Seeing My Parents Ignored, I Knew This Don Wasn’t the One Chapter 02

Seeing My Parents Ignored, I Knew This Don Wasn’t the One Chapter 02

My mom panicked.

“Don’t say things like that.”

“We’re fine on the bus, really. Don’t be like this.”

But I couldn’t listen anymore.

I hung up and turned to leave.

Dominic grabbed my arm.

“Where are you going?”

“To get my parents.”

His expression hardened.

“We’re about to board. What happens to the wedding if you leave?”

I looked at him.

“My parents aren’t here. What wedding?”

Eleanor’s mother let out a soft, delicate cough.

Dominic immediately let go of me. He turned and draped his jacket over her shoulders.

“Is the AC too cold?”

The movement was smooth. Practiced. Intimate.

I stood there, and suddenly even asking the question felt pointless.

So he did know older people got cold easily. He did know they needed to be looked after.

It was just that none of that care ever extended to my parents.

Dominic glanced back at me, impatient.

“Charlotte, stop this.”

“I already had my guys take care of your parents.”

I pulled my arm back gently.

A thirty-plus-hour Greyhound ticket.

A route with a transfer and a ferry.

And my parents, carefully preserving his dignity by making excuses for him the whole way.

That was his idea of taking care of them.

I was about to leave the airport when my phone rang again.

It was my mom.

This time, her voice was even more frantic.

“Lottie… I don’t think we can get on the bus after all.”

My heart dropped.

“What do you mean, you can’t get on the bus?”

The background was noisy, a bus driver’s irritated voice cutting through.

My mom lowered her voice, like she was afraid of someone overhearing.

“They said the tickets are wrong.”

“They said these were for yesterday. They’re not valid today.”

“They kicked us off.”

A roaring sound filled my head.

Dominic said he took care of it.

Taking care of it meant buying my parents two expired Greyhound tickets.

I gripped the phone.

“Mom, where are you right now?”

My mom rushed to speak.

“Lottie, don’t be mad at Dominic.”

“He had to handle so many people. Mistakes happen.”

My dad’s suppressed cough sounded in the background.

“We’ll just wait here in the station.”

“It’s fine.”

“Don’t let this mess up your flight.”

They’d been kicked off the bus.

They were standing in some unfamiliar station.

And they were still making excuses for Dominic.

Heat flooded my eyes. I turned to Dominic.

“You bought my parents tickets for yesterday?”

Dominic’s expression flickered.

“What?”

I shoved my phone toward him.

“They got kicked off the bus.”

“This is what you meant by taking care of it?”

Dominic finally frowned. It looked like it was only just dawning on him that this was an actual problem.

“My guy must’ve screwed up the booking.”

“Just—don’t panic.”

He pulled out his phone to make a call.

“I’ll have Mark drive over to pick them up.”

“We won’t fly out today. I’ll rebook us all for tomorrow.”

He spoke quickly, and his tone had softened. Like he was handling a minor logistical hiccup.

But looking at him, something inside me turned cold.

What if I hadn’t pushed? What if my mom hadn’t called?

Would my parents have just sat in that station, clutching their luggage, waiting until dark?