Episode 1145: In The Dark

He couldn’t know whether Ava had outright cheated on his son but as far as he was concerned she’d been close enough. Phillip knew how it felt to be cheated on. He certainly didn’t wish it on his emotionally fragile son.

Phillip could well imagine feeling so distraught, so betrayed that you wouldn’t even notice you’d walked into oncoming traffic. Of course, Phillip hadn’t done that when he’d learned of Katherine’s affair, but he’d always been better than Sebastian at guarding himself, walling off those emotions. Which was why his every thought of Avalon angered him.

Ava knew as well as Phillip did that Sebastian was the vulnerable type, always had been and still she’d carried on this relationship or whatever it was, knowing his son was not made of tough enough stuff to handle Xavier being in Ava’s life. The ignorance! The selfishness! It was no wonder Phillip had lost his cool a bit, intimated something about the woman that maybe he shouldn’t have. Maybe.

“What do you mean about Ava showing a lack of judgment in her free time?” Sebastian asked, his eyes narrowing, venom edging his voice in defense of Avalon. “I don’t know anyone more levelheaded or hardworking than my wife. And when does she even have free time? She almost always spends her supposed free time brainstorming ways to improve her store. She’s been especially busy since you destroyed her store while she sat loyally at my bedside. I can’t believe you’re criticizing her. And why? All because she wants to run her business her way instead of yours? C’mon, Dad.”

Phillip was tempted to tell Sebastian the truth. Tempted to tell him this wasn’t an act of pettiness on his part, this wasn’t about him not seeing eye to eye on business. Again, for the millionth time since learning what had led to his son nearly losing his life. Phillip wondered if he shouldn’t just tell Sebastian. If he shouldn’t just rip off the bandage before Ava’s actions did the job for him. Would it hurt less for it to end now than to prolong their relationship? Maybe letting him live in the dark about this wasn’t the right thing to do. What if she wasn’t really done with Xavier? If this continued to carry on behind Sebastian’s back? Maybe this would only get worse for his son, as if being run over by a car hadn’t been traumatizing enough.

Episode 1146: Shiver