Falling For My Ex's Uncle - Chapter 53: Chapter 53

Isaac extended his hand at the same time, offering a polite but detached smile. "Isaac, and you?"
His deep voice carried a faint smile, warm yet almost chilling in its serenity.
The cold touch of his fingers sent a tremor through me as they met my own. My heartbeat, which had just begun to steady, skipped, and for a moment, I felt as if my mind had emptied, overtaken by an unsettling fear.
But the anger, a dark flame that had been smoldering inside me for years, kept me grounded. The next second, I forced a calm smile, my lips curling up with practiced ease. "Laurel Parks."
Isaac's grip faltered for a brief moment, and he studied me with an intrigued glint in his eyes. "I didn't expect you to have the Parks surname."
"The people of Nifelheim City aren't special," I replied coolly, a calm smile on my lips, though inside I was anything but calm.
I knew what I was hiding beneath that composed exterior—an unsettled heart, one that had been in turmoil since I first laid eyes on him in my freshman year.
The moment I saw him speak on stage, I knew, instantly, that this man was the one from the photos I had studied for so long. It was as if he stepped right out of those pictures, pulling me into his orbit.
At that moment, his girlfriend bumped into me, teasing, "Laurel, you're not falling for the big shot from Wadiff City, are you? You can't have both the fish and the bear's paw."
Later, I learned casually through my professors that Isaac had funded the library expansion at the university and that his mentor was one of the professors here. It all made sense.
But even then, I kept my distance, standing far away in the crowd, silently watching the face that haunted my dreams.
I hated him for being everything I wasn't: rich, admired, untouchable. Yet I couldn't stop yearning for what I could never have.
The resentment I harbored was bitter, and I couldn't blame my young self for it. After all, without a father, it was only my mother who kept us alive.
I remembered the winters, the cold, the desperation. We lived in cramped old apartments, sometimes even in abandoned houses waiting to be demolished.
There was one winter, just before the New Year, when the snow fell heavy. I was no older than five.
But to this day, I still remembered the panic and helplessness in my mother's eyes when she saw Bonnie taking out the trash.
She grabbed me and tried to hurry me along, but the ground was icy, and as she turned, she lost her balance and fell hard onto the ground.
Before I even had a chance to cry, it was my mother who started crying.
I thought she was crying because she'd hurt herself, so scared I didn't dare to say a word.
But my mother was never afraid of pain. She'd once stabbed her finger so badly it went through the skin, and she didn't even flinch.
Then Bonnie led me up to an elderly couple, asking me to call for help.
I shrank behind my mother, clutching her cold hands tightly, but I noticed her hands were trembling violently. She seemed even more terrified than I was.
She cried harder than when she had fallen.
That day, despite everything, I was happy. I ate the chocolate and milk candy my mother only ever bought for me on my birthday.
I couldn't understand then, but I understood now. It was her way of showing love in the midst of hardship.
I looked at Isaac, the bitterness in my heart welling up. "So, Mr. Parks, you knew I wasn't Angela all along?"
He smiled, giving no answer.
I was left stunned, the question hanging in the air. Did he know?
That speech, the first time I saw him, it had rained right after. I didn't have the courage to ask him about his father, because he was too perfect. And I, a girl from the gutter, could never be in his league.
I ran, but fate had other plans.
When I hid beneath a tree, trying to escape the rain, there he was again.
He handed me his umbrella, his eyes sparkling with a subtle kindness. His hair and shirt were drenched, but he didn't say a word. I didn't say thank you either.
But at that moment, all the pain and resentment inside me felt like a joke.
I cleared my throat and tilted my head slightly. "Thanks for the generosity."
Isaac squinted his eyes, a hint of a smile on his lips. "No need to thank me. Kailyn was wrong from the start. A little compensation is the least I can do."
I smiled faintly, internally scoffing. Oh, how "generous" of him.
Isaac never came to Nifelheim City, but I was sure he had met Angela before.
He hadn't exposed me, but he probably had guessed the truth. If he really treated me the same as everyone else, then Javier wouldn't have spent an entire night in the game, and Kailyn wouldn't be so bold in speaking her mind.
It was all about knowing how to play the game. I couldn't help but smile bitterly at myself. The man I had once admired as the image of elegance, it turned out, was far from perfect. His mind was far sharper than I had ever realized.
"The daughter of the Parks family certainly has the privilege to do as she pleases." I smirked, my lips curling into a smile.
Isaac's eyes softened slightly as he gave a slow blink. "Miss Parks, you're different from the women I know."
I took a deep, composed breath, meeting his gaze with an idle look. "Because I'm a wild grass growing on a cliffside. Not the delicate flower nurtured in a greenhouse."
"Wild grass?" Isaac's gaze softened unexpectedly, and he said, "I think Miss Parks is more like a white rose."
I blinked, murmuring under my breath, "A white rose with thorns?"
Isaac chuckled, his eyes lighting up with amusement.
As I turned to leave, I noticed a figure standing behind me, almost as if they had materialized from nowhere.
"Isaac," the voice said, low and familiar. "Alex is waiting for you inside."
Austin approached Isaac, patting his arm lightly, his lips curling into a faint smile, but his eyes seemed distant.
Isaac turned back to me. "Miss Parks, I must excuse myself."
I nodded, giving him a brief acknowledgment.
As Isaac walked into the hall, I took two steps forward, but Austin grabbed my wrist.
My drink swayed dangerously in my hand, nearly spilling.
"Austin, what are you doing?" I furrowed my brows, glaring at him.
Austin held onto me tightly, his palm warm and damp, his grip firm with anger. I could feel his fury rising, but I showed no fear.
"Laurel, you're seducing Alex, fine. But now you're eagerly trying to seduce Isaac? Are you out of your mind? Do you think you'll have Alex's attention and then settle for someone else when he doesn't bite?"