Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Author’s POV

Past continues...

Twelve years old Chase was sitting on his knees in front of a grave with tears flowing non stop from his eyes.

The name on the grave read Valerie, his sister. The fact that he won’t be able to see his sister ever again was ripping his heart in millions of pieces.

The only person he loved with his whole heart after his mother passed away was gone now and he wasn’t even there in her last moment.

The poor kid was sobbing uncontrollably in front of his sister’s grave.

He kept apologizing to her in his heart for not being able to protect her, for not being there for her when she needed him the most.

He was in the middle of self blaming when he heard someone approaching near him from behind.

“Chase…” Frank said and his voice cracked. In an instant Chase’s eyes turned cold, his jaw tightened and his hands curled into tight fists.

And everything that has happened since the day Albert came to his house and before he went to juvie started playing in his mind.

Flashback…

Chase was sent to juvenile detention center after stabbing Albert.

When police and Frank entered into the house and saw Chase standing there with piece of glass in his hand which he used to stab Albert, they were shocked.

Frank was stunned to see the expressions of anger and hate on Chase’s face. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

On the other hand Albert started playing dumb as if he was the victim in the whole situation.

“Thank god Frank you are here” these were the first words Albert said while coughing blood after police and Frank came there.

Chase was shocked when he found out that Albert was his father’s old friend. Both of them went to the same High school and College when they were young.

But he didn’t know that this fact will work out as a disadvantage for him.

When Chase tried to explain what has happened and why he attacked Albert, Frank didn’t believe him.

At first Frank couldn’t believe what his son was telling him. Never in his wildest imaginations he thought Albert could do something like this when he talked to him on the phone and invited him to his house.

Yes, Frank was the one who invited Albert to their house. They got in touch after so many years and Frank wanted to catch up with his old friend while having some drinks.

But Frank didn’t know that it was the same man who was fired from his job because of his son. Hell, he didn’t know anything about his son at all and the lack of attention to his children was the main reason behind it.

When Chase told Frank that Albert was trying to molest Valerie, he was taken aback. He couldn’t actually believe his words but he also believed that his son won’t lie about something like this.

So he decided to talk to Valerie who was still stunned and not stable after everything that she went through. And seeing her brother stab someone for her sake shook her from inside.

When Frank asked Valerie if Chase is telling the truth, she wanted to tell everything truthfully to his father.

But Albert’s words which he used to threaten her when no one was paying attention to them rang into her mind, “If you open your mouth and tell anyone about what happened here in this house today, you won’t be able to see your brother alive”.

These words were causing her insides to tremble in fear. She thought about telling the police how he was threatening her and tell them truth but she was scared for her brother’s life too.

She saw what kind of psychopath Albert was and she didn’t want to risk her brother’s life by going against him.

So she told her father that Albert didn’t do anything Chase was accusing him of.

She thought that even if she lied, his father will definitely save Chase for stabbing Albert. After all Frank was a prosecutor.

On the other hand Albert who was taken to the hospital had already made up a story which was convincing enough for Frank.

He told Frank that he was sitting in the living room of his house waiting for him, when Chase entered into the house completely bruised up.

This explained why Chase was injured so badly and why he was bleeding. This lie covered the fact how brutally Albert beat Chase behind Frank’s back.

Then he continued the story by saying, “I just asked Chase how did he get hurt but he replied by saying that, ‘that is none of your business’”.

“And when I told him to not do anything which will harm him and his father’s reputation, he got all riled up. He started breaking things and when I tried to stop him, he stabbed me in anger” Albert told Frank.

It was as if he knew everything about Chase and all of his weaknesses, because his lie worked.

If it was someone else in place of Chase then Frank would have never believed Albert’s words.

But in Frank’s eyes, Chase’s case was different.

He has been getting multiple complaints against his son from his school, telling him that Chase has been getting into useless fights.

He also heard that Chase had beat up few of the senior students in his school.

Of course he didn’t dig into the matter or asked his son why he did that. He believed their words and tried to cover the matters using his power.

He scolded Chase for getting into fights and for not controlling his anger. He was also against the idea of Chase joining the boxing club.

He knew his son was showing the symptoms of anger management issues.

And he believed that it was the reason why Chase stabbed Albert for no reason.

He thought that Chase was lying to him to not get in trouble after losing the control over his anger and doing something so horrible.

That is why Frank decided to punish his son for doing something so horrendous and lying to cover up his act.

He decided not to help his son and send him to youth detention center to pay for his crime.

He thought it will make Chase repent on his actions and in future he will try to control his anger and think before taking any action.

But he didn’t know that by doing this he was putting both of his children in danger.

Once Chase was sent to Juvie, Frank started going to his work as usual leaving his daughter alone at house.

Valerie was very traumatized after what happened. She was feeling guilty too towards her brother.

She even contemplated telling everything to her father when she realized her father was not planning on helping Chase this time.

But she was still scared of Albert’s threat.

One week had passed since the day of the incident when Valerie was alone at her house.

She was waiting for her father to return. She has decided that she will tell everything to her father. Also the fact that Albert was blackmailing her using Chase’s life.

She believed once she tells her father, he will definitely protect both Chase and her from that monster.

She was regretting not opening up and telling the truth since the beginning. But tonight she is going to correct her mistake.

The doorbell of the their house rang and she sucked in a deep breath to prepare herself.

She ran towards the door and opened it to find not her father but the monster himself standing in front of the door with an evil smirk plastered on his lips.

“Hi again…” he said and everything went downhill from there.

Flashback end…

Chase came out of his thoughts when Frank spoke again.

“Chase… Dad is…” he started but was cut off when Chase growled in anger, “Don’t..”.

He closed his eyes to calm himself. He doesn’t want to lose his temper in front of his sister’s grave.

He got up on his feet and turned around to look at the man who was staring at him with guilt in his eyes, along with tears.

Chase shook his head in no and continued, “Don’t call yourself Dad, because you have never been one”.

“I am sorry, son… I should have believed you… I should have…” Frank started again feeling pathetic but Chase didn’t want to hear anything coming out of his mouth.

“You are sorry? Are you really?” he asked while glaring at his father with furious eyes.

“And even if you are really sorry, can you bring my sister back? Will she come back to me if you shed those tears now, huh?” Chase asked.

Frank couldn’t stop the tears from falling down on his face. He couldn’t say anything. He didn’t even have any words to make any excuses.

“You can not. You can’t bring my mother back to me. You can’t bring my sister back to me. You can do nothing”

“All you ever do is come when everything is over, when everything is ruined”

“Just like you came after the doctors announced that mom was no more. Just like you were not there when that monster was killing my sister” Chase’s voice cracked in the end.

“I was not there with her because you didn’t trust your son’s words and believed that monster. But where were you when that bastard r*ped my sister to death” Chase shouted.

“Didn’t I tell you to not leave her alone? I told you that it was okay if you don’t want to trust my words. I told you that I don’t mind even if you send me to juvenile detention center, but…” he paused to swallow the lump in his throat.

“But I requested only one thing from you. I requested you to not leave her alone and pay attention to her, to protect her. But you… you couldn’t even do that”.

Frank fell on his knees as his legs lost all the strength and he couldn’t hold all e his weight on them. He was also crying bitterly.

“Can you imagine how scared she must have been at that time? She must have been hoping for you to come and save her from him. But as always you came when there was nothing left to be saved. When everything got destroyed” Chase shouted at the top of his lungs starting to lose his control to his anger.

Frank took every accusations his son was throwing his way. He knew he was wrong. Him not paying attention to his kids, him not being there for them when they needed him was the reason why things were like this right now.

He lost his daughter. He scarred the heart of his one and only son with a wound that can not be healed easily.

“So… don’t… call yourself Dad when you abandoned your kids first. Because I don’t consider you one”.

Chase whispered to his father with broken heart and turned on his heels to leave the place, leaving his father there alone crying in agony of losing not only one child but both at once.

Past end…

***

His past is the reason why Chase hates his father. The reason why he can’t forget what happened in the past and why he can’t forgive his father.

The reason why he still suffers due to nightmares. The reason how he turned into a monster he thinks he is today.

This is the reason why he was beating the guy Max in the hallway of the college building, when Cara saw him on her first day of the college.

When the boyfriend of the girl Lana, who Max was trying to r*pe in Law’s party, told everything to Chase and asked him for help, Chase couldn’t ignore the matter.

Usually Chase never interferes in other people’s business. But Max was a son of a very reputable person, so taking action against him was almost impossible.

And this is what drove Chase crazy. Because he remembered how Albert got away after molesting his sister, just because he was friends with his father.

And the second time he got caught and put behind bars but it happened after his sister died so wrongfully.

That is why Chase decided to help Lana and her boyfriend and beat Max up. He also threatened him to confess what he did and get punished for the same.

Chase still suffers from anger management issues. He still can’t control his anger even after attending multiple sessions with psychological experts.

Medicines does not help him control his temper. That is why he considers himself a monster who is controlled and driven by his anger.

He thinks he can’t change for anyone. That is the reason why he was planning on breaking up with Cara, because he believes he won’t ever be able to take control over his anger.

He was afraid that he won’t consider her feelings and get into fights even after knowing that it will hurt his Cara.

But to his surprise, he is changing unknowingly. He still gets angry but he tries his best to not show it in front of her.

He doesn’t know that she holds a certain power over him which will help him change for better.

Which will make him realize that he is not a monster. That he also has a right to love someone, that he is capable of protecting the one he loves.

She will make him believe that he is a person who is worthy enough to be loved by others.