As Dash drove to his father's company, he felt suffocated. The pain of seeing Devon in that state was something he couldn't shake from his mind. While no one would mourn his death, he had believed that having someone care for you was unique and fantastic, but now he was doubting his own principles.
"This is damn madness..." Dash gritted his teeth and drove faster as the seconds ticked away in his mind one by one.
By the time he arrived at his father's company, Dash parked wherever he could and entered the building. The guards at the door didn't stop him since they knew who he was, and that continued until Dash reached the top floor.
"Is my father in his office?" Dash asked with a serious expression.
The secretary sitting outside Frederick's office looked at Dash and nodded, but before she could stop him, he entered.
Dash, who had entered, saw his father on a call, and upon seeing him, Frederick raised his hand to signal him not to speak. Frederick, who was on the call, was a bit puzzled when he saw Dash, but he didn't pay attention to his son. He needed to solve the problems on the calls first, and after that, he would deal with whatever his son needed.
Dash, who closed the door, sat in front of his father's desk, tried to calm his nervousness, and after a few minutes of waiting, he was losing patience.
"It's a pleasure to reach a mutual agreement; my assistant will take care of bringing you the entire contract to be signed as soon as possible." Frederick smiled a bit, and after ending the call, he looked at Dash and asked, "What do you want?"
Dash furrowed his brows and asked, "Can't I visit my father at his workplace?"
"Let's be honest; the only reason you would look for me is that you need something you can't do. It has always been that way for years, so it's not convenient for you to use empty words to address me." Frederick spoke flatly to his son; there were no emotions involved as it had been their relationship forever.
Dash sighed, knowing his father was right. So, after taking a deep breath, he said, "Devon's mother is sick. From what I heard, she has a fairly malignant brain tumor, and they need help. She could die, Dad, so they need our help."
Frederick nodded with understanding and asked slightly confused, "Our help? As far as I understand, what you need is my money, contacts, and support to save your girlfriend's mother."
"You must understand a bit about life, son. Maybe Devon is important to you now, but many times these things won't keep happening in the future." Frederick adjusted his posture and pointed, "And just this time, I will refuse to help you just because you need my help. This is an important lesson you need to learn."
Dash stood up from his seat and said in a loud voice, "Maybe you're right, but does one need to be related to a person to help them? They need our help now more than ever, so the least we should do is help them."
"Now, a family that is not related to us, we owe them help? Don't be naive, son. If you gave them all your money, and it's still not enough, that means you still don't understand life very well."
Frederick had chosen this moment to give Dash a lesson, who had recently distanced himself from the family. He needed to make him understand how important it was to be united, so he chose this moment to see his reaction, and he truly wasn't regretting it.
For him, his son didn't know how money was spent. He couldn't understand how much one hundred thousand dollars were, and if he didn't know the difference between that and nothing, then he had neglected his son's education a lot.
"A brain tumor is something very serious, especially if it grows rapidly. You must understand that she might not survive even if we give them our help." Frederick said, looking at his son with coldness. He wanted his son to understand what he had to learn in his childhood.
But Frederick didn't understand the slight distance he had with his parents after getting this new life, and the words of that father, who was much better than before, decayed on various levels.
"How the hell are you so sure she will die?!" Dash shouted, hitting his father's desk. This was the first time he had lost control in front of a family member. "I never thought I'd see you give up on something, but now I know you're insensitive to this level."
He never expected to hear those words from his father. He didn't know what he had done wrong to be treated this way by him, but hearing him say those words couldn't help but put him in the same situation in his past life.
Was this how his father reacted when he was bedridden, waiting for death?
Did his father always acknowledge him as a nuisance who would eventually die?
The hidden anger in Dash came out so strongly that he couldn't control his emotions. He looked at his father with rage and asked, "Is this how you take people's lives? Maybe that woman doesn't matter to you at all, and you're not obligated to help them, but I won't allow you to talk so easily about death."
"Since you're not willing to help me, then I want you not to interfere with how I do things." Dash, who turned around, heard his father's voice.
"And what are you going to do if you're a kid who barely knows about life?" Frederick asked in a cold tone. This was the first time he looked at his son in this way, and for some reason, he believed he had made a mistake.
Dash, who felt attacked, gritted his teeth, tears spilled from his eyes, and murmured, "I may not be a successful businessman, but I know more about life than someone like you... If you're not going to help me, then don't interfere in my life, or I'll disappear from everyone."
Dash's words were strong and very clear. Frederick could see his anger and sighed. "You'll have to pay me; the Lee family may have good terms with us, but this is your responsibility. Do what you want, but you'll have to pay me. Get out of this place now."
"Thank you, Father..."