I'm stronger than you think... I know I am

Isabelle blinked a couple of times, frozen in place, as the man's features showed how displeased he was of her visit.

Priscilla's face dropped, looking with wide eyes at her father. She knew who her father was, yet she somehow had forgotten how ruthless that man could be. She turned her face to look at her brother, immediately feeling her stomach sink at the sight.

Allen's jaw clenched so hard you could see the effort on his muscles. His neck was turning red, spreading insanely fast to the rest of his face. His pale blue eyes looked more intimidating and wild than they usually were, glaring at his father in such a way it could ice your blood.

He had a murderous face, a vivid reflection of what was going on inside his head.

"You better keep her out of your fucking mouth." His voice came out in a low, threatening tone, pronouncing the words clearly, so there would not be any misunderstanding.

Mr. Hayes looked at him with acknowledgement in his eyes, yet his face was covered with a mocking expression.

Mr. Hayes chuckled. "So you finally grew some balls?" His eyes moved from Allen to Mrs. Olivier. "Next time, you better tell me when we have… Visitors." The last word came out with a certain disgust. He didn't wait any answers as he turned his back and left the place.

The room was silent for a moment, everyone unable to move a muscle. Isabelle was not only scared, but embarrassed to have giving Allen's father a bad impression; so she dropped her gaze to the ground and pursed her lips.

Priscilla's nervous laugh broke the heavy silence, making Isabelle turn her head towards her. "D—Don't mind what my father sa—"

"I'm sorry." Allen interrupted her. His fists were clenched below the table, his body slightly shacking of rage. He closed his eyes, trying to stop tears from falling.

Isabelle wore a concerned expression, slightly touching Allen's arm. "It's fine."

"No, it's not." His voice rose a little, not enough to be a proper scream. He let out the air out through his mouth, calming down. "I'm so sorry you had to see and hear that. I thought he was not going to come home this early."

"Maybe I bothered him somehow…" Isabelle started, but Priscilla quickly retorted, shaking her head with a small smile on her lips.

"It's not about you, honey. It's—" She stopped, struggling to speak further. Finally, she sighed. "That's not for me to tell you." Isabelle nodded a little, dropping her eyes towards Allen.

Isabelle looked at him, but as his eyes were still closed, she squeezed his arm a little to catch his attention. He slowly opened his eyes, turning his head to face her. Allen looked at her with pain clear in his eyes, his lips tightly closed. She could hear his ragged breathing and how hard he was struggling to keep calm.

Isabelle smiled a little, trying to reassure him. "Wanna take a walk?" She asked, stretching her arm and offering her hand to him.

Allen looked at it for a second, feeling how his tensed body started to relax. Then, he raised his eyes to meet Isabelle's once more. He took her hand hesitantly, standing up from the chair and following her to the front door.

Both, Priscilla and Mrs. Olivier, watched them leave with concern clear in their eyes; but, somehow, they felt at ease knowing the girl was with Allen in a moment like this.

Isabelle and Allen left the place, and headed towards the main gate, letting the guard know they were going for a walk and would be back in a while.

They were heading nowhere specific, Allen absently taking step by step with a heavy meanor. Isabelle minded herself matching her steps with his. She was not ready to review the exchange from earlier just yet, so she kept quiet a little longer.

Allen's house was in a close street of five other properties, all huge lands and that created some sort of secluded area. They walk the whole place, passing by a few curious eyes that followed them until they were no longer visible. When they reached the main guardhouse, they kept walking along the road that lead to the venue.

They lost track of time by the moment they reached one of the oldest parks in the city. During weekends, it tends to be full of people, but as the storm hit hard last night, the place was a little of a mess; with a lot of branches everywhere and poodles of mud in every corner.

Isabelle walked over to a bench near the entrance and sat down, followed by Allen, who just let himself fall heavily over it. She did not know how to start the conversation, or if she should even do it. But she could tell he was having a hard time getting over the whole thing, so she put a brave face and looked up front.

"Feeling a little better?" her voice was soft, trying to show him she was not mad.

He shook his head. "I'm really sorry…" A tremor made his voice waver slightly, making him stay quiet once more.

"It's not your fault, you know?"

Allen shook his head again. "It is. I should have known father would arrive any time." He said, frustrated. "And because of that he got to be a jerk to you too."

"Why do you call him that? Father?" Isabelle changed the subject.

His light blue eye looked at her. "Because that's what he is?" He answered more like a question, not knowing why she asked that, exactly.

"I noticed you and Pris call him that." She stopped, giving herself some time to think how to say the next thing in words. "It sounds… Distant?"

Allen's gaze dropped, knowing where this was headed.

"I supposed you'd ask eventually."He nodded a little in surrender. "We don't have a good relationship with my father. Father is usually not like this with Pris, he rather just ignores her existence. But as for me, well— I guess he just hates me."

His words slapped Isabelle's naive thoughts. "Hate? A word like that…"

"It is what it is. Being family, being his son, doesn't mean he has to love me or even like me. We're just people, and I happened to not be of his liking." Allen shrugged.

The wind blew strands of his hair over his face, which he didn't move. "I understand." Isabelle was not sure about what to say. His situation was something she could have never imagine going through with her family. "It—must be hard."

"I've come to terms with it a long time ago." For the first time, Allen looked at her; a tired smile on his face. "Mother is rather nonexistent. She acknowledges my existence and is never properly mean, but well… She's never around."

"I didn't see her at your place." Isabelle would remember, that is for sure.

"She was in her room. She didn't want to be bothered."

"I see…"

"Actually, this is a rare occasion—being all together. Priscilla lives in the other side of the country with her husband. She came here only for father's business dinner." Allen straightened his back. "Father likes to keep appearances, so every time he has an important business meeting, he demands we're all present."

"Wait. So you're usually on your house alone?" Isabelle felt her stomach tighten, making her a little nauseous.

Allen nodded. "Yeah." He half smiled, as if the question was stupid. "But they're usually not home, so it's like living on my own."

"I see…" Isabelle's words were barely audible. She grabbed both of her hands, nervously. "I'm sorry if I bothered you for asking all of this."

"It's true I didn't want to talk about it. But only because it's embarrassing, not because I don't trust you or something like that."

Allen looked at Isabelle front the corner of his eye, and found her deep in thought, looking forward. He could tell she was processing the information, so he didn't say anything else. After a couple of minutes, she spoke again.

"Thanks for telling me. Even if it was because of what happened and you felt you needed to explain." Her hazel eyes met his icy-blue ones, and smiled.

Allen could not hold her gaze for long, though, looking up to the sky as if there was something interesting up there. "Thank you, too—you know, for listening to all that crap."

She laughed a little. "It's not crap." Isabelle's smile turned into a reassuring expression. "I want to know, if it's ok for you, a lot about you. Even these things you think are embarrassing."

Even after hearing her words, Allen could not see himself going to her to talk about it again. At least not the parts where his father treats him like garbage. He did not want her to see how pathetic his life actually was, or how his father thought about him. The last part because he thought that, maybe, she could find his father's words to be true.

Allen smiled, though, enjoying the confidence and reassurance she wanted to give him, even after knowing the feeling was momentary; he knew that when he got home he would have to face his father.

They stayed in the park almost an hour longer and headed back slowly, walking like wanting to make their time together last longer.

When they finally got back, he took her to his car, avoiding at any cost a new encounter with his father. Priscilla noticed they arrived by mere coincidence, coming closer to them to say goodbye —and invite her over to her place in case Isabelle happens to travel near her.

Isabelle was incredibly happy that at least Allen's sister seemed to like her and, since Mrs. Olivier was someone important for Allen too, that she made a good impression. Of course, ignoring their first awkward encounter.

Then, Allen took her home, apologizing to her parents for what happened on their way out of the amusement park, and for taking her to his house even if it was not appropriate. His words surprised them, as he looked genuinely troubled for it, even though they knew it was out of his control.

Of course, they were worried, and at some point blamed it on him for being behind the wheel, but after cooling down they knew nothing could have been done. In fact, they were grateful he took her somewhere safe and closer to them. They even appreciated the fact that he did not just drop her and left, but took responsibility and talked to them up front.

Allen left Isabelle's place with some sort of grim feeling over his shoulders. He did not want to return home, but he knew better than no one that avoiding the problem only made things worse for him. So, gathered strength the whole way back by recollecting his memories with her from the past day.

He laughed mockingly at how stupid it felt that someone he met not long ago had become a lifesaver, keeping him from drowning in his own misery.

He parked his car in the usual place, and entered the house. He was ready for what was about to come. To his surprise, there was no one around, except for his mother.

She was sitting in the huge, white couch near the entrance. Mrs. Hayes' green eyes landed on his son, eyeing him u and down. She did not want to say anything at first, yet she could not resist the opportunity.

"I told you to settle your business fast."

Allen rolled his eyes. "Father was not supposed to be around until late today."

"What a shocker. You haven't learned anything." She closed the magazine she was reading, and put it beside her, over the sofa. "Keep assuming things like that, and you'll achieve nothing in your life."

He scoffed. Yeah. Thanks for the advice, even though I didn't even ask you for it."

Allen turned around to leave, but her words stop him in his tracks.

"That girl you're dating." She stopped, letting the silence add to her dramatic scene. She liked to play that character, the same thing she has been doing since she married the most desired self-made millionaire. "She's not going to last long in this world, Ari."

Allen felt his blood boil at the mention of his name. "Don't call me that." He hissed. "And that's none of your business."

"Oh, but it is. Because you're my son." She smiled.

"So?" Allied snapped. "That was not a problem for you whenever father got his way around me."

Mrs. Hayes face turned sour, her smiled turning into a thin line. "That's how things are supposed to be, Allen. Neither you nor Priscilla, not even I can stand in your father's way." He spit the last couple of words out of her mouth like if they were dirty. Her eyes turned hard like stone. "I thought you already knew that, or is it that you're forgetting it because of her?"

Allen did not reply. He knew his mother was somehow right.

Mrs. Hayes raised an eyebrow, smiling bitterly. "You think you can escape this?" She raised to her feet, and walked slowly towards him. "Even your birth was a part of his plan, son. He's got everything under his control; nothing is left up to chance." She stopped in front of him, close enough for her to be forced to look u to meet Allen's glacial expression. "So it doesn't matter what you do, he's not going to let you get away with it. So start forgetting about whatever intentions you have with this girl… Or even with your own life."

Silence ruled over them, as there was nothing left to be said. Allen would not bother to say anything anymore, as he always knew that talking to his mother was like talking to a brick wall: tiring and useless. But he would not look away first. He still had some pride left.

Mrs. Hayes stepped backwards, increasing the distance between them. She wanted to take a good look at her son. She never really paid any attention to him before, but she could feel a sting of guilt stabbing her from behind. Then, she turned on her heels and head towards the staircase.

She stopped midways, and without turning back, she spoke one last time. "But if you do manage to escape… Tell me how you did it."

It was almost like a mumble, but it was loud enough for him to hear it.

He was left frozen in the spot, not sure if he had, indeed, heard her right.