long drive, I finally arrived at my destination; the prison my dad was being held at. Making sure that there was nothing valuable I could lose in my car, I locked it and made my way into the building.

Walking to the front desk, I gave the police officer my visitor application as well as showing them my ID. She kept the papers and gave me back my ID before telling me to go through security. All I needed to do was go through a metal detector, but what really caught my interest was the drug-sniffing dogs present on the other side.

They looked guarded as if they were about to pounce on someone. Their eyes followed each person that passed by them, sniffing the air for the slightest smell of any kind of drug.

Passing the test of the metal detector and the dogs, an officer was waiting for me on the other side. He smiled.

"Finally decided to see your father, huh?"

"Unfortunately," I answered Ian. He was a good friend of my father. He and dad go way back into high school.

I wonder what Ian must think about having to see one of his good friends in prison.

Leading the way, I followed behind Ian, looking at the several individuals waiting to meet the person they were here for.

"He's waiting for you through these doors," Ian said. "You know the rules?"

"Yeah."

"Good luck," he spoke quickly before opening the door. The first thing I was when I walked in was my dad staring down at his cuffed hands that were stuck through a loop on a metal desk. He looked tired, and much more pale remembered.

Probably from the lack of sunlight. The door shut behind me with a bit of a slam, and although there were no officers in the room, I knew they were watching. Making sure that the visit was orderly.

He didn't look up, which kind of pissed me off, but I didn't say a word. I walked up to the chair at the desk across from where he was sitting, pulling the chair out rather roughly than I should have. I saw him flinch for the first time. Sitting down, I crossed my arms, waiting for him to speak up.

He chuckled bitterly. "You must be pissed off."

"No shit," I scoffed.

He still wouldn't look at me.

He cleared his throat. "How's your mother?"

"She wasn't doing so great for a while. She fine now."

Dad sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for everything. For involving you in my mess instead of dealing with it myself. I was a coward."

"Yeah, you were," I replied, annoyed. "If you had been more responsible that night, instead of cheating on mom with your ex-girlfriend, then maybe our family wouldn't have fallen apart. And your excuse for doing that was because you were drunk? It was a choice, dad.
Not a mistake."

His eyes finally locked with mine, and with just a glance, anyone would be able to see the guilt evident in eyes. It was clear as day. I knew he loved mom, more than anything in the world, but what he did broke mom's heart and trust for him. And I don't think I'd ever forgive him for that.

Thinking about what my father did, it made me think about Mia, and how I had done exactly what he did. I hurt Mia, I kept secrets from her, and in the end, I was the one responsible for breaking her heart. She no longer trusts me, just like how mom no longer trusts dad. I had done exactly what my father had done. It's just as they say.

Like father, like son.

"When Mia visited you, she said you wouldn't tell her why you continued with Mr Summer's plan even after Mom knew you cheated on her," I stated, making him tense.

"Would you tell me?"

He exhaled. "It's complicated."

"You've already used that excuse."

"Ace, I'm sorry—"

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," I interrupted before I stood up and left the room.

x-X-x

"I heard you went to see you, father, today," Mom said.

"Who told you?"

"Levi." She smiled.

Mom was out for the day and came home once it was dinner time. She'd been busy today since she had to run the company in replacement for dad. I'm not too worried about her. Mom knows how to run a business just as well as dad did. The company hasn't been doing so well since dad's arrest, and mom trying her best to make sure everything was back in order. I've helped her as much as I could, but she'd always say she was fine.

When coming home, she cooked dinner for us, but I wasn't in the mood to eat after a few bites. So, I sat there playing with my food, waiting for my mom to finish up.

"How are you and Mia?"

I didn't answer right away, making my mom raise a brow. I sighed. "We're kind of... on a break?"

"What happened?"

"We, uh, just got into a fight," I answered.

"Ace—"

"I'm fine, mom. I'll find a way to make it up to her."

A small smile made its away across her face before she stood up with her plate in her hands. Walking over to me, she grabbed mine and kissed my head. "I'm sure you will."

I helped my mom clean the dishes and put everything away. Just as I headed upstairs to my room, she stopped me.

"How's your father, by the way?"

I rolled my eyes. "He's fine, I guess. Why?"

"I'm planning to visit him tomorrow."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

She chuckled lightly. "No, it's alright."

My brows knitted together in concern. "Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine, Ace."

x-X-x

I paced around my room, waiting for her to answer the phone, but it went back to voicemail.

This is the fifth time this morning. She's never going to answer.

Two weeks have passed, and whenever I asked Mia if we could hang out, she always says she was busy. Ben told me that she'd say yes eventually, but I was starting to lose hope. If she didn't want to be with me, then I'll respect her decision, even though it would break my heart.

Fortunately, Sarah was starting to warm up to me. She was still annoyed with me, but because I was putting an effort into trying to fix things with Mia, she liked me a little more. Sarah said she'd try to convince Mia to spend some time with me since I still had some explaining to do.

Just as I was about to give up, my phone suddenly started to ring, causing me to drop it in surprise. "Fuck," I muttered, quickly picking it up and checking to see that it was Mia.

"You called?"

"Uh, yeah! I was, uh, wondering, maybe, if you were free today? I mean, if you're not that's totally fine," I chuckled nervously.

There was a moment of silence, making me feel more anxious as the seconds passed. "Yeah, I'm free today."

I grinned. "Do you want me to come over?"

"I um, was actually thinking of going out today. Pick me up at one?"

"I'll be there."

••• - ••• - •••

I'm sorry this chapter is so short 😔

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