Chapter 17 - Breakdown

"Mom," Mr. Parker tried to stop her.

"Why? Am I not right, my son? Don't tell me that you still haven't learned your lesson?" She sarcastically said.

"Lucy, this is not the time," his dad whispered, trying to control his wife from making a scene.

She let out a fake laugh before looking at me again. "I'm sure that this girl just wants your fortune, Deckard. Don't let anyone fool you again."

I couldn't look at her in the eye so I just looked down. My heart was beating fast, probably because I'm nervous, thinking that in any moment now, she might embarrass me in front of hundreds of people.

"Liv is not like that, mom. So please, don't say those things to her." Mr. Parker tried to defend me. I wanted to tell him that I'm fine but it's like my mouth was forced to shut.

"I think it's too late for me to remind you again, Deckard. It's seems like this girl already played a trick on you. Why am I not surprised? You never failed to disappoint me anyway."

When those words came out from her mom's mouth, I froze on where I'm standing. Mr. Parker doesn't deserve to hear all of that. I didn't know that despite all of the hard works he made, his mom doesn't appreciate him like I expected.

"I know. You don't have to remind me about it every time we see each other," he answered before walking away.

Mr. Parker sighed in annoyance. "Lucy, what is wrong with you? You didn't have to say that to our son."

"He needs to grow up, Simon. If he thinks that what he's doing right now will make us proud, he's wrong. If only our daughter has his place, this won't happen."

"We need to leave now," Mr. Parker said, it seems like he's controlling his anger.

"Fine, I wasn't enjoying here anyway." Mrs. Parker walked away towards the elevator.

"I really wanted to talk to him right now," Mr. Parker said when he faced me. "But I don't think this is the right time."

"Don't worry, sir. I'll talk to him," I answered.

"Thank you, Liv. We must go."

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I assumed that he'll be in the balcony to have some fresh air. I held my dress with one hand because I might trip while I'm holding my purse on the other. As soon as I got in the balcony, I turned to find him. It wasn't that hard to see him because he's the only one in here. I let my dress fall out of my grip before I started walking towards him. He's holding a glass of bourbon while his other hand is in his pocket.

"Mr. Parker," I called him. He turned a bit for a second but I didn't see his face so I stood beside him, facing our front. "I won't ask if you're okay because I know you're not. I just wanted to know if there's anything I can do to help you feel well."

"I'm sorry, Liv. I'm sorry for what she said to you," he answered, ignoring my question.

"I'm fine, sir. You don't have to worry about it." He nodded and didn't say a thing after that. "I'm sorry if I don't have the words to lessen the stress you're feeling because-"

"Because you didn't experience being treated like that by your mother," he said, cutting me off. I slightly nodded before I glanced at him. "Because you don't deserve it as much as I do." He drank straight, leaving an empty glass.

"That's not true. Maybe it's just because your mom is upset. I'm sure she didn't mean what she said," I said, trying to give him hope.

He laughed bitterly. "She didn't mean? But why does she always throw it all away on my face every time we see each other?"

I probably don't know the answer to that yet, but I still wanted to make him think that his mom loves him. Maybe she's just upset of something.

"I don't know. But I want you to remember that she loves you no matter what," I explained which made him shake his head a bit.

"For the past few years, I'm starting to doubt that." A waiter came out from the event hall and asked Mr. Parker if he wants a drink. He grabbed a glass but before he could drink it, I took it away from his hand and put it back on the waiter's tray.

"You've had enough, sir. You still need to deliver your speech later." He can't be drunk before making a speech in front of many people tonight. I can't let him embarrass himself after what happened.

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The event already ended and thankfully, nothing went wrong. I didn't let him get drunk, that's why he delivered his speech very well. Now, I learned one thing about him. He's good with hiding his true emotions.

"Sir!" I chased Mr. Parker and luckily, he turned before entering the elevator.

"Liv, why are you running? Is something wrong?" He immediately asked me. I stood in front of him and like I said, he's taller than me even I'm already wearing high heels.

"Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you'll go home safe. Do you want me to call Rowan? I think it would be better for him to drive you home, Mr. Parker." It's already late and I think he can't drive on his own tonight.

"I'm fine, I can drive. I'm not drunk if that's what you're worried about. Come with me, I'll take you home." He signaled me to follow him inside the elevator but I held the top of his hand to make him stop from going in.

"I'm going home with Alice, sir. Are you sure you don't need someone to drive you home?" I asked again. I wanna make sure that he'll be okay.

He nodded to say 'yes'.

"Okay, then." I didn't take my eyes off him and he suddenly turned before entering the lift.

"You did a great job today, Liv." He smiled.

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