Page 56 of Unfinished

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out hoping that it was Hannah, but it wasn’t.

Bas: They’re gone! The house is empty!

“No.” I ran out the door and climbed into my BMW and took off out of the driveway. Speeding through town towards Hannah’s house, I was breaking all sorts of traffic laws, not that I was all that concerned about it. This couldn’t be happening. She didn’t leave. She wasn’t gone.

When I pulled in next to Bas’ car, I jumped out and ran towards the house.

“Neighbors said the moving truck was here yesterday,” Bas said.

“No no no,” I ran to a window and when I looked in, the house was vacant.

Pushing my hands through my hair, I squatted down on the lawn. This couldn’t be the end. I didn’t even have a chance to explain, or help, or convince her to be with me. Hannah was gone.

Chapter 25

Liam

“What did your dad find out from Bill?” Bas asked.

“My mom threatened to end Hannah’s scholarship and ruin her job prospects, then proceeded to threaten Ashley and her dad. My mom got Bill fired, which is probably why they are selling the house and he’s moving to Pittsburgh with them. My dad asked for a divorce this morning and I told her to never contact me again.” I stood back up, dragging my hands through my hair.

“She threatened Ashley?” I nodded and he was immediately on his phone calling someone, “Colin, got a favor to ask.”

Colin McIntire was a journalist who recently started his own publication based in New York City that was quickly growing. Within a few years, it was likely that the magazine and website would be one of the most popular for articles regarding money, tech, business, and the social aspects of the rich. Bas informed him that it was time to ruin my mom, also informing him of the request for divorce that was made today.

Bas was vicious and even though he and Ashley agreed to a summer fling, I knew they got close. He wasn’t going to stand around and let my mother threaten her without consequences. Furthermore, with what was happening between Hannah and me, he was going to make damn sure that my mother suffered for her actions.

Colin would likely run a long piece detailing the many wrongs my mother had made over the years and how they affected her family. It’d be a 'what not to do' piece to inform people about how you need to be careful in your dealings in order to protect your reputation or risk a fall out that would leave you alone and likely broke.

I took this time to call my Uncle Michael and warn him about what was going on before anyone else said anything. Michael said he’d make a statement about the troubling mindset of his sister-in-law.

Uncle Michael would always be there for me if I needed him. Soon I was going to need his help. Regardless of our relationship status, I was going to need men in Pittsburgh to watch Hannah.

I was still standing on Hannah’s lawn trying to decide if I should chase her right now or if I should stick around to make sure my mother fell completely. I was looking for flights to Pittsburgh when my family’s butler called me. He never called me unless there was an emergency.

“Gary, what’s going on?”

“Liam, your father is on his way to the hospital. Your mother left and shortly afterwards he started having chest pain,” Gary said, and a chill ran through me.

Gary was giving me more information but there was a static noise in my head drowning everything else out. Bas was shaking me, grabbed my phone from me and I was frozen where I stood. It was like my brain suddenly stopped functioning. I’d lost Hannah, I was about to lose my father, my mother no longer existed to me, and my brain couldn’t process everything.

It all went blank. I knew something was happening, things were moving, someone was yelling at me, but I didn’t comprehend what was being said. I couldn’t understand any of it. It was like I was moving but I wasn’t actually there.

All I saw was Hannah’s smile and then her tears. All I saw was my dad and I hanging out when I was younger. Then flashes of a future I desperately wanted. My dad sitting in a pew, Hannah walking down the aisle in a white dress, my father holding my son, family events in our brownstone, Hannah and I, Dad and I.

“Liam!” Bas shouted at me and I felt the sting of a slap across my cheek. I blinked and looked around. I was in Bas’ car outside of the hospital.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, coming back to reality. I jumped out of the car and ran into the hospital with Bas following me.

“John Teresi! Where is he?” I yelled at the front desk receptionist, “He had a heart attack, he’s been brought here.”

After what felt like an hour, the receptionist pointed us towards the Emergency Room and I took off running down the hall. I ignored the shouts to slow down and I burst through the emergency room doors and ran to the desk asking for my dad again.

“The doctor will be out shortly to speak with you,” the receptionist said.

“What does that mean?” I asked. She repeated what she had said and all I wanted to hear was if he was alive or not. She told me to take a seat and Bas pulled me, but I was ready to burst through doors to find my dad myself.

If they weren’t saying anything, that meant he was dead. My dad was dead and now I’d have to fight my mom on my own. My dad was dead and he’d never see me marry Hannah. My dad was dead and he wouldn’t meet my children. My dad was dead and I’d have to take on the family business without him. My dad was dead, my dad was dead, my dad was dead.

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