The morning sun cast a rosy hue across the sky as the melodious songs of birds drifted through the quiet mansion.
"Fabiola! Where the heck are you?" Alvin's voice echoed through the hallway. "Do you realize it's work time? You're already going to be late. I need you to run a quick errand for me."
He knocked firmly on his son's bedroom door, but there was no response.
"Fabiola, I know you're in there."
Alvin knocked again, his patience wearing thin.
"This isn't the time to play games, Fabiola. I need you out here this minute. I wouldn't want to miss my appointment today because of you."
He slammed his palm against the door in frustration, hoping the sudden noise would finally force his son out of hiding.
Still, there was nothing.
No response.
Not even the slightest movement from inside.
Alvin sighed deeply, growing increasingly irritated. It felt as though he had been arguing with himself.
Convinced that Fabiola was deliberately ignoring him, Alvin bent down and peered through the tiny gap beneath the door.
His eyes widened.
The room was empty.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside. Fabiola's bed was perfectly made, the bedsheet smooth and untouched, as though no one had slept in it the entire night.
Alvin frowned.
"His room is still neat. Not even the bedsheet was disturbed."
He glanced around the room, confusion settling over his face.
"Where could he possibly be? It's Monday, for crying out loud. Doesn't he know it's a workday?"
His frustration intensified as he walked out of the room.
He decided to stop worrying about Fabiola for the moment and headed toward the living room to get a glass of water.
But the moment he stepped into the room, he froze.
Something caught his attention.
His eyes widened in complete disbelief.
What he saw left him utterly stunned.
Alvin wasn't sure whether what he was seeing was real.
For a moment, he stood frozen, convinced that his tired eyes were playing tricks on him. But as he moved closer, the bitter truth became impossible to ignore.
He was stunned.
Dumbfounded.
Completely at a loss for words.
Alvin slowly lowered himself onto the couch, his legs suddenly feeling too weak to support him.
"What have I done to deserve this?" he muttered bitterly. "I've tried my best to raise him and make him a better person since his mother's death. But what do I get in return? Disgrace, disrespect, and one blunder after another from my own heir?"
He shook his head, disappointment written all over his face.
"Isn't this too much for me?"
After sitting there for a while and trying to calm himself, Alvin finally rose to his feet. His eyes fell on the bar across the room.
He marched toward it, grabbed a bottle of tequila, and returned to where Fabiola was lying.
"This nonsense has to stop," he muttered angrily. "I can't sit back and watch him destroy his life."
Without another word, Alvin poured the tequila over Fabiola and the young woman beside him, startling them awake.
"Dad! What the hell are you doing?"
Fabiola sprang to his feet, furious and embarrassed.
Alvin glared at him.
"What am I doing? I should be the one asking you that question!"
"Why did you have to do this?" Fabiola snapped.
In the heat of the argument, Fabiola struck his father.
Alvin stared at him in disbelief before reacting angrily, striking Fabiola back.
The room fell silent.