Chapter 10 No Longer My Son

"You're no longer my son."

That sentence kept echoing in Elvano's mind like a curse that refused to fade.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, his gaze growing darker by the second. The thought of Elena manipulating his parents made his blood boil.

And now, he didn't even have the chance to argue.

He fell silent-not because he agreed, but because his father had threatened him. And Elvano knew his father never made empty threats.

He took a deep breath, trying to steady the fury swelling inside him. But the rage refused to be tamed. With fire in his chest, he stormed out of the living room, needing somewhere to release it all.

His long strides carried him to the home gym.

Once inside, he yanked off his tie, unbuttoned his shirt, and tossed both aside without care. Without a moment's pause, his fists began pummeling the heavy black punching bag-left, right, again and again. Blow after blow, he poured every ounce of anger into the bag.

"Haaaaah!"

He finally let out a guttural shout as exhaustion began to creep into his limbs.

Then, collapsing to the floor, his chest heaving, he muttered through clenched teeth,

"Just wait, Elena."

---

At the same time, while Elvano was burning with rage, Elena was unraveling in silence-on the other side of the same city.

She inhaled deeply.

It had already been five days since she last went to the office-and to make things worse, despite officially filing for time off through HR, her team members acted like she had simply vanished into thin air without warning.

Her inability to focus on anything beyond her family crisis made the pressure almost unbearable. Even though she'd taken leave, her phone wouldn't stop buzzing with calls and messages from work.

Finally, she turned it off.

No more interruptions. Not today.

Slipping the phone into her bag, Elena made her way on foot to the nearest bus stop.

Three hundred meters wasn't much of a distance-especially for someone like Elena, who was used to working out. But today, under the blazing summer sun, her shirt clung to her skin, drenched in sweat. The heat was suffocating.

Unlike most people, Elena hated summer.

The sun, the sweat, the scorching sidewalks-it all made her want to groan out loud.

But she didn't have the luxury to complain.

Her family needed her. This couldn't wait.

By the time she reached the bus stop, she sank onto the bench with a relieved sigh, grateful for even a sliver of shade.

Her first stop today was the insurance office, where she'd be filing a claim for the burned-down supermarket. She had already received photos of the damage from her father's employees.

If everything went smoothly, she hoped to cross off a few more items on her crisis list-including a visit to the bank to apply for a loan. Her mind kept spinning with ideas, trying to strategize her way through the chaos.

In her eyes, fixing the supermarket and ensuring her father's recovery came first-before anything else.

She couldn't even think about returning to full focus at work until she solved at least half of this mess.

Her father's situation needed to stabilize. That was her priority.

But of course, things never went as planned.

Just moments after she wrapped up her business at the insurance office and turned her phone back on-

It exploded with notifications.

Her teammates again. Call after call. Message after message.

And to top it off-Elvano.

Her frustrating, insufferable boss was also lighting up her screen.

tolong terjemahkanUnfortunately, things didn't go the way Elena had planned.

Right after leaving the insurance office, her phone-now powered back on-was instantly flooded with calls and messages from her teammates. To make things worse, Elvano-her irritating boss-was also relentlessly trying to contact her.

In the end, she had no choice but to show up at the office that very day, despite the blazing sun already hanging high in the sky. Her sudden appearance brought an odd sense of relief to her entire team.

"Where the heck have you been? You vanished like you got swallowed by the earth!" her team leader snapped the moment he saw her.

"I'm sorry," Elena said with a cheeky grin, pressing her hands together in an exaggerated gesture of apology-like a naughty kid who knew exactly what she was doing.

There was no way she'd tell him the real reason. For one, he was a guy. And second, Elena wasn't the kind of person who spilled personal drama to anyone unless they were family-or someone extremely close who genuinely understood her.

"I won't do it again," she promised, then added under her breath, "Probably."

Which, of course, meant she absolutely *might*.

"Tch, you've been hunted by Elvano non-stop, you know!" her overly chatty teammate chimed in, practically bouncing with gossip energy. "Better be ready-he's probably going to eat you alive."

"Oh, I know," Elena muttered dryly. "But maybe this time, I'll be the one who eats *him*."

"You're insane!" the same teammate laughed and gave her a playful flick to the forehead.

Elena smiled faintly and powered up her computer. Even in the middle of all this personal chaos, she still managed to keep her professional mask in place.

In a way, she was living two different lives. At her father's company, she was serious and composed. But here at her own office? She could be casual-even messy. It was how she coped, how she kept from crumbling under the pressure.

She took a sip of her matcha latte while waiting for her computer to boot up.

Even though she was physically back in the office, her thoughts were still far from it. Her mind was tangled in the problems with the supermarket, the hospital bills, and her father's fragile condition.

She needed to resolve everything quickly-at least fifty percent of it-before she could truly focus on work again. Most of all, she needed to stop living in a state of constant dread.

"Elena."

That voice. That exact voice she *didn't* want to hear.

Elvano.

Right as her desktop loaded, his voice sliced through the office air like a whip.

Elena swiveled her chair to face him and calmly set her drink on the desk, not wanting to give anyone a reason to call her unprofessional.

"Yes, sir?" she answered, her tone sugarcoated with the kind of politeness that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Follow me to my office," he ordered, already turning on his heel.

Dragging herself away from her seat, Elena sighed silently and followed behind him.

Just her luck-barely ten minutes in the office, and she was already making waves. The tension was palpable as every coworker watched them with a mix of worry and curiosity.

Inside his office, Elvano sat in his throne-like chair without offering her a seat. Elena didn't care. She remained standing, arms crossed casually, waiting.

To her, Elvano was just a department head-but the way he carried himself, you'd think he owned the entire company.

Sure, he was competent, but when it came to treating his subordinates? She'd give him a generous three out of ten.

"Do you know why I called you in?" Elvano asked, folding his arms as he stared her down. "You vanished for five days. No notice. No explanation."

Elena opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.

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

Elena bit her tongue. She knew she was at fault-she'd disappeared without a word. But still, she didn't need this attitude.

"I know I was wrong, sir. I apologize. Next time, I'll make sure to request your permission first."

Elvano froze. He hadn't expected her to own up so quickly-or so gracefully.

He'd expected excuses, maybe even defiance. But this? A composed acknowledgment?

Strangely, he didn't like it.

"You do realize your little stunt put a lot of people in a tough spot, right?" he continued. "A client meeting got completely derailed because of you. I could fire you for that-right now."

Elena didn't blink.

Maybe this was exactly what she needed-a reason to finally give up.

But the truth was, she wasn't ready to lose everything.

To be Continued ...