“You’d better make sure she knows that,” he says as he stands and buttons his coat. “I have a bride at home that’s in tears because the thought of you two divorcing has her worried about what’s going to happen on what’s supposed to be the most important day of our lives. And she cares about you both and hates seeing you like this. Fix it.” He points a finger at me before pulling me in for a hug.
“Just in case though, make sure to have my eulogy ready. I have to tell my parents that this marriage was all a lie at first.”
He snorts. “If you think they didn’t already know that, you’re dumber than I thought.”
* * *
“How are you feeling, Dad?” I ask as I sit at the dining room table with my parents the next night, preparing to drop a few bombs on them that have been threatening to explode for weeks now.
“Alright. Not one-hundred percent, but getting there.” His small smile has me and my mom forcing out one of our own.
“And did you take your medication today?”
He quirks a brow at me. “Yes. Why?”
I set my fork down and move to wipe my mouth with my napkin. “Because I want to make sure that what I tell you next doesn’t give you another heart attack.”
I practiced my speech all day in preparation for this moment, but now that I’m here, I’m afraid to watch my father breach death again.
“Hayes?” my mother questions, placing her hand over the center of her chest. “What’s going on?”
Earlier, I decided to opt for the rip the band-aid-off kind of approach, so I let the words flow out of my mouth without another moment’s pause. “Waverly and I were drunk when we got married in Vegas. I wasn’t in love with her then, but I am now. But she wants to divorce me. We had agreed to stay married for six months so she could start her career without a scandal attached to her name, and so I could convince you that I could handle being CEO of the company by committing to her. But I’m here to tell you tonight that I can’t. I don’t fucking want it. That job has ruined my life. It’s ruined my marriage, and now I need to fight to get Waverly back because she’s the only thing that matters to me and I was a fool that let her down.”
By the time I’m done speaking, I realize I barely took one breath throughout that entire spiel. My mother’s mouth is wide open, and my father is just glaring at me from across the table.
But then they both do something I wasn’t anticipating—they fucking smile.
“Well, you were right, Alec. It took him a little longer than we thought for him to figure it out, but I’m impressed. You know our son well,” my mother says, smiling from ear to ear still.
“Yeah, he’s not a dummy. I mean, if he’s messed up the situation with Waverly, he might have been stupid, but I have faith that he can fix it.”
“Hold on,” I say, putting my hand in the air. “What are you two talking about?”
My father chuckles and my mother just shakes her head. “If you think for one second that we thought your impromptu marriage was real, you’re out of your mind, son,” my father explains as I sink back into my chair. Fucking A—Wes was right.
“But then we saw you two together, and I knew there was something there,” my mother adds. “So, we played along, hoping you’d both come to your senses because this may not have started out real between the two of you, but you can’t tell me that what you feel for her isn’t real. I know love. I have it,” she says, glancing over at my father wistfully. “And you love her, Hayes. She’s the one.”
A spark of purpose blooms in my chest. “I know. I’m so fucking in love with her and I can’t believe that it happened. But she’s leaving me.”
“Why?” my dad asks.
“Because when I took over for you a month ago, I forgot what was really important. I became a man distracted by my job. I fell back into my old habits. My focus shifted on what I used to think was the most important thing in my life, instead of realizing that that aspect changed when Waverly entered the picture. But I let her down more than once. I made her feel like second best when she’s nothing but the first and only thing I care about anymore. I just didn’t want to let you down because you know I hate failing, but I failed her too, and I think that’s worse.”
He shakes his head, glaring across the table at me. “You could never let me down, except maybe by not realizing what you’ve admitted tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
He flicks his eyes over to my mom, and she nods at him. “Did you know that your mother and I almost got divorced when you were about two?”
My stomach drops with his confession. “What? No.”
“It’s true, Hayes. I did the same thing you did—got buried in work and forgot what truly matters in life. I was coming home late, I was never here, and I missed all the important milestones in your life up until that point. Your mother was fed up with me. It didn’t matter that the company was cresting the multi-million dollar mark at that point. The money didn’t matter. My time with her and you did, and she helped me see that by threatening to leave.”
“Holy shit,” I say, realizing how monumental this revelation is. “So what did you do? How did you handle the responsibility so you could be home more?”
“I delegated. I relied on the people I paid and trusted.
