Upon landing at the airport, his father had reserved a car to take him directly home, making things much easier for him since he didn't know his way around such places where he had little experience.
Looking at him now, his appearance seemed ordinary, but beneath his clothes, sunglasses, and mask, there were still bruises that hadn't fully healed even after days of complete recovery. He also needed to walk with a Canadian-style adjustable hand cane, which provided the necessary support for him to walk more normally than he appeared.
"Have you taken a pain pill?" Elliot, who was beside Dash, looked at him for a few seconds and asked.
Dash nodded. He had to take anti-inflammatory pills and ones to alleviate the pain in his muscles that had been tormenting him after those fights. Many might not notice, but there were severe but not grave injuries that were quite evident.
That was the first time he had been hurt in that way, which was very risky because they could have easily broken a bone if, for some reason, he hadn't won the battle in the last attack.
"We've arrived..."
Dash opened his eyes, looked to the side, and saw that the door next to where he was sitting had been opened, and he nodded. He wasn't used to this treatment; he was just a guy trying to find a way to fit into this new life. So, after getting out of the car, he thanked Elliot, who had taken care of him until now.
"Do you know if my father is at home?"
Elliot nodded and said, "He's waiting for you in his office..."
As he headed to his father's office, Dash felt a bitter taste in his mouth. It was a wave of uncontrollable emotions that he was currently feeling. He couldn't make the pain disappear within him, so that's what burned him the most inside.
Knock-knock!
"Come in, it's open."
Dash entered and saw his father, Frederick, sitting behind the desk. As always, he was looking at some documents, but he put everything down as soon as Dash entered.
"I'm back..."
"It seems this time wasn't as easy as you thought, right?" Frederick looked up, observing all those exposed marks on his son and shook his head. "Was it worth it?"
Dash sighed, sat down, and reached into his pocket to take out a bank card containing exactly twenty million dollars, even after giving Santiago his share.
"Here, I want you to cover all the expenses for Mrs. Zoé and also the costs of Sakura Bushido. I want to pay you back for all that."
Frederick sighed and said, "I don't need money from my son; you can keep it. You've shown me that you can stand on your own, but now I have a question for you. Do you plan to continue like this?"
"You taught me to survive in this way. All I'm doing is taking it to a level where I have chances."
"So, what will you do from now on?"
Dash remained silent, looked at his father, and said, "I'll rest, go back to school when classes start, and before that, I'll be with Devon supporting her."
"Life is cruel, son. If you don't learn the easy way, you'll learn the hard way, and that's the only thing I wanted to teach you. You can't go around helping people; the world doesn't work that way."
"But my girlfriend's mother is not just anyone, can you understand that?" Dash looked at his father more seriously, wanting to make it clear why he had been upset in the first place.
"I never expected you to have any treatment like other kids your age. I'm proud and grateful that you are my family, so I never complained about anything. Your absence was felt every day at home; I didn't care; I tried not to give it importance. But understand that I also have a limit."
Frederick looked at his son in silence, nodded, and said, "It's my fault. I wanted to teach you a life lesson, but I guess it wasn't the right time. I was insensitive, and I apologize. Take your money and go see Mrs. Lee before her surgery."
Dash nodded; he wanted to cry but wouldn't do it once again in front of his father. He didn't want to show himself vulnerable once again, so he left the room as soon as he said goodbye to his father.
Being in the empty room, Frederick put his hands to his head and muttered, "Even if it's just you, Dash, I'm sorry for all this... You'll have everything I've achieved; you'll take care of all our belongings once we're gone, so this education was necessary..."
Now that he had heard his son's words, Frederick smiled, realizing that he had been a bad father all this time. He never had a fatherly figure that would raise him like a common child; his family had indoctrinated him to be the perfect successor, and that continued until he became what he is now.
He had thought that as long as he did the same with one of his children but giving them more freedom, that same child would be stronger, perfect, and outstanding in life.
But now that he thinks about it, he was naive not to have raised Dash better, who always pretended not to be so bad.
"I guess that was my mistake..." Frederick murmured after being alone for some time.