Chapter 10 No Longer My Son

"You're no longer my son."

Man, those words just wouldn't shut up in Elvano's head. Like an annoying ringtone you can't find the source of, just blaring over and over.

He clenched his fists so hard his knuckles went ghost-white, jaw clenched, eyes practically throwing daggers at the wall. The idea of Elena twisting his parents around her little finger? Yeah, that made his blood hit a rolling boil.

And now, of course, he didn't even get to defend himself. Not a single word.

Silence. Not because he agreed-hell no-but because his dad had dropped a threat so cold it could freeze lava. And Elvano knew-when his old man made a threat, he followed through. Every single time.

He sucked in a shaky breath, trying to cage all that fury storming around inside him. Spoiler: it wasn't working. Not even close. Chest burning, he practically stormed out of the living room, just needing-something-anything to smash.

Long strides, barely aware of where he was going, and suddenly he was in the home gym.

Tie? Gone. Shirt? Half the buttons popped off in his rush, whatever. He flung them aside like they'd burned him. Didn't even stop to think, just launched at the heavy bag, fists flying-left, right, left, right, again, again, faster, harder, until his arms screamed.

"Haaaaah!"

The shout ripped out of him, raw and ugly, echoing off the walls. He kept swinging until his muscles just gave out and he crashed to the floor, chest heaving, sweat and anger mixing into something sharp behind his eyes.

Through his teeth, barely more than a growl:

"Just wait, Elena."

***

Meanwhile, while Elvano was somewhere across town pretty much vibrating with rage, Elena was just... unraveling. Quietly. Nobody noticed, of course. Typical.

She sucked in a shaky breath.

It'd been, what, five days since she'd bothered setting foot in the office? Felt way longer. And honestly, filing for time off was supposed to make things easier. Joke's on her. Her team? They acted like she'd been abducted by aliens or something. Not a single "Hey, you okay?" Just radio silence or worse, passive-aggressive little emails about "project timelines."

Focusing? Yeah, good luck with that. With her family blowing up, she could barely string two thoughts together, let alone care about someone's spreadsheet emergency. Didn't matter. Her phone kept buzzing like an angry wasp-calls, texts, more emails. She stared at it for a second, then just flipped it off. Nope. Not today, Satan.

She chucked the phone in her bag and headed for the bus stop. Not far, maybe a few blocks, but today it felt like a pilgrimage. The sun was out for blood, baking everything in sight. Sweat glued her shirt to her back, and she hated every second of it. Summer could take a hike, honestly. Give her rain and gray skies any day.

But whining wasn't gonna fix anything, and her family needed her, so she kept going.

When Elena finally hit the bus stop, she collapsed onto the bench, half-melted, muttering thanks for the pathetic strip of shade.

First stop: insurance office. Time to deal with the supermarket mess. She'd already seen the photos-charred shelves, blackened walls. Awesome. Maybe, if the universe cut her a break, she'd knock out the insurance claim, then hit the bank, beg for a loan, and start duct-taping her dad's life back together. Her brain wouldn't shut up, running through plans and what-ifs, a hamster wheel of anxiety.

Fix the supermarket. Get her dad back on his feet. That was the whole deal. Everything else-her so-called career, her coworkers' drama-could wait. She wasn't coming back to the world of pointless meetings and Slack notifications until she'd at least gotten her family's head above water.

Except, well, when do plans ever actually work out?

She finished at the insurance office, finally powered her phone back on, and-boom. Instant chaos. Notifications blew up like popcorn.

Her teammates again. Call after call. Ping after ping. Didn't these people sleep?

And then-ugh-Elvano.

That guy. Her boss. Always lurking, like some kind of corporate poltergeist, blowing up her notifications.

Yeah, let's just say Elena's day was not going as planned. Not even close.

The second she walked out of that insurance office and flipped her phone back on, boom-her screen exploded. Teammates, Elvano, probably even her mother's cousin's dog if he had opposable thumbs. All of 'em, desperate to find her.

And the cherry on top? The universe apparently decided she needed to roast in the midday sun while trudging back to the office. She barely made it in before someone spotted her and freaked out like she'd risen from the dead.

"Where the hell have you been? You ghosted us!" her team lead barked, waving his arms like he was flagging down a rescue helicopter.

Elena just grinned, all mischievous, pressing her hands together like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Sorryyy," she sang, drawing it out, leaning hard into the theatrics.

Like she was about to tell him the real story. Yeah, right. For starters, he was a dude. And second, Elena wasn't about to spill her personal life to just anyone. If you weren't blood or basically her soulmate, you were outta luck.

"Won't happen again," she promised, though she muttered a not-so-convincing "Probably" under her breath.

Translation: it totally would.

"Tch, Elvano's been on your tail non-stop!" one of her teammates chimed in, eyes all wide and gossipy. "Honestly, brace yourself-he's probably foaming at the mouth."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Maybe this time I'll bite him first," she shot back, deadpan.

"You're nuts," her friend laughed, then thwacked her lightly on the forehead.

She just smiled, that half-smirk she saved for days when everything was sideways, and fired up her computer. No matter how much wreckage was happening behind her eyes, she could slap on that work face like a champ.

She felt like she was juggling two versions of herself. At her dad's company? All business. But here, in her own chaotic little office? She could kick back, be a mess, laugh at her own disasters. Survival mode, basically.

She sipped on her matcha latte, waiting for that old computer to wake up.

Physically, she was back. Mentally? Nah. Her brain was still spinning through supermarket nightmares, hospital bills, her dad's health hanging by a thread.

Honestly, she just needed to fix at least half the mess she was in before she could actually do her job. And maybe-just maybe-stop living like she was waiting for the next disaster.

"Elena."

Oh, lovely. Just what she needed. That voice again-the one she'd been hoping to avoid like a plague made of paperwork.

Elvano.

Right as her desktop flickered to life, bam-his voice cut through the office buzz, sharp as a papercut.

She spun her chair around, slapped her coffee on the desk with a little too much care (God forbid anyone call her "unprofessional" around here).

"Yes, sir?" she said, voice dipped in honey, eyes flat as day-old soda.

"Follow me to my office," he snapped, already strutting off like he had somewhere better to be. (Spoiler: probably just his oversized leather chair.)

Elena dragged herself up, sighing inside so hard it almost counted as cardio, and trailed after him. Ten minutes in, seriously? She could barely get her email open without causing a scene.

The whole office watched-some worried, some nosy, a few just glad it wasn't them. The tension in the air could probably snap a pencil.

Elvano plopped into his CEO-wannabe throne and, shocker, didn't offer her a chair. Elena just stood there, arms folded, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else. Which, honestly, she would.

He acted like he ran the whole company. Reality check: just a department head. Competent? Yeah, maybe. Decent human? Mmm... three out of ten, being generous.

"You know why you're here?" he asked, arms crossed, giving her that I'm-your-dad stare. "You vanished for five days. No call. No email. Nothing."

She opened her mouth-nope, he wasn't done.

"Who do you think you are? You think this is your father's company?"

She bit her tongue so hard she tasted iron. Okay, yeah, she'd messed up. Didn't mean she needed the full lecture.

"I know I messed up, sir. I apologize. Next time, I'll make sure to get your permission first."

That threw him. He looked like he'd expected fireworks-maybe even a screaming match. Instead, she just... admitted it. Calm as a cat in a sunbeam.

He didn't like it. Not one bit.

"You realize your little stunt screwed over a lot of people, right?" he pressed, voice rising. "A client meeting went up in flames because of you. I could fire you for that-right now."

She didn't flinch. Didn't even blink.

Maybe this was it. Maybe she kinda wanted it to be.

But, hell, she wasn't ready to lose it all. Not yet.

To be continued...