Page 59 of The Breaking Point

Chapter 22

AIDEN

I want to try for real.

That thought’s been chewing at the back of my skull since I parked outside the building. This time’s different. This isn’t about checking boxes or playing the good husband for show. I’m here because I’m tired of my own bullshit. No masks. No charm. No dodging.

Dr. Charles Davis has the same unreadable shrink-face he wore last time. Calm, patient, the kind of guy who makes you feel judged even when he’s silent. I hated him then. I kinda still do.

He leans in slightly. “Why don’t you tell me why you came here today, Aiden?”

I exhale, slow. “You already know. I cheated.”

He nods, like he’s heard it all before. Probably has. “Last time you were here, it was to fulfil a requisite. Marriage counselling. To say you tried. Is that what this is again?”

I shake my head. “No. I want to talk about why I keep screwing up. Why I sabotage good things. I want to try.”

He folds his hands on the desk, still watching me like he’s waiting for a fuse to burn out. “Alright. Let’s start there. What are you carrying?”

I pause, looking at him. He’s sitting smugly in his desk chair, not even bothering to sit in the one in front of the sofa. Asshole. Letting the silence stretch, I think about his question.

“My dad left when I was ten. Just... packed a bag and ghosted. My mom worked herself into the ground after. At least, that’s what I thought. I learned to be okay with scraps. Never ask for more.”

He waits. I go on.

“I built a version of me that people liked. Confident. Easy. Dependable. The guy who doesn’t take shit seriously. It worked, until it didn’t.”

I glance down at my hands, twisted between my knees. “Until I realized I was a fraud.”

He peers over his glasses. “Why do you think that?”

I get up, start pacing. “I worked, alright? Got my first job at fourteen. Saved up for gifts, for groceries, for rent sometimes. For her. Then I found out my father didn’t leave. He didn’t clean out the accounts. My mom wasn’t working nights.”

I stop behind the couch, fingers digging into the backrest.

“She was screwing her married boss. I'm his. The financial mess? That happened when his wife found out and made him choose. He picked his wife. And his real kids.”

Dr. Davis says, calm as ever, “You’re his child too.”

I scoff. “Not really. I met him a few times. But he was just... Mom’s boss. Never called me son. Never asked me about school or friends. At the time, I thought it was normal. Just the kid of an employee. I didn’t know.”

“How did that make you feel?” he asks.

I roll my eyes. “How do you think? Betrayed. I gave up my damn childhood to help my mother. She made me feel guilty for spending anything on myself. She even tried to come between me and Kate when she found out.”

“What did you do?”

“I put my foot down. Kate was the only good thing I had. I wasn’t going to let my mom screw that up too.”

Beat.

“Until I did.”

I walk to the window, half expecting him to tell me to sit back down like I’m some sulky teenager. Instead, he swivels his chair to face me.

“What’s your relationship with your father?” he asks.

I glare at him. “I just told you, the guy ignored me.”

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