Page 34 of Papers Don't Lie

KAI

There’s something I need to tell you

I send the message in the group chat I share with my brothers, squeezing the phone tightly. They’ll find out tomorrow night when they coming for dinner, but my fingers are itching to tell themsomething. To at least give them a heads-up about what’s about to come.

Kiaran

Did you fire half of the employees again?

Tristan

Is that even a question? He does that every six months.

For a few seconds,I wait for Ryker’s reply to come, but as always, it never does. He’s colder nowadays, and no matter how much I struggle to find the reason behind it, nothing comes to mind. Tristan says he’s maturing, going through that stage ofhis life where he feels like no one understands him or that he has more important things to do. I just hope that if something happens, he’ll tell at least one of us.

No, it’s not that.

Tristan, you should try that too instead of sleeping with your assistants.

With a sigh,I lock up my phone and knock on my dad’s door. They might find out tomorrow, but my father needs to hear about our marriage first. He’ll be crushed if I don’t tell him that his dream is about to come true. Not the wedding part, I suppose, but still. I don’t mind having a wedding. It’s just that Esmeray can’t be too excited about it after her latest experience at the altar.

“Come in," his weak voice shouts, welcoming me in.

I enter, closing the door behind me. Dad’s laid out on his bed, connected to the machine monitoring his heart. He smiles at me, patting the edge of the bed. I follow his silent demand and sit down next to him.

“Why the white outfit?” he asks, pointing his chin at the suit I’m wearing.

My eyes look down, scanning my outfit with a shrug. “Esmeray chose it for me this morning.”

“Did she?” he asks, a pleased smile on his lips.

“Yeah, she said I wear too many dark suits and it makes me look like a, and I quote, ‘gloomy, grumpy man.’” I leave the part out where she gestured with her hands as if she were part of a sketch at the theatre.

My dad laughs. “She was right.”

I nod, glancing down at my watch and noticing the moment we have to leave is quickly approaching. That leaves me with no other option but to stop buying time and tell him.

“Are you going somewhere?” he asks, probably getting the idea from the short gaze I took at the clock.

“About that…” I watch him in the eyes. “We’re flying to Los Angeles and spending the night there.”Half is already said, Kai. You can say the rest. Come on. I suck in a deep breath, giving Dad a rare smile. “Esmeray and I are getting married.”

Dad immediately sits up in his bed, watching me with an adoration only a parent would be capable of. His hand lands on mine, squeezing tightly before he does something unexpected. He screams at the top of his lungs, laughing in the process.

I never thought he had this in him.

“I knew it!” He clasps his hands together. “You never bring a girl home, let alone spend the night. I knew you were going to propose eventually. When did you meet?”

Keeping my eyes from squinting requires an unbelievable amount of control.“A few months ago.”

“And when did you propose?”

“Yesterday,” I say, and he claps his hands once, a huge smile taking over his face. “Dad, I know this isn’t appropriate, but they didn’t put you on morphine, did they?”

He laughs it away, patting me on my shoulder. “Not there yet, son. You’re just facing a happy dad.”

The last time I saw Dad happy was when Lacey said her first words or walked for the first time. I guess I got so used to him letting the cancer eat him alive that seeing him this way is strange, unnatural. This only proves to me that the decision to make our marriage seem real to our family was a good choice to make. It’s worth it if it means having my father like this for a while.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs.

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