Invisible to My First Love (Harper and Maddox) novel Chapter 138

Chapter 138

Harper

For a few seconds, my brain went blank and I stopped blinking, trying to process what Dean had just said to

1. 1. me.

Then, a short, forced laugh escaped my lips.

“Okay…” I trailed off as I blinked rapidly, shaking my head. “That’s…wow. That’s definitely one way to start a conversation after not seeing each other for a long time.”

He didn’t smile and that made my stomach twist.

“No… seriously?” I added, still half laughing because my mind refused to believe what I had just heard and I immediately became uncomfortable. “Look, you can’t just show up and drop a line like that. What are you even talking about?”

Under the table, I lowered my hand to my lap because it was now trembling.

“Please tell me that this is some weird joke.”

I held my breath, hoping he’d burst into laughter or something, but the expression on his face didn’t change. There was no humor at all.

Then, his hand reached into his jacket without saying a word to me. I wondered what he was up to this time.

He pulled out a small, worn photograph and I didn’t think too much of it, but that was until he slid it across the table. I didn’t even immediately look down at it as I watched the small smile form on his lips, like he was delivering something heavy.

He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms and I knew at that moment that he was waiting for me to check out the photograph.

The moment I looked down at it, I held my breath as my eyes grew wide. I slowly picked it up, bringing it closer to my face as my hand trembled.

My lips quickly curved into a smile as I placed my other hand on my chest, like I could feel my heart warming up. I was looking at a photograph of my mother from a long time ago. She was young, glowing and so beautiful. Her smile was bright and carefree. It was a version of her I had never seen in real life.

Then, my eyes drifted to the man standing beside her. He was tall and expensive looking. He reminded me so much of Dean. They had the same eyes, jawline and smile.

“Is this your dad?”

He nodded in agreement. “Yes, his name is Landon Beauregard and I’m Dean Beauregard. My last name isn’t Johnson as I made you believe all this time. What’s important is that this is our father.”

I didn’t even bother to comment on his response as I just stared at the picture for a few more seconds.

It was only when he leaned forward that I paid attention to his face again.

“Years ago, those two were a couple,” he began. “But his family was against it. He was next in line to inherit the entire Beauregard business empire and they made it clear that if he married someone like your mother, someone with no status, he’d lose everything.”

“Did he fight for her?” I asked, even though part of me knew what the answer would be.

I confirmed it when Dean took a few seconds to respond. He looked down at the table, his jaw tightening,

“No,” he finally said. “He didn’t. He chose the empire and that was the end of it. They never saw each other again.”

As soon as I heard that, my fingers loosened around the photo and I set it down carefully.

I still couldn’t stop looking at it as I wondered if he was really the reason my mother lost that smile. No matter how hard I tried to think about it, I’d never seen her smile like that before.

“There’s something else I need to tell you,” he said, grabbing my attention again. “I didn’t meet you for the first time the day we bumped into each other on your morning run.”

My head shot up fast with raised eyebrows. “What?”

“I’d been in town earlier for work and that’s when I saw you at a café. You were standing outside and you had a strong resemblance to the woman in this picture. I didn’t know your name or anything about you, but I couldn’t let it go. So I did some digging until I found your address. And then we ran into each other on your jog. It wasn’t totally accidental. I made sure I was on that trail. I just needed to know if it was you.”

That should’ve felt flattering and meaningful, but instead, it felt like someone coming into my life without my permission.

“And once we got to know each other,” he continued with a soft voice, “and you told me you didn’t know who your father was, that’s when everything connected and-”

“I have to go,” I whispered and even then, my voice sounded far away.

I abruptly rose to my feet, the chair scraping loudly against the floor. A few heads turned in our direction, but that didn’t even matter to me. I grabbed my purse with trembling hands, moving fast and not caring that people were still staring at me.

“Harper!” he called out to me with a pang of desperation.

I didn’t slow down or look back even for a second. Not only did I need to get out of there and get some air,I needed to get away from him.

When I stepped outside, I intended to get a cab, but I looked across the road and spotted Maddox’s car parked right there. I didn’t question why he had come back. I was just glad to see him.

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