Calling Him Daddy: The Uncle's Secret Obsession

I fired off a long, pathetic text begging my ex, Declan, to take me back.

His reply popped up a second later:

[ I'm getting married. Are you coming? ]

I snatched my phone and hit unsend in a heartbeat. Then I guess I should give you a wedding gift.

[ Would it kill you to stop being a stage-five clinger for just one day? ] he texted back.

"Yeah" I typed. I sent him a screenshot of a fifty-dollar Cash App transfer, leaving a message that it was money for his wedding gift.

I locked my screen, turned around, and threw myself straight into Gideon's arms. "Gideon," I whispered, tilting my head up to look at him. "Can we kiss now?"

Chapter 1

I went viral overnight because of a pathetic, lovesick essay I wrote. Suddenly, the whole internet knew I was Declan's ultimate stage-five clinger. At first, everyone was ready to drag me. But the moment they saw Declan's photo, the consensus immediately shifted.

[ Totally understandable. ]

[ With a face like that, I'd be obsessed too. ]

People threw pitying looks my way and even tagged me under videos of hot influencers:

[ Poor little doormat. Your boyfriend just liked this girl's video. He's about to get snatched. ]

I found it both hilarious and frustrating. I did write that pathetic text.

But he wasn't the guy I wrote it for.

Declan leaned down and flicked my forehead. "Save the excuses. If it wasn't for me, who else could it be? You don't even have a male dog in your life, let alone another guy."

He smirked. "I know exactly how you operate. You probably cried yourself to sleep last night missing me, right? It's been three years.

How are you still this obsessed with me? Honestly, I'm getting a little bored of you. What are we gonna do about that?"

I could tell he was genuinely getting bored. After all, none of his past girlfriends had ever lasted more than three months. Three years was definitely a record.

He ruffled my hair. "Good girl. Go grab two Starbucks. Make hers with skim oat milk, she's on a diet lately."

He pointed to the head cheerleader sitting in the bleachers.

"Screw off." I swatted his hand away.

His frat bros standing nearby started jeering. "Whoa, the little bunny is fighting back. You losing your touch, Declan?"

He wasn't mad. Instead, he laughed. "You guys don't know shit. She talks tough, but she'll still cry into her pillow tonight wishing I was there."

The whole group erupted in laughter. I couldn't be bothered to deal with him. I adjusted my backpack straps and walked away.

That night, he knocked on my bedroom door and shoved a Starbucks cup into my hands. "Why didn't you wait for me to finish playing basketball? Don't tell me you're jealous just because I bought another girl a Starbucks?"

"I'm not."

"Sure you aren't. Your face is all red from being mad. Were you crying in secret again?" A smug grin spread across his face.

"Your boyfriend is just too popular. You can't lock me in my room and expect me to never talk to other girls, right? You need to learn to deal with it. You can't be my girlfriend if you're gonna be this petty."

I let out a breath. "Then let's just not do this anymore."

His jaw went slack for a second. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah"

I didn't even get to finish. He pinned me hard against the wall with one hand. A second later, he dropped his head and crashed his mouth against mine.

The moment his lips touched mine, my reflexes kicked in. I shoved him hard by the chest and slapped him across the face.

He froze, his hand flying to his cheek. "Sloane, what the hell are you doing?!"

I had been by Declan's side for three years, acting like a loyal, obedient dog. A dog doesn't bite its owner. Today was the first time I had ever hit him.

Staring at the angry red mark forming on his skin, reality snapped back. "I'm sorry. Does it hurt?"

"Don't touch me!" He jerked his head away, his jaw tight. "You just watch. Even if you write me ten of your pathetic essays and beg on your knees, I'm done with you."

He dropped the threat and stormed back to his room.

He was right about one thing. In the middle of the night, I was writing him another essay. I sent several long texts.

Finally, my phone buzzed. He had transferred me thirty dollars via Cash App.

[ What is this supposed to mean? ] I texted back.

[ Payment for the essays. Leave me alone. ]

Staring at the screen, a sharp tightness squeezed my chest. But it didn't end there. A little while later, he took a screenshot of my texts and posted it online with a caption:

[ Bro, who gets this? Getting tangled up with a girl like this I can't even play a game in peace. ]

Chapter 2

When my best friend Zoe sent me the viral video link, I was in the middle of preparing a bottle of sugar-free vitamin water for Declan. "Did you guys get into another fight?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you have zero spine? He was literally flirting with the head cheerleader right in front of your face, and you're still writing him essays!"

"You know about his condition." I let out a soft sigh.

"Even if he has a heart condition, you can't keep enabling him like this! He was just playing video games with the cheerleader. He looked perfectly fine to me. He's not sick."

"Yeah. I know." Putting my phone down, I set a bottle of vitamin water and the sorted pills by Declan's door. "The medicine is by your door. Remember to take it."

He texted back a single letter:

[ K. ]

Half an hour later, I went back to his door. Seeing the vitamin water and pills gone, I finally felt relieved enough to go back to my own room. Back in my room, I opened my diary and started writing.

[ Gideon, are you doing okay over there? I made Declan mad today. When he's angry, he looks so much like you. His eyes, his jawline even his temper is similar. ]

[ But then again, he's nothing like you. When he gets mad, he just throws a tantrum. But when you got mad, you still brought me warm milk every night. You still remembered to pick me up from school when it rained. ]

[ You still carried me on your back to the hospital when my fever spiked He told me his chest hurts when he gets angry. Was it like that for you too? If I had known, I would have never made you mad. ]

[ I really don't like you anymore, okay? You can marry whatever woman you want now. I won't ruin it this time. So can you come back? ]

Can you come back? I had asked that question hundreds of times without a single reply. How could there be a reply?

He had been dead for a long time.

Gideon was Declan's uncle. When I was nine, the Lu family took me out of the orphanage. But once they milked my adoption for their 'philanthropic corporate image,' nobody wanted me.

Eventually, they dumped me on Gideon, the youngest son with the worst reputation. The rumors outside were that Gideon was a womanizer with a volatile temper, and I'd be tossed back to the orphanage in less than two days.

Surprisingly, Gideon ended up raising me for ten years. He played the role of both father and mother, spoiling me until I became arrogant and stubborn.

How stubborn? The night his family set him up on a blind date, I was eighteen. I slipped into his room wearing a slip dress and confessed my feelings.

"I'm eighteen now. I can play the piano, I can dance. I might not be as pretty as her right now, but give me a little time and that might change Anyway, I want to compete with her fair and square!" I blurted it out, my words a total mess.

He stared at me. "Compete for what?"

"You."

He suddenly laughed. It was a wicked, unserious laugh. "Anytime you crook your finger, I'd come running. You don't need to compete."

Me?

"Idiot, you're prettier than her." He stood up, wrapped a bedsheet around me, and hauled me back to my room. "But I could never be into you."

"Why?" My heart plummeted straight into the floor.

"I'm your guardian. Plus, you're not my type." He glanced at the dress I was wearing and immediately looked away. "Don't wear stuff like this anymore. It doesn't look good."

"That's how she dresses!"

"She's an adult. You're a kid."

I refused to give up. I kept chasing him, asking why he didn't like me. I was so bold about it that even his friends eventually found out.

Once, in his study, a friend asked him, "She's eighteen, you're twenty-seven. Honestly, nine years isn't that huge of a gap. Your little ward is pretty cute. Are you seriously not tempted?"

"She's just a kid."

"If you're not into her, why do you spoil her and protect her like that? You won't even let your own boys look at her."

"If you want to keep drinking my whiskey, keep your ideas to yourself."

Chapter 3

"Only you get to look? What is this, some kind of twisted pet project?"

"Go to hell."

His rejection broke something inside me. I spent the entire night shaking under my covers. The night before his engagement, we had the most explosive fight of our lives.

"Sloane, have I been spoiling you too much? Is this how a child is supposed to act?"

"Because I like you." I gripped the hem of his shirt, my voice cracking. "Is there really no chance you could ever like me?"

He stayed silent for a long moment. "None."

I spun around and slammed the door in his face. An hour passed. He still hadn't left my door.

"Stop crying. What do you want me to do to make this better?"

"I want you to disappear. I never want to see you again."

I kept the door locked. He stood guard in the hallway all night. Right before dawn, my phone lit up with a text from him:

[ I'm heading overseas. Take care of yourself. ]

The engagement was called off. He boarded a flight out of the country.

And he died when that plane went down.

Every single day since, the guilt ate me alive. If I hadn't thrown that tantrum, if I hadn't pushed him away he would still be breathing. After Gideon died, I was trapped in a black hole. Until I ran into Declan on campus. He looked exactly like him. When he smiled, it was a carbon copy.

I never planned on actually getting involved with Declan. I just sat by the basketball court every day to watch him play. I kept my distance, perfectly content being a silent extra in his chaotic life. That went on for six months. Then, one afternoon, a stray basketball smacked into me.

"You're here staring at me every single day. Trying to be my girlfriend or something?"

"Huh?" It was the first time we ever spoke. My whole body went rigid.

"Fine. I accept. If I didn't say yes, my boys were gonna start calling you a stalker." He pulled off his sweaty jersey and tossed it right at my face. "Wash this for me. Consider it a reward."

I just stared at him blankly. But with him wearing that exact face, I couldn't force a single rejection out of my mouth. I washed his jersey. And once I did it the first time, there was a second.

At first, it was just his clothes. Then it escalated to his frat brothers' laundry. At its worst, I even found the head cheerleader's uniform mixed in.

"I accidentally wrote on her uniform. If you don't want to wash it, forget it. But don't bother washing my stuff ever again either."

Accidentally? I literally saw the words Little Idiot scrawled across the fabric in his handwriting. Watching him flirt with other girls using that face felt like a physical punch to the gut. But there was never a shortage of girls throwing themselves at him, and he never once drew a line.

"Then I'm not washing it." I shoved the pile of clothes back into his chest.

"Cool. Then don't expect to see me around anymore."

I lost our very first fight.

Before the week was even over, I was sending him a pathetic essay. Because he dodged me, and not being able to see him was driving me insane. I handed him the freshly washed clothes. He immediately tossed them in a perfect arc straight to the head cheerleader.

"Damn, Declan. You win again."

The cheerleader tapped her screen and sent him a Cash App transfer. His frat brothers all groaned in defeat.

"You're a menace. Your stalkers are on another level of desperate."

"I'm out. You just cleaned out my wallet."

That was the moment it clicked. His unhinged behavior was nothing but a bet. He was just a rich, spoiled playboy who had nothing better to do than toy with the girls around him. To him, everyone and everything was just a game.

I walked back to my seat, pulled out my diary, and wrote:

[ Gideon, he is nothing like you. ]

Before the crash, Gideon was a brilliant entrepreneur. Even at a young age, his name carried serious weight in the corporate world. Sure, he used to be a reckless playboy just like Declan. But that all changed the day he was called into the principal's office at my high school.

The principal told him I was smoking, skipping classes to go to parties, and blowing off my academics. They warned him that, as my guardian, he needed to step up and enforce some discipline. After that, he dialed his entire life back.

When his friends came over, if anyone cursed, he kicked them straight out the front door. "There's a minor living in this house. Wash your mouths out, get out, and don't come back!"

When his buddies tried dragging him to the clubs, he shot them down. "I have things to do at home."

Rumors started flying that the great CEO was hiding a secret sugar baby. Why else would he be home by 8 PM every single night? But the reality? I would be at my desk doing homework, and he would be sitting quietly nearby, reading a book.

Whenever I got stuck on a problem, he always broke it down and explained it to me in the simplest way possible. Even when it came to womenand people tried setting him up constantlyhe just smiled and shook his head.

"I'm not considering anything until Sloane gets into college."

"You have a line of women waiting for you that stretches across the globe. Are you seriously worried they'll mind you having a kid in tow?"

"Not exactly," he chuckled. "I'm worried they'll be a bad influence on the kid."

"You spoil her so much. You're actually playing the dad role now?"

"I'm raising her. Isn't it my job to treat her well?"

So why did he finally agree to that blind date? Because he found my diary.

The entry read:

[ I snuck a kiss from Gideon last night. His eyelashes are so long. My heart was beating out of my chest. He didn't wake up, but I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night. ]

It must have scared the hell out of him. The next morning, there were heavy bags under his eyes. When he looked at me, his gaze was stricter than I had ever seen it.

"Did you come into my room last night?"

"I don't know. Did I sleepwalk again?" I blinked at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Or did I do something bad to you? I'm sorry. The exams have been stressing me out, I keep having nightmares," I lied.

"No." He gave me a sharp look, but his tone immediately softened. "Are the exams really putting you under that much pressure?"

"Yeah."

"Don't stress over it. If you don't get in, you don't get in."

But I had to get in. I needed to get into college so I could openly, shamelessly pursue him. Last night, I had just lost my patience. Because earlier that day, when he picked me up from school, there was another woman in the passenger seat.

She had her arm hooked through his, praising me right to his face. "Gideon, is this your daughter? She's quite cute."

But behind his back, she cornered me with a warning. "Listen, little girl. Don't think just because you don't like me, Gideon is going to turn me away. You're just some stray he picked up.

You're not his actual blood. Don't overestimate your importance. You're nothing but a prop for his charity image. If he can raise you, he can easily raise someone else.

If I were you, I'd start sucking up to me. After all, I'm not planning to be an evil stepmother."

"Is that right?" I replied.

That very night, I snuck into his room, grabbed his phone, and deleted her number. I was only planning on deleting the contact, but then a new message from her popped up on the screen:

[ Gideon, I adore your daughter. She's too cute. Can I come over this weekend? I'd love to teach her how to bake a cake. ]

Go to hell, you fake bitch.

I clenched my fists so hard my nails nearly broke the skin of my palms. An uncontrollable wave of possessiveness took over. Under the cover of the dark room, I leaned in and stole a kiss from Gideon.

The diary entry was deliberately left for him to findit was my very first real move in eighteen years.

Chapter 4

The result was a total failure. After that, Gideon went on countless blind dates, and he made sure I knew about every single one of them. I knew exactly what he was doing. He didn't like me. And he was trying to kill any feelings I had for him.

I didn't act out anymore. I just threw myself into my studies, pushing myself to be better, until I was finally qualified to stand beside him and say I liked him.

But it seemed like he'd never get to see that.

That night, Declan was heading to a club. But he had explicitly promised me he wouldn't go. He had a mild heart condition. The doctors said light exercise was fine, but alcohol was strictly off-limits.

"Sloane, don't you think you're overstepping? I haven't been to a club in three years because of you."

"Weren't you the one who wanted to break up? Why are you still on my case?" I knew he was still pissed about me fighting back the other day. "Still mad?"

"No!" He raked a hand through his hair, his jaw tight. "There isn't a single girl in this world who dares to drop the breakup word on me."

His breathing was starting to get heavy again. I didn't get it. He obviously didn't like me. He had a million other girls orbiting him, yet just because I mentioned breaking up once, he suddenly snapped.

Not wanting to start another fight, I kept my gaze level. "I wrote the essay. You posted it online. The whole world knows I'm practically throwing myself at you. Drop the act. The doctor said no alcohol. Don't play games with your health."

"Are you that terrified of me dying?"

Hearing the word 'dying' made my lungs seize up. "Yeah."

"Beg me and maybe I'll let you tag along."

I stared at his face, getting lost in those familiar features for a second, before I finally caved. "Declan, just don't drink."

His tension visibly dropped. He stuck his hand out, waiting for me to take it. "It's my bro's birthday. It'd be messed up if I didn't show. If they try to force drinks on me, that's what you're here for, right? You gonna take the hits for me?"

I stared at him for a few seconds. In the end, I ignored his hand. "Let's go."

This wasn't the first time I had taken a drink for Declan. I used to be a complete lightweight, but honestly, my tolerance was pretty solid now.

"Why are you being so difficult? When I tell you to hold my hand, you hold it." He aggressively laced his fingers through mine. "I don't want to deal with someone crying into her pillow again tonight."

Me:

How was I supposed to tell him that he wasn't the reason I was crying at night? Whatever. I didn't want to watch him throw another tantrum. The birthday party was at a club. Since Declan had a notorious temper, nobody dared to push his buttons.

When someone tried to hand him a glass, he shot me a sideways glance, slammed the drink back down, and slammed his hand on the table. "Having a stage-five clinger tailing me is seriously annoying. Won't even let me have a damn drink."

"Damn, Declan. Since when did you become so whipped?"

"Screw off. Don't be like me. I just can't stand watching women cry."

The whole booth erupted into laughter. I just sat there, keeping my mouth shut.

Later on, his frat brothers started getting buzzed. They busted out a game of Truth or Dare, and the jokes started getting that shamelessly dirty. When Declan finally lost a round, he picked Truth. One of his brothers leaned in and asked, "When was the last time you guys went all the way?"

The air in the booth instantly went dead. That question crossed a major line. Declan rubbed the back of his neck, shooting me a sideways glance.

"Give me the hard liquor. I'll take his penalty." I reached out, preparing to down the shot of tequila meant for Declan's punishment.

"What's the rush, Sloane?" His brother blocked my hand. "Declan's not answering. Don't tell me you guys haven't even done it yet?"

The whole group immediately burst into jeers and laughter. Declan's jaw clenched, his knuckles turning white. It had been three years. Even kissing him made me physically tense up. He had tried to push things further, but my body just wouldn't let him.

Chapter 5

We had fought over this exact thing several times. And every single time, I was the one who smoothed it over with a pathetic essay.

"Screw off." He took a drag of his cigarette, his jaw set in a hard line. "She cries so hard every time it completely kills the mood. How the hell am I supposed to remember when the last time was?"

"Damn!"

"Declan, you're a savage. You could at least be a little gentler with Sloane."

The booth erupted into even louder laughter. My face burned. He wasn't exactly lying. Every time he tried to push things further, my tears would start, and he would lose interest. But it wasn't in the twisted way he was implying right now.

Why he would deliberately twist our private issues into cheap bar talk for his frat brothers, I couldn't even begin to understand.

"What do you guys know? Step one to taming a woman: you don't stop just because she's crying, right, Declan?" one of the guys joked.

The joke was pure, unfiltered trash. Declan just smirked. He didn't even try to shut it down.

"Sloane, you still drinking?" The group was practically dying of laughter before they finally realized I hadn't said a single word.

"Want a sip?" Declan leaned down and whispered right against my ear.

His total indifference made my stomach churn. But I still picked up the glass.

"Damn, she's that whipped?"

"We don't want to watch Sloane drink anymore. We want to watch Declan tame her live! Kiss her!"

"Kiss! Kiss!"

The entire booth started chanting. Even on a good day, I physically tensed up whenever Declan kissed me. Let alone in a situation like this. When his arm hooked around my waist and he leaned in, I shoved his chest.

But fueled by the cheering crowd, he ignored my push. He clamped his hand behind my neck and forced his mouth onto mine. Phone flashes went off around us. Humiliation spiked through my chest.

I shoved him off so hard my nails dug into his jacket. "Declan, you're an asshole!" I spun on my heel and marched straight toward the exit.

"Sloane! Stop right there!" Declan's voice barked from behind me. "If you walk out that door, don't ever come back!"

I didn't even bother looking back. I pushed through the heavy club doors and stepped into the night. I didn't expect him to actually chase me outside. And I definitely didn't expect him to grab my wrist and drag me backward into an empty VIP room.

"What the hell are you mad about? What right do you have to be mad at me?" He pinned me against the wall, crashing his mouth against mine. "Why do you always fight me? Three years, and you won't even let me touch you. What is your actual problem?"

"Declan, I hate it when you act like this." The strength difference was massive. No matter how hard I thrashed, I couldn't shake off an unhinged Declan.

"I'm not taking no for an answer today!"

It wasn't until my tears hit his cheek that a sliver of sanity finally flickered in his eyes.

"What did I even do to you? All you do is cry." He loosened his grip. "Go out there and ask around. What guy has the patience to wait three damn years?"

I stared at him, my expression hollow. "You can find someone else."

His expression instantly darkened. He kicked a barstool, sending it crashing to the floor. "You really think you're the only option I have?"

"I said, you can find someone else."

"You're unbelievable! Stop acting like some innocent saint." He swept his arm across the table, sending glasses shattering against the floor.

He stormed out of the VIP room, slamming the heavy door so hard the walls shook.

I left the club with my vision blurred. I didn't even know why I was crying anymore. Maybe it was the torn collar of my shirt that made standing on the street feel humiliating. Or maybe it was standing at the crosswalk, feeling the cold drizzle hit my skin, and realizing the person who used to hold the umbrella over my head was gone.

"Gideon. I miss you." I stepped off the curb and let the rain swallow me.

The drizzle was light, but my chest felt like it had been cracked wide open. That night, I didn't go back to the apartment I shared with Declan. Instead, I went back to the house I used to share with Gideon. I hadn't set foot in this place since he died.

A sticky note was still stuck to the fridge door, written in his handwriting right before he left:

[ Drink your milk for breakfast. Put the bagel in your backpack so you have something to eat after your late-night study sessions. ]

Chapter 6

The pink canopy bed, the fluffy rug, the deskthey were all still there, waiting for me. But the person who used to wait for me after my late-night study sessions was gone. Gideon picked all of them out himself. His friends used to tease him.

"You're a grown man. Why are you still buying her all this pink stuff? You're spoiling her so much she's never going to grow up." But he didn't care.

"If she doesn't grow up, she doesn't grow up. She doesn't need to be mature. As long as she isn't breaking the law, she can be however she wants."

Now, the man who spoiled me unconditionally was gone. Dragging myself through this world on nothing but memories felt like swallowing broken glass every single day. I used to visit the cemetery every day, pouring a glass of his favorite vintage Macallan over his gravestone.

"If Gideon comes back, I'll do everything he wanted. I'll get into college, get a boyfriend, get married after graduation, and live a so-called normal life. Just as long as he comes back."

But my prayers to the empty air didn't work. No matter how hard I tried to force myself to fall for someone else, to play the role of a "normal person," he couldn't see it. He wasn't coming back. Every attempt was pointless.

I was just so exhausted.

The next day, I still went back to the apartment I shared with Declan. First, I needed to pack my bags. Second, he had sent me a string of threatening texts last night.

[ I drank so much tonight. You're not here to nag me. I've never felt so free. ]

Half an hour later, another message popped up.

[ You're really not coming back? My chest hurts. I don't know how many pills I'm supposed to take. ]

I originally agreed to move in with Declan just so I could keep an eye on his health. He had a heart condition, always forgot his meds, and had a ton of reckless habits. I practically became his unpaid nanny, waiting on him hand and foot.

Gideon had a heart condition too. But he never told me. I only found out after he died, when I found the bottles of pills hidden in his drawer. Only then did I realize that every time I threw a bratty tantrum, his chest would seize up in pain. But he kept his mouth shut and never breathed a word of it to me.

When I found out Declan had the same condition, I treated him like glass. I tiptoed around him, thinking I was paying off my sins.

But three years of this didn't tame his wild streak. Instead, it just made me realize I was making a massive mistake. Even during the rare moments my heart skipped a beat, I couldn't tell if I was reacting to him, or to the ghost wearing his face. Instead of dragging out this torture, it was better to just cut the cord.

When I unlocked the door and stepped inside, I spotted a pair of women's heels sitting in the entryway. I stared at them for two seconds. A familiar voice drifted out from the bedroom.

"Are you an animal or something? My back is killing me." It was the head cheerleader.

"Get up already. What do you want for breakfast? Pancakes or oatmeal?"

"Whatever! Stop bothering me." That was Declan. "Weren't you loving it last night?"

It took my brain thirty seconds to process exactly what went down here last night. A cold numbness washed over me. I stood frozen, caught between walking in or turning back around. Just then, the head cheerleader walked out.

"Sloane." Her voice wasn't loud, carrying a trace of fake surprise laced with pure smugness.

When Declan rushed out, he only had a towel wrapped around his waist. Honestly, he looked pathetic. Seeing him like that, a sharp phantom pain pinched my chest.

He pointed a rigid finger at me. "So you finally decided to come back!"

"She's wearing my custom silk robe." I stared blankly at the robe clinging to the head cheerleader's body. I had worn that pink robe for years. Gideon bought it for me.

"It's just a robe, don't make a big deal out of"

Slam.

I spun on my heel, stepped into the guest room, and slammed the door shut.

"Making a big deal over a stupid robe. Anyway, I asked you a question. What do you want to eat? Want me to go grab something?" her voice carried through the wood.

"Screw off! Are you always this annoying?"

Chapter 7

I paused for a second, giving a slow shake of my head. Declan really could never kick his morning tantrums. He was notorious for waking up in a foul mood.

I used to sit quietly by the edge of his mattress, going over his schedule for the day over and over, reminding him which professor would instantly fail him if he missed a third roll call. I would patiently tell him that sleeping in too late put strain on his heart, coaxing him out of the sheets to eat breakfast.

"You're unbelievable. Not even my mom nags me this much," he used to grumble. But he'd still drag himself up on time to eat and head to class.

Day after day, year after year, I kept his health relatively stable. But now, nobody was going to coddle him anymore. I was done with him.

"Where the hell did you go last night? Why didn't you answer your phone?" He hovered right next to my ear, his jaw tight as he fired off the questions.

"We're breaking up." I stared at him, my expression hollow.

He froze. "My chest was acting up last night. She just gave me a ride back. Nothing happened it's not what you think." He raked a hand through his hair, pacing the floor. "So why did you have to piss me off last night?"

"Declan, we're done." I repeated the words, slow and clear. Panic finally flashed in his eyes.

"Who said you could decide that?!" He swept his arm across the desk, sending everything in my room shattering to the floor.

I just stood there quietly, watching him destroy the place. Finally, I picked up my diary from the wreckage and turned to leave.

But he snatched the leather-bound book right out of my hands. He flipped it open to the very last page and read the ink aloud.

"Gideon, I realized he is nothing like you. I don't like him anymore." He stared at the page, a visible tremor hitting the corner of his mouth. "What the hell is this supposed to mean?"

I stood rooted to the floor, my brain flatlining. A clean, quiet break was officially off the table.

"You used me as a damn stand-in?"

"I'm sorry." I pulled the diary back from his loosened grip and clutched it against my chest.

The second the words left my mouth, the color drained from his face. Then his skin flushed an angry red. He clutched his chest, his breathing ripping out in jagged, suffocating gasps. His knees buckled. His heart condition was triggering.

I called an ambulance and rode with him to the ER. I sat by his hospital bed until the monitors finally showed his vitals flatlining into a steady, safe rhythm.

The very first second his eyes fluttered open, he rasped out a single question. "Who is he?"

"You don't need to know."

"So you're telling me, for the last three years, you've just been pretending I was someone else?"

I stared at the sterile white ceiling for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to have a rational conversation with him. "Didn't you say I wasn't your only option?"

"I" He squeezed his eyes shut for a second. "Obviously. I have a line of girls waiting for me!"

"Then I guess I don't have to worry about you," I replied flatly.

He shot me a dark look, rolled over, and turned his back to me. Silence swallowed the hospital room.

"Rest up. I'm leaving."

"Screw off! Get out of my sight."

Fine. I walked out. Just as I stepped into the hallway, his parents were walking in. We brushed past each other in the doorway. I zoned out for two seconds before a specific name suddenly cut through the air.

Gideon.

"They found your uncle. He's on a flight back to the States right now. He'll come straight to the hospital to see you."

A deafening ringing exploded in my ears, drowning out every other sound in the hallway. They found Gideon? He was alive? I stumbled out of the ward, leaning heavily against the cold hallway wall. It took me a full hour to get my breathing back under control.

Once I watched his parents finally leave, I turned the knob and walked right back into that hospital room.

Declan's head snapped up. A flash of pure relief hit his eyes when he saw me standing there again. "I thought you were leaving? Why are you back? Couldn't actually let me go, could you?"

"I" I grabbed an apple from the bedside basket and picked up a paring knife. My hands were shaking so hard I could barely peel the skin. "I'll leave in a bit."

Meanwhile, my brain was spinning a million miles a minute, desperately trying to figure out how to drag more information about Gideon out of him.

Chapter 8

"So what was all that tough talk about earlier?" He leaned back, happily letting me feed him apple slices. "That guy you were talking about you just made him up to piss me off, didn't you?"

I hesitated before speaking. "Earlier I heard your parents talking about Gideon?"

"Yeah, my uncle. The massive corporate hotshot. His plane went down a few years ago. My mom said it made an emergency landing on the water, and a few people drifted to some island and survived. My uncle was one of them I'm so damn happy."

"That's great."

I didn't even get to finish my sentence.

"Uncle Gideon!" Declan yelled out, his voice practically buzzing with excitement.

I followed his gaze. A man was standing in the doorway. He was wearing a tailored black suit. A faint smile played on his lips. The hallway light stretched his shadow long across the linoleum floor, stopping right at the tips of my shoes.

It felt like an entire lifetime had passed. Just making eye contact with him made the back of my throat burn. The second he stepped into the room, the paring knife slipped from my fingers. The sharp blade sliced right into my skin, but I didn't feel a thing.

"How are you this clumsy?"

"Does it hurt?"

Declan and Gideon spoke at the exact same time. The air in the room instantly froze.

"Do you have a first-aid kit?" Gideon walked over. He pulled a tube of antibacterial ointment from the medical kit and efficiently treated the cut on my hand.

"Thank you."

He just raised an eyebrow. "Forgot my name already?"

A sharp sting hit the bridge of my nose, and my vision instantly blurred.

"Is it that bad? Uncle, take it easy on her." Declan hovered anxiously from his hospital bed.

Right then, a woman walked into the ward.

"This must be Celine, right?" Declan was the first to notice the woman stepping in behind Gideon. "Uncle Gideon, Celine, this is my girlfriend, Sloane."

Both Gideon and I froze. Gideon looked up at me, then shifted his gaze to Declan. A dark, unreadable emotion flashed in his eyes. I looked at the woman standing behind him. Compared to the flashy, aggressive models he used to date, she was in a different league. She looked gentle, totally non-threatening. The kind of woman even I couldn't find a reason to hate.

Was he married? The high of seeing him alive crashed straight into the concrete. Her name was Celine. He had brought her back from overseas.

After Gideon finished wrapping my hand, Celine seamlessly took over the job of peeling the apples. Declan and Gideon chatted easily for a while before the topic predictably shifted to me.

"She clings to me every single day, and constantly pisses me off. I'm literally in the hospital right now because she made me mad." Declan complained right to Gideon's face. "I've never met a girl this dramatic."

"She can be a handful." Gideon's tone was completely casual. "How long have you two been together?"

"Three years. She breathes down my neck every day. It's so damn annoying."

Gideon shot me a sideways glance. "That's a long time."

I stood off to the side, listening to their conversation while my heart hammered violently against my ribs. Later, I finally announced I was leaving. Declan immediately asked Gideon to take me in for the night.

"Uncle, can Sloane crash at your place tonight? We had a massive fight at the apartment yesterday. The place is completely trashed, and we haven't cleaned it up yet."

Gideon paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You're living together?" The words were directed at Declan, but the heavy, interrogating stare was locked entirely on me.

"Uncle, we're in college. We're adults. Don't tell me you're gonna go snitch to my parents?"

"And her guardians don't have an issue with this?"

"Nobody looks after her."

"Nobody?" Gideon kept his eyes fixed on me. The sheer weight of his stare made my stomach twist in guilt. When I was growing up, Gideon's number one rule was that I was never allowed to stay the night at a guy's houselet alone live with one.

He finally broke eye contact and turned toward the door. I hesitated for a fraction of a second, then quickly followed him out.

Chapter 9

"You'll come see me tomorrow morning, right?" Declan grabbed my hand.

At the sound of his voice, Gideon stopped. His gaze dropped, locking onto our joined hands. My reflexes kicked in, and I yanked my hand away.

"We'll see."

"What's your problem now?" Declan didn't let it go.

"You're giving me a headache." The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Declan's eyes widened, his jaw slacking in pure disbelief. I threw out a random excuse to brush him off and practically sprinted out the door. Gideon walked a few feet ahead of me. The air around him felt so cold it could freeze water. When we got to the parking garage, he slid into the back of his SUV. I hesitated for a second before reaching for the passenger door.

"Get in the back." He gestured to the seat next to him, a faint, dry smile pulling at his lips. "I don't bite."

I bit the inside of my cheek and climbed into the back. Celine took the passenger seat.

"Sir, are we heading to the office or the conference center?" Celine held up an iPad, already in full work mode.

Gideon shot me a sideways glance. "Home."

"Home?" Celine looked over her shoulder, clearly caught off guard.

"Family business."

The casual drop of those two words made every muscle in my body snap tight. Half an hour later. Gideon leaned against the doorframe of my old bedroom, his eyes slowly sweeping over the layout, taking in every single inch.

"You haven't been staying here?"

I pretended to organize the stack of books on my desk. "You weren't here. This place is too big. It creeped me out being alone."

"Creeped you out?" He tilted his head. "But living with my nephew didn't?"

"I" The heat rushed straight to my cheeks, burning all the way to the tips of my ears.

After a heavy beat of silence, the sharp edge in his voice softened. "When he was throwing his tantrum, did he hit you with anything?"

"No." Declan might lose his mind, but he never aimed for me.

"Go pack your things. You're moving back."

"Why?" A spike of irritation flared in my chest. He was literally married. Move back? Where was I supposed to sleep? Right between them?

"When I wasn't here, fine. But I'm back now. You think I'm going to let you keep making a mess of your life?"

"You ghosted for three years! Not a single word. What gives you the right to just waltz back in and start bossing me around?"

"That doesn't give you a free pass to move in with some guy." His jaw locked, a dark shadow crossing his face. He was genuinely pissed now. "Especially someone like my nephew."

"You know exactly why you went after him, don't you?"

My stomach dropped straight to the floor. He read them. He definitely read the emails. For three years, everyone said he was dead. But I refused to accept it. I typed up my diary entries and emailed them to him every single day. Three years, without missing a single beat. He never replied, so I assumed they were just going into the void. How was I supposed to know he survived the crash? And that he actually read them? He knew. He knew I had been using Declan as a twisted stand-in for him.

All the fight drained right out of my spine, but I refused to back down. "Is it really that impossible that I just genuinely liked him?"

Gideon shot me a look of pure disbelief. "With your bratty temper? You'd never tolerate his bullshit."

"He's hot. And he's younger than you. Why wouldn't I like him?"

"You're a total hypocrite. You vanish for three years, go off and get married, but I'm not allowed to date? That makes zero sense." Just thinking about him being married made my blood boil.

He stood there, staring at me for a long, heavy moment. "Who got married?"

Me: ?

What was he talking about?

"Aren't you and Celine"

"She's my executive assistant." He pinched the bridge of his nose, dragging in a heavy breath. "So it's been three years, and you're still throwing tantrums over this? What, am I supposed to stay single for the rest of my life?"

He wasn't married?

"I'm not throwing a tantrum. I don't have the right to anyway." I dialed it back, playing it compliant.

"You don't have the right?" He scoffed. "You have all the right in the world. You're the only one capable of spiking my blood pressure into the red zone every single time."

Chapter 10

He stood in a deadlock with me for a moment before stepping out of the room. When he returned, he set a glass of warm milk on my desk. "Drink this."

I looked at him, caught somewhere between genuine annoyance and total amusement. "Gideon, I'm twenty-one. I outgrew warm milk a long time ago."

"Twenty-one?" A flicker of disbelief crossed his face, as if the reality that I was no longer a little girl had just physically hit him. He had missed three years of my life. Of course he didn't know.

Later, he went back to his room, and I stayed in mine. We didn't say another word to each other for the rest of the night. The next day, a few of Gideon's old friends crashed the house to celebrate him coming back from the dead.

"Surviving a plane crash? You're definitely cashing in all your karma points now!"

"Bet you hooked up with plenty of blondes overseas, huh?"

"I'm already on my second kid, and you still haven't brought a wife back?"

I had just walked out of my room to grab some water when I caught their conversation. The loud, rowdy atmosphere in the living room instantly flatlined the second I stepped into view. A whole room of men turned their heads to stare right at me.

"Damn, Gideon. You've been hiding a knockout in here?"

"Guess you really did cash in those karma points." A few of his friends snickered, nudging each other.

He exhaled a long drag of smoke, his gaze hardening. "One more word of that trash, and I'm throwing you all out the front door."

"Whoa, chill out, Gideon. It's been three years. We're just messing around. Can't you be a little nicer to your boys?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Gideon's voice dropped an octave. The heavy, oppressive weight in his tone instantly suffocated the room. The guys immediately shut their mouths.

"That's what you get for running your mouth. Isn't that his little ward? Sloane, right?"

"Sloane? Damn, puberty hit her like a truck. The little kid drinking juice boxes turned into an absolute smokeshow?"

One of the guys sauntered over. "Sloane, I'm your brother's friend, Chris. Let me get your Instagram." He had barely pulled his phone out of his pocket

"Do you have a death wish?" Gideon crushed his cigarette into the crystal ashtray and stood up. The muscles in his jaw ticked with barely suppressed rage.

"I just wanted her Insta, man. Do you have to be this fiercely overprotective?"

Gideon completely ignored him. He crossed the room and stopped right in front of me, his tall frame shielding me from their view. "Go back to your room. Don't engage with them."

"Bro, have you looked in a mirror lately? She calls Gideon her uncle. You've got wrinkles on your forehead, and you're out here trying to play the big brother card."

The whole room erupted in laughter.

"Everybody out." Gideon's patience snapped. He pointed a rigid finger straight at the front door.

"Gideon, what about the welcome-back party?"

"It's over."

He kicked every one of them out. On their way out, they didn't forget to throw a few parting shots.

"Cold-blooded bastard! Hoarding the view for himself!"

"I told you he was playing some twisted pet project! He won't even let anyone else get a look!"

Once the house was completely empty, Gideon walked into my bedroom. "Don't listen to their bullshit."

"Which part?" I tilted my head, a faint, challenging smile on my lips. "Which part of their bullshit do you not want me to listen to?"

He froze. "All of it."

"And what if I took all of it to heart?"

He let out a heavy breath. "You're grown up now. You're mature enough to understand. There is zero possibility between us. Stop acting like a child."

He was rejecting me. Again. A sharp ache pierced my chest, but I pasted on a perfectly sweet smile. "Okay. Goodbye, Gideon."

"Where are you going?"

"To see someone where there is a possibility. Your nephew."

He didn't say a word. He just stared at me. The truth was, I had actually gotten a text from Declan.

[ Why didn't you come see me again today? What the hell are you doing? ]

I hadn't replied, and I had zero intention of going to the hospital.

"Are you still playing games?" Gideon's eyes locked onto mine. "How long are you going to keep messing around with him?"

"Why do you assume I'm playing games?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, dragging in a heavy breath, like he had finally made up his mind to lay all his cards on the table. "You're using him as a stand-in. Doing this to him, and to yourself, is toxic." His gaze was dead serious, pinning me to the floor. "When you know something is a mistake, you cut your losses and stop. You don't just keep doubling down."

I stood perfectly still, my mind blank.

Chapter 11

"Is it so impossible that I actually fell for him? It's been three years. Catching feelings wasn't completely off the table. Sure, he looks like you. But he's nine years younger, way more energetic, and we actually have things in common." I spun around to leave, but he gripped my arm and yanked me back.

"We need to talk."

My heels slipped. I stumbled forward, crashing hard against his chest. His arms shot out on reflex, hands clamping down firmly on my waist to steady me. The heat of his palms burned right through the thin fabric of my shirt. My pulse instantly kicked into overdrive, blood rushing straight to my cheeks.

"Talk about what? Are we doing it while you hold me?" I tilted my head up, flashing him a smirk. I pushed up onto my tiptoes, letting the tip of my nose brush against the hard line of his throat. "I grew up, Gideon. I can reach you now."

Every muscle in his body instantly went rigid. Before I could push my luck any further, he shoved me back by the shoulders.

"Stand still. Talk properly."

"Make me."

He stared down at me, a muscle feathering in his jaw. Before he could actually blow up, I tossed him a quick goodbye and bolted out the door. I headed straight back to campus and moved my stuff into the dorms. By the end of the day, the entire school knew I had been dumped by Declan.

Zoe cornered me by my bed, keeping her voice carefully low. "Are you guys really done?"

"Yeah."

"Don't let it get to you. I've been telling you for years that walking red flag didn't deserve you." She patted my shoulder. "If you need to cry it out, go ahead. My shoulder is ready."

I looked at her completely deadpan. "I don't want to cry."

"Stop acting tough."

"I seriously don't."

A crowd of girls had already gathered by our open dorm door to watch the drama unfold. Their eyes gleamed with fake pity.

"She chased him like a dog for three years. Look where that got her. Still dumped."

"Dumped and kicked out of his apartment. She's practically damaged goods now. Who'd want her?"

Zoe's temper snapped. She marched right up to the doorway, getting up in their faces. "You're damaged goods! Your whole family is damaged goods! Don't think just because you're standing here hating on her, Declan is suddenly going to give you the time of day. Go look in a mirror!"

She slammed the door in their faces and stomped back to my side, crossing her arms. "Why are girls always so toxic to other girls?"

"Just ignore them." I paused for a second. "Actually, I'm the one who dumped him."

"You can lie to them, but you can't lie to me. I feel so bad for you." Zoe threw her arms around me, hugging me tight. "Getting tangled up with that piece of trash was the worst luck of your entire life."

Me