Meeting You Again

Chapter 10

"Hi Grandpa!"

"Oh Ayla, you're finally here! You kept this old man waiting for so long. Don't you feel guilty?"

I shook my head helplessly while looking at my watch that read 11:30. This old man was such an eccentric character!

"Grandpa, you said we would meet at 12pm. Knowing you, I purposefully came 30 minutes earlier!"

"Well you rarely contact me on your own initiative. So what's happening? What made you call and ask to meet?" I took a deep breath, and finally decided to just be straight forward. Grandpa hated being wishy washy the most.

"Actually Grandpa, I want to ask for your help. It has to do with mom." As soon as I mentioned mom, Grandpa Hayes immediately sat straighter and focused all his attention on me. Grandpa loves mom so much.

"What's wrong Ayla? You're scaring me a little"

"Grandpa, I want mom and dad to get a divorce."

The private room in the restaurant became completely silent. I stared at Grandpa Hayes nervously. My chocolate eyes met head on with his hazel ones. This was the first action I wanted to take. After dad slapped mom that day last year, I knew that he wouldn't stop. According to the book, every time mom went against Corinna, she would get abused. I love mom. Since I know what'll happen, should I just keep to the side and watch mom slowly being pushed to the abyss? Hell no! Even if I persuaded mom not to go against Corinna, I didn't want to take any chances. I wanted a clean separation, and a fresh new start. This was the best option. Now I just needed Grandpa's backing on this. He could get the best lawyer and people/things that would be biased towards mom. I didn't trust the Silber family lawyers anymore.

My ultimate plan was to stay as far away from Corinna, Remus, dad, and Elan as I could. They were all big characters in the book and provoking any one of them would not be good. I wanted to let mom live a good life without Mr. Silber. Staying with that man would only give mom endless pain and suffering. The second mom and dad divorce is the second I declare that I do not have a father. He already "disowned" me anyways. I would just be referring to him as Mr. Silber instead of dad.

"Why do you say that Ayla?" Grandpa's previous jolly mood disappeared. He now looked like how he does during his business meetings: serious, concentrated, and intimidating.

I told him all about how roughly half a year ago, Corinna was introduced. I told him about everything that happened between then and now. As Lyra would say, I spilled the scalding hot tea, not sparing a single detail. Grandpa Hayes grew increasingly more angry.

It's worth noting that one of the main reasons the Hayes family was so respected was because they were a very low-key family. They cared little for what people said about them and soon, they became a family the public couldn't touch at all. Grandpa Hayes never checked the gossip news so he had no idea what happened to me at Corinna's debut banquet.

"And you just came to find me now? After you and your mother have been living like this for half a year?!" Grandpa Hayes' eyes were bloodshot. He looked terrifying. But he wasn't violent. That was the thing about Grandpa Hayes. No matter how angry he was, he was always composed. He was a good man, which is why I trusted him. He was more of a father than Mr. Silber could ever be.

"Grandpa, listen to me. I don't want to provoke Corinna, Dad, or anyone related to them anymore. I want to take mom and live a good life having nothing to do with them. I still want to become a professor Grandpa. I still want to become a famous researcher and help kids. I just want to live a simple life from now on. The more we mess with them, the more it'll hurt us. There's no reason to get revenge. Please understand, Grandpa."