Please Me Daddy (Gracie) novel Chapter 198

I’ll make hell look merciful

Apollo

I looked at Ryan, his words echoing in my head, and for a brief moment the present blurred into the past, dragging me back to the very beginning of where everything went wrong between the Reed and the Jones.

The first seed of hatred between our families was planted long before we became business rivals. It began with something far more personal.

My mother and Ryan’s father had an affair.

I still remember the day everything came to light, the way the air in our house turned suffocating. My parents fought like strangers, their voices loud and vicious, words hurled with the sole purpose of hurting each other rather than fixing anything.

That day, my father caught my mother and Ryan’s father entering a hotel together. The evidence in front of him was undeniable. My father was powerful and influential enough to bury the story before it reached the press, but silencing the media didn’t erase the truth. The Reed and the Jones families knew, and that alone was enough to change everything.

I still remember my father pulling me aside that night, his face dark and unreadable as he warned me to stay away from the Jones family, especially Ryan, the eldest son. His voice was cold and firm, leaving no room for argument.

Later, when I saw Ryan, I learned his mother had told him the same thing. Stay away from the Reeds, especially Apollo. As if we were the ones responsible for our parents‘ sins.

We didn’t listen. We were young, yes, but we weren’t naive. We were already more mature than most kids our age. We didn’t let the mistakes of adults destroy what we had built. So we stayed friends, defying our families.

After that came the second seed of hatred, the one that shattered everything completely.

My mother and Ryan’s father committed suicide together.

They weren’t brave enough to face their families or the consequences of their choices. Instead, they chose death, believing that by ending their lives together, they could finally be with each other without judgment. I still remember that day vividly, the shock, the disbelief, and the silence that followed after the news.

I remembered the look on my father’s face when he saw my mother’s cold body lying beside Ryan’s father. It wasn’t just grief. It was betrayal so deep it hollowed him out from the inside. And Ryan’s mother’s expression mirrored his. The same pain, the same fury, the same disbelief. They didn’t just mourn their partners; they blamed each other for what had happened.

That blame turned into hatred, and that hatred consumed both families entirely.

From that day on, the Reeds and the Jones despised each other to the core. They couldn’t stand being in the same room, and even hearing each other’s names made anger flare. Both families were grieving, drowning in loss, and neither knew how to process it. So, like people in their shoes often do, they turned their pain into ambition, and rivalry.

My father swore that the Reeds would surpass the Jones at any cost. Ryan’s mother vowed that the Jones would never fall behind the Reeds. It was no different from what I later did myself, burying my pain in work after

But I didn’t hesitate for a second.

No matter how this ended, no matter what our families thought, no matter how ugly things became, nothing would ever change how I felt. Even if the entire world stood against us. Even if she were the devil’s daughter herself. Nothing will change between us.

Grace was mine. And I will never let her go.

I lifted my gaze to Ryan, my expression calm, and indifferent, but my eyes flashed dangerously as I spoke.

“Bold of you to tell me to leave my woman’s side.”

The hallway went deathly silent. Everyone froze at my words, but Ryan didn’t look away. He studied me carefully, as if weighing something.

“I don’t care if she’s a Jones, or a fucking madman’s child. Grace is my woman. And no matter who you think you are to her, I won’t let any of anyone take her away from me.”

“Try it,” I added coldly. “Touch what’s mine, and I swear to you, I’ll make hell look merciful.”