Chapter 353
No one could imagine just how worked up Skyler was right now.
In all his years, he had never seen his uncle cry. Not once.
Oh my God.
Who was this woman who had managed to pull this off? What kind of legend could make his uncle cry?
Skyler swallowed hard, barely able to believe what he was seeing.
Gordon ignored Skyler’s questions. He set down the empty bottle, grabbed another from the table, and tipped it straight back, drinking straight from the neck.
Glug, glug, glug.
In no time, he’d drained another bottle dry.
Skyler gaped in disbelief as Gordon reached for yet another bottle of whiskey. He scrambled over and tried to snatch it away. “U-Uncle, this is the strongest stuff in the house! You can’t just chug it like that-you’ll drink yourself under the table p>
“Mind your own business!” Gordon shoved Skyler’s hand aside. “I’ll drink if I want to! No one’s ever been able to stop me-not now, not ever p>
For reasons he couldn’t explain, Gordon kept replaying the same scene in his mind: Catie climbing into that car, Catie walking out of the hotel with that man. Over and over, the images tormented him.
Why was Catie with him? Who the hell was that guy?
The more Gordon thought about it, the worse he felt. His chest ached so badly he could hardly breathe. Right now, there was nothing he wanted to do except drink. Drink until everything went numb.
Skyler, already tipsy after several drinks himself, was slumped on the couch. He tried to intervene again, but Gordon just pushed him down and belched. “Fine, if you want to drink yourself to death, don’t blame me for not stopping you! Ha ha ha p>
But as he forced a laugh, Skyler’s face crumpled and tears rolled down his cheeks. “Why doesn’t she love me? Why doesn’t she love me p>
Gordon sat beside him, bottle in one hand, and slung his other arm around Skyler’s shoulders. “Cheers, kid. Down the hatch p>
“Cheers!” Skyler sobbed as he clinked bottles with his uncle.
Half a bottle later, Skyler gazed blearily at Gordon, giggling. “Hey, how come you look so much like my uncle p>
“Idiot!” Gordon smacked him lightly on the head. “That’s because I am your uncle. Your one and only, flesh-and-blood uncle. Got it p>
Skyler tried to stand, wobbling where he stood. He stared at Gordon, then blurted out, “Uncle, did you cry just now p>
“I did not cry,” Gordon muttered, taking another swig. “Do I look like the kind of guy who cries? You must be seeing things p>
Skyler rubbed his eyes. “Really? Let me check. Ha, you liar! You totally cried- look, you’ve still got tears on your face. Uncle, be honest-did you get dumped too p>
Dumped? Dumped? How could I get dumped when I was never even with her? Gordon felt the question hit him like a punch. He went silent, staring at the ceiling as he finished off another gulp.
Skyler fumbled with a lemon half on the table. “H-hey, wait, Uncle… you gotta have lemon with this, it makes the drink go down better. Lemme squeeze some in for you p>
Lemon juice. Lemon.
Catie.
Maybe it was the booze, but hearing that word broke something inside Gordon. Suddenly, he grabbed Skyler in a tight hug and sobbed into his shoulder, losing all self-control.
He didn’t just cry-he bawled, out loud, desperate and broken.
“Don’t cry, Uncle,” Skyler mumbled, his head spinning as he patted Gordon’s back. “There’s plenty of fish in the sea, y’know? No… no use getting hung up on just one… hic p>
He let out another drunken burp, then slumped over and passed out cold. “Useless kid, ha… look at you, you lightweight,” Gordon muttered, wiping his face as he shoved Skyler deeper into the couch cushions. His eyes drifted to the lemon on the table. “Catie, who is that guy? What’s going on between you two p>