Mirage | 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙚𝙡 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣

Chapter 15

"I've heard Michael is trying to get rid of me"

Karen sipped her tea and then gave her guest a tight smile.

"He's stubborn, don't worry... he'll come around", she said softly, now placing the tea over the coffee table.

"I guess that's true", Tyler said with a small smile. "Anyhow, the President is still not aware of your secret meetings with the investors. The disposal of the main factory is a fact, now."

He heard his phone ring and looked at the ID. His father was calling. He rejected the call and went back to business position. Karen didn't seem to care much about his private life as she simply looked at her own phone, wondering why Michael hadn't gave her instructions over the last days. He seemed to be distracted lately.

Thanksgiving was just around the corner and Jackson Enterprises seemed to be slowing down in terms of sales and intern disputes. Michael was so silent that it was making Karen nervous. That's why she never got rid of Tyler, he was her main plan if everything went wrong.

"Good. We'll proceed in the first week of December."

Tyler made his way to his childhood home. He sighed in annoyance at the sight of the little house that was almost falling down. Locking his car, he was even more annoyed at the sight of his father sleeping on the couch, still in his full security guard uniform. He smelled something burning and effectively, there was some chicken on the stove, now burnt and inedible.

"Dad, dad!", Tyler shakes his father, trying to wake him up.

His father wakes up, startled but he then wears a smile on his face at the sight of his only child. "Tyler! It's nice to see you", he said with pure happiness as Tyler rubs his temples.

"Dad, how many times did I tell you to stop working there?", he said, referring to the factory. "I'm your son! I can afford buying you a new house, I can afford paying your living expenses—", he started ranting as his father looked up to him sadly.

"I don't need anything like that—", he mumbled softly but Tyler kept going and going.

"I owe you! You raised me on your own, you gave up everything to give it to me! Why can't you just take what I offer you?", Tyler asked, deeply hurt at his father indifference when it came to money terms.

Mr. Miller looked up to him, sternly. "Because a real man shapes his life how he wants it, if there's something slipping out of his hands, then he accepts reality and moves on", he said, and Tyler let out a frustrated groan.

"Am I not a real man because I love you?", he asked, his father looked away.

"You're not a real man because you don't accept your reality. I am a real man because I can live with the mistakes and the choices I've made. When will you wake up, son? You don't need luxury brands or sports cars..."

"I've had enough, dad", Tyler interrupted him. "Everything I have... I've earned it with my own sweat and effort—"

"Have you?", his father asked him and gave him a look that could've swept his entire soul away.

Tyler's jaw clenched and his fists were balled. "I just want the life I think I deserve".

"What you think you deserve isn't always what you deserve".

And his father's speech was vividly in the back of his mind as he met Louisa while she was making her way out of the Jackson Enterprises building. He knew very well that he deserved a chance with her. With his old friend Georgie out of the picture, he finally wasn't a step back of anyone to get to her.

"Louie!", he called out to her. She turned around and looked at him with a broad smile.

"Ty!", she said, and he walked faster to catch up with her. She greeted him with a brief hug. "It's been a while"