Adison’s POV
Time stopped. Dad stood in the doorway looking like someone had taken everything he believed about the world and set it on fire. His face went from confusion to comprehension to rage in three seconds flat.
"What the hell is going on here?" His voice was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that preceded hurricanes.
"Dad, I can explain—"
"Explain?" The word came out strangled. "Explain what? That you've been sleeping with my best friend? That Jake has been—" He couldn't finish. Couldn't even say it.
"Richard—" Jake started.
"Don't." Dad held up a hand. Shaking. "Don't you fucking dare speak to me."
He stepped into the room. Jake moved off the bed, pulling on jeans fast. I grabbed the sheet tighter. This was a nightmare. Had to be. Any second I'd wake up.
"You moved up the timeline," Jake said. Trying for calm. "You weren't supposed to be here until—"
"Charles wanted to see his fiancée. Pushed to come early." Dad's eyes were black holes. "Said he missed Adison. Wanted to surprise her. So I flew in last night. Drove out this morning thinking—" His voice cracked. "Thinking I'd find my daughter. Not this."
"Actually—" I started.
"Get dressed." He didn't look at me. Kept his eyes locked on Jake like if he looked away Jake might disappear. "Now."
I didn't move. Couldn't.
"Now, Adison!"
The roar made me flinch. I'd never heard him yell like that. Not once intwenty-one years.
Jake stepped between us. Protective instinct kicking in without thought. "Don't talk to her like—"
Dad's fist connected with Jake's jaw before anyone saw it coming.
Jake staggered back. Hit the dresser. Hand going to his face.
"Dad, no!" I screamed.
But Dad wasn't hearing anything. He went after Jake—forty years of rage and betrayal and shock pouring out in violent motion. Grabbed Jake by the shirt. Slammed him against the wall.
"You didn't get Elena!" Dad's voice was raw. Guttural. "So you thought you'd take our daughter? You sick bastard. You're raping our daughter—is that what this is? Is that what you've been doing out here?"
"It's not—" Jake tried.
Another punch. This one to the ribs. Jake doubled over.
"Stop it!" I was out of bed. Sheet wrapped around me. Trying to get between them. "Stop!"
"Get back!" Dad shoved me away. Not hard. Just enough. "This is between me and him."
"I love her." Jake's voice was hoarse. Blood on his lip. "Richard, listen to me. I love—"
"Love?" Dad laughed. Bitter. Broken. "You don't know what love is. You've been obsessed with Elena for twenty years. Now you're fucking her daughter like she's some kind of consolation prize?"
"It's not like that—"
"Then what is it like?" Dad's hands were on Jake's throat now. Not choking. Just—holding. Shaking. "Tell me. Make me understand how my best friend—the man I trusted with my daughter's safety—decided to seduce her. How you decided that was acceptable."
"She came to me," Jake said quietly. Honest. "She chose—"
Wrong answer. Dad's fist came again. Jake's head snapped back.
"She'stwenty-one!" The words tore out of Dad. "You're forty-three! You knew her when she was a child. I brought her to this ranch when she was six years old and she fed your horses and you—" He stopped. Couldn't continue. "How long? How long have you been—"
"Few weeks," Jake admitted.
"Weeks." Dad released him. Stepped back. Breathing hard. "Weeks you've been lying to me. Calling me. Updating me on her progress. Telling me how well she was adjusting. And the whole time you were—"
"It wasn't planned," Jake said. "It just—happened. We tried to fight it."
"Not hard enough."
The words were ice.
Dad turned to me finally. Really looked at me. I watched him see everything—the rumpled bed, Jake's shirt on the floor, the obvious evidence of what we'd been doing.
"Get dressed," he said again. Calmer now. Colder. "Pack your things. We're leaving."
"No." My voice was small. "Dad, listen—"
"There's nothing to listen to." He was already moving toward the door. "You're coming home. Today. Now."
"I'm an adult—"
"Living on my money. In my world. Following my rules." He looked at me like he'd never seen me before. "You want to be an adult? Fine. Come home. Marry Charles like you agreed. Or get cut off completely. Choose."
"That's not fair—"
"Fair?" He laughed again. That same bitter sound. "You want to talk about fair? I saved his life." He pointed at Jake. "Pulled him out of a flood when we were kids. Invested in this ranch when he was about to lose everything. Called him my brother. And this—" His voice broke. "This is how he repays that debt? By taking my daughter?"
Jake's jaw was set. Blood still on his lip. "I didn't take anything. She's not property, Richard. She made her own choice."
"She'stwenty-one years old with no life experience outside Manhattan society. You manipulated—"
"I didn't manipulate anything." Jake's voice was steel now. Anger finally surfacing. "She's brilliant and strong and chose this herself. Chose me. And if you can't see that she's her own person capable of making decisions—"
"Don't." Dad's finger was in Jake's face. "Don't you dare lecture me about my daughter. I know who she is. What she needs. And it's not some middle-aged rancher using her to get back at me for Elena."
"This has nothing to do with Elena—"
"Everything has to do with Elena!" Dad was shouting again. "You've been in love with her ghost for twenty years. Now you've found a replacement who looks just like her and you think—what? That this makes you even? That taking Adison settles the score?"
"I love her." Jake's voice was quiet. Certain. "Not as a replacement. Not as revenge. I love Adison for who she is. And if you can't understand that—"
"What I understand is you betrayed me. Betrayed forty years of friendship for—" He stopped. Looked at me. Back at Jake. "I'm calling the police. Statutory rape. Corruption of a minor—"
"She'stwenty-one—"
"You were in a position of authority. I entrusted her to your care. You abused that trust. There are laws—"
"Call them." Jake's voice was flat. "I'm not backing down. I love her and I'll fight for her. Even if that means—"
"It means nothing." Dad cut him off. "Because she's leaving. Right now. And you're going to let her go. Or I will destroy you. I'll call every investor. Pull every penny I ever put into this place. I'll make sure you lose everything—the ranch, your reputation, your freedom. Everything."
Silence. Jake stared at Dad. Dad stared back. Forty years of friendship crumbling in real time.
"Adison." Dad's voice was controlled now. Scary controlled. "Get. Dressed. Now."
"Dad, please—" I was crying. When had I started crying? "Just listen—"
"There's nothing to listen to. You're coming home. We'll deal with this there." He looked at Jake one last time. "Stay away from my daughter. If you contact her, I'll make good on every threat. Understand?"
Jake said nothing. Just stood there. Bleeding. Defeated. But his eyes found mine and I saw—something. Promise maybe. Or goodbye. Couldn't tell which.
"Adison. Move."
I didn't want to. Wanted to fight. Wanted to scream that this was my choice, my life, my decision.
But Dad grabbed my arm. Not gentle. Not rough. Just—firm. Unyielding.
"We're leaving. Now."
He dragged me toward the door. I looked back at Jake. Memorizing him. His bloody lip. His devastated eyes. The way he stood there like someone had taken everything from him again.
"Jake—"
"Now, Adison!"
And then we were out. Door slamming. Dad's hand on my arm pulling me down the hall. Away from Jake. Away from the only choice I'd ever made for myself.
Away from everything.