He looked down at me, his eyes cold and merciless. “In your mother’s heart and mine, Philip is part of our family. If you dare touch him again, I will not wait for anyone else. I will break your legs myself.”
I knelt there, the pain in my legs insignificant compared to the icy dread spreading through my chest.
So that was it.
More than twenty years of our father-son relationship meant less than a promise made at the brink of death.
My father continued, his voice sharp with condemnation.
“And you still dare talk back? If you hadn’t neglected Celeste all these years, how could she have ended up with Philip? You’ve been willful since childhood. You’re nothing like him, who’s steady and sensible! Apologize to Philip!”
From the side, my sister added casually, “Nathan, since Philip and Celeste truly love each other, why don’t you just let them be?”
“Dad!” My voice shook as I spoke. "His feelings matter, but can my dignity—your own son—be trampled at will?"
I lifted my head just in time to catch the look Philip and Celeste exchanged.
The tenderness lingering in that shared gaze shattered my last remaining hope.
I sprang to my feet and rushed toward the hospital bed, grabbing Celeste’s wrist and trying to pull her with me.
“Come with me! Let’s leave! I won’t hold anything against you anymore!”
Celeste screamed as she fell, clawing for balance. She snatched a vase from the bedside table and smashed it violently against my head.
“Let go of me!”
Porcelain shattered against my scalp. Blood combined with cold water as it flowed down my face.
My father’s bodyguards burst into the room, wrenching my arms behind my back and forcing me to the floor.
“He’s gone mad! Completely mad!” my father shouted. “Send him to psychiatry. Lock him up and make him come to his senses!”
Pinned to the floor, my vision blurred.
The last thing I saw was Philip carefully pulling Celeste into his arms.
I was sent to a psychiatric hospital.
Under the effects of tranquilizers, time lost all meaning.
Each day, during the single hour I was allowed to watch television, the screen was filled with news of Philip and Celeste.
They were in the Maldives with my sister, smiling brightly, their happiness dazzling enough to blind me.
I knew that if I kept causing trouble, I would never be allowed to leave.