Page 62 of Dream On, Liar

“And, I don’t care that you’re his father.” Oliver said through gritted teeth. “Abuse is abuse. You may have gotten away with it before, but not with me here. Or ever again. Because, that’s what family do for each other.”

My father shook his head then, like he was disappointed that I had someone stand up for me. “This conversation isn’t done.”

“Yes, it is.” I matched his tone. “You want no competition, Dad? Go nuts. I want to no part of you in my life anymore. Maybe, I still have a chance to fix my life without you in it. Leave before I call for security.”

My father started at me once, like he was giving me a chance to take the words back. When silence was all that greeted him, he took a step back and threw a hard look at Oliver.

Closing the gap, he lowered his voice. “I’ll be having a word with your parents. They’d love to know what a disrespectful young man you’ve grown into.”

“You don’t scare me, Vikram,” he replied patiently. His usual calmness had returned, but there was a strange chill beneath it now. Something protective. Something darker. “If you think my parents would see me standing up for the people I love as disrespect, then I hate to break it to you, but you’re highly mistaken. We don’t cower to abusers, especially men who mistake power for invincibility when, in reality, they’re just delusional.”

You have no idea how glad I am that you ruined your relationship with your only daughter long before I ever came into the picture. And you’d do well to make sure you stay away from her, Rihaan, and my family. Because if you don’t, I’ll be more than happy to release my own statement to the world. You think your name means something to this world? You’ve never been a King. You have no idea what kind of influence my family has in this sport. And it would take a single phone call to start dismantling everything you’ve built. And just in case you’re not sure where that first phone call would go, I’d start with your eldest son. He owes me one—but I know he’d be very interested in hearing exactly what happened here, especially once I explain what you’ve been doing to his brother, and happily do it anyway.”

The silence that followed felt enormous.

For the first time since he'd walked into the room, my father looked uncertain. Not frightened. Just aware that the power he’d walked in with no longer belonged entirely to him.

Unable to take any longer, he finally pushed himself and left the room.

“Rihaan.” Oliver’s voice was soft, and still in the span of few seconds my body had already gone somewhere else, somewhere small and silent, while my mind remained trapped in the room.

Crossing the space until he was closer, he repeated my name. “Rihaan.”

I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe properly—

Arms wrapped around me in a hug as Oliver pulled me in a hug. It should have been too much. It should have made me pull away.

But my body didn’t listen.

My nervous system, still stuck somewhere between fight and shutdown, simply…gave in.

The tension in my shoulders broke first. Then my breath, which I hadn’t realised I was holding, came out in a shaky exhale against his shoulder.

“I’ve got you,” he said quietly, my father’s presence still lingered at the edge of my mind, sharp and familiar, like a shadow that refused to leave the light.

But I wasn’t alone in it anymore.

And for the first time in what felt like a very long time, I didn’t have to stand there and take it. “Thank you.”

I felt him shake his head. “You never have to thank me, Rihaan. You’re my brother, and I should’ve stepped in earlier…I just didn’t want to overstep.”

I pulled back. “You didn’t. Not now, but you’re right. If you had done it before…before all of this, I probably would’ve felt like it was.”

He gave me a nod, his eyes shifting back to his phone in a glance. It was only then I realised that Raina had been on the other end, listening everything.

“Give him the phone,” Her voice quivered as she spoke.

Like her tears hadn’t been a surprise to him at all, Oliver just handed his phone to me.

Shock filled me as my eyes landed on the screen, her eyes bloodshot. “How much of that did you hear?”

“Pretty much all of it? The bits I couldn’t pick up, Oliver repeated.” She said softly. “That’s not the point,” She shook her head then, wiping the tear that fell. “The point is, I’m sorry you had to face this side of him alone.”

I only nodded, unable to speak over the lump building in my throat, before I gave Oliver his phone back.

My mind was still racing, the crash stronger than I had before. Over the years, my brain was used to taking my father’s words as scripture after one of our talks. But, tonight…it had been a mess. Between his words, my own back talk and Oliver and Raina’s reaction, it felt like being dropped in a minefield, uncertain what my next step would unlock. Would the next second bring my peace at finally having a support system, or would it hold on to the words that echoed my father’s disappointment for being a pathetic boy and holding grudges—

“Rihaan?” Oliver voice snapped my attention back to where he stood.