The Badboy's Heartbeat [BxB] √

CHAPTER 97

XAVIER ROCKWELL

Hugging Jordi Adkins for the first time in a very long while was just the thing that I needed at this point in my life. At first, Jordi was clearly astounded when I first yanked him over into a desperate hug but eventually, he returned the favor and it was just as soothing as I expected it to be. It's the kind of embrace that I've been longing for and I'm finally having it. It felt good to be here with Jordi because I don't know if I could take what's happening around in my life anymore.

It's been a while since I've been treating Jordi like he does not exist in my very own universe. I tried to fix it with him when I met the couple Dominic and Valentine but since then, I haven't really had the best time to even focus on getting Jordi back. When I went to Jordi's house, I felt super disappointed by the fact that he's already going out with someone else just a few weeks after I ended things with him. It was mindboggling to be perfectly honest. And when I got back home, the party was still going and then out of the blue, I met a drunk Xander. I don't know how much alcohol he had consumed but he was visibly drunk and he's basically stripped off of his inhibitions. Apparently, Xander has been harboring some sort of animosity towards me and ended up giving the audience a very embarrassing show and ended up dragging me as his supposed antagonist. He ended up punching me in the face and while I've been trying my very best to be patient with everyone, I was in a low place that time that I just lost it myself.

Xander and I ended up having an altercation that eventually led to our dad having an unprecedented heart attack. We rushed dad to the hospital and while he was fine after that, we, along with Rachel, his original wife, soon learned that he has a terminal illness that he'd been trying to hide from everyone. It was another bigger surprise to us which just backed up Xander's claim that dad just really likes to drop bombs to everyone. This was just another bomb that shook the entire family.

When I learned about my dad's terminal illness, I had a lot of thoughts and feelings about the whole turn of events. My world seemed to have completely shattered at that point that I just realized I've been harboring so much hate in my heart. I didn't know how much I love my dad until I had to learn that he doesn't have much time left in this world. I may have loathed him for the longest time for leaving me and my mom, he does have a very complex situation that I wouldn't be able to understand at such a young age. It became apparent to me that while he's a powerful patriarch, he's not that powerful in some other senses, he's just as powerless as every human out there. He does not have control over the things that's happening surrounding him. Even now, I'm still confused but besides that, I am starting to learn more and more about life.

I finally connected some of the dots that has been bugging in my head. This is one of the reasons why he announced that he's naming me his sole heir. Apart from that, I finally understood the reason why he just wanted me to move in. I know he essentially forced me but I know the reasoning behind it. He knows that I'd be saying no to that.

Quite surprisingly enough, Christmas went well following the shameful altercation that occurred during Xander's birthday party. Our father decided to let the Christmas dinner exclusive for us because he does not want anyone of our relatives catching a whiff of what was happening to him. He knows how these people's mind work and he chose to avoid drama. Good for him and for me because I'm part of that front line that he had created.

Xander eventually showed up during the dinner and he apologized towards me. He realized what he did was all product of pent up anger and the concurrent jealousy that he was feeling towards me. He ended up telling how he truly felt and yes, he was truly jealous that I am getting the attention that he wanted from dad. He revealed to me that our dad never really saw his potential and that he had a tunnel vision for him. He wanted to play soccer just like I did but our dad wanted him to be as scholastic as possible except that he failed at everything.