Page 42 of Prove Me Wrong (The Sunburnt Hearts #5)

Chapter Thirty-Three

NOAH

A s soon as I see Mum’s car in the driveway, I want to throw up, but I don’t.

Jade is asleep in the back, resting her eyes after leaving the doctor's office for her eighteen-month visit.

I was so proud of her for not crying when she got injections, and when the doctor assessed her.

I almost texted Mia to come with us this morning, but after last night, I thought she could use the sleep in.

Pulling up on the road, I get Jade out of her car seat, her head resting on my shoulder as she stirs. My heart rate is already pounding as I lock my car and head towards my house, not wanting to face them.

My eyes glance at June’s house to see Mia’s car still in the driveway. She might still be out for her morning coffee run; I've grown to know her movements too well. But something doesn’t sit right in my stomach.

Shaking my head, I storm up the stairs, seeing the patch of murky water on the porch.

I unlock my door to find Mum in the kitchen.

She’s rearranging everything in my cupboards.

Dad sits in the living room in his wheelchair, eyes focused on the TV.

Deep hazel eyes tear off the screen and round when he sees me.

There’s a gauntness in his cheeks that wasn’t there the last time I saw him, but it’s evident now, along with his thicker beard and receding hairline .

“Dad.” The word comes out rough and rugged, showing how long it’s been since I’ve spoken it.

“Noah.” His voice is just as gruff as he spins his wheelchair around to face me.

It should hurt me that he doesn’t call me son anymore, but honestly, it doesn’t. It did at first, but now I think he’d hate it if he started again. I haven’t been his son since I ruined his plans.

“What are you two doing here?” I ask through gritted teeth. Jade stays perched on my hip, fingers ticking the nape of my neck as she blinks down at her estranged granddad.

His gaze shifts to Jade, but there’s no smile pulling in his mouth. If anything, it straightens more, showing nothing but disappointment that wrenches my chest. “Your mum wanted to visit since you wouldn’t return her calls. She wanted to make sure that you’re all right.”

“I'm fine.” My tone is harsh, but I really don’t want them here. I like surprises, but this isn’t the kind that makes me smile. “Nice of you to come, then. I’ll help you to the door.”

His icy glare hits me, wrinkles carved around his eyes deepening.

The last time I saw him, he didn’t look like this much of a mess—a thick, peppering beard, haunted eyes and lean build.

I hate seeing him like this, knowing that the accident wasn’t his fault.

But since then, his pressure for me to become a better driver has been immense.

He gave up on me not long after I brought Jade home from the hospital, but Mum took longer to quit, not quite getting the hint like Dad.

I know it was more Mum pushing me to give Jade up, but Dad went along with it, agreeing that my career in racing was more important. It made me furious.

“We aren’t leaving till you speak with your mum.” His shoulders roll backwards, eyes moving off my daughter, as if she’s nothing to him .

It twists at my insides. I want to get them out of my house as quickly as I can.

But I freeze. My eyes are stuck on my bookshelf that I haven’t touched since Mia moved everything and made it organised and seamless.

I had memorised where every book sat because I looked at it numerous times, remembering the pattern because it reminded me of the first time we watched a race together.

My chest aches because I know Mum has taken them off, leaving them piled on the floor, and it makes me see red to know that she’s touched them.

Storming into the kitchen, my gaze widens to see everything out of the cupboards, sitting on the benches, table and chairs. My eyes squeeze shut, hoping that this is just a nightmare I can wake up from.

Surely I'm dreaming and they aren’t really here, in my house, moving everything. “Noah.”

Her voice makes my blood boil. I peel my eyelids open, knowing that this is unfortunately real.

“What are you doing here?” I seethe, my hand fisting at my side as I reign in my anger. Emerald eyes hit mine as Mum leans against the bench, tongue poking the inside of her cheek.

“Still ungrateful, I see,” she snips before grabbing a stack of bowls from the cupboard. I can’t watch. Why is she moving everything? “You ignored my calls, so we decided to come and visit.”

“Why?” I push out bitterly. “You haven’t bothered visiting me for eighteen months. Why now?”

She slams the door closed, turning to stare at me from across my kitchen, hands resting on her hips like I am somehow the insane one here.

“Because your dad and I are concerned about your contract with Reign. It finishes at the end of this year, and they won’t offer you another one unless you are willing to?—”

“Wait, wait, wait.” I hold my hand up, cutting her off. “How do you know that?” It hasn’t been publicly announced yet, so she couldn’t have read it anywhere. My pulse starts thrumming sporadically as something feels off here.

Mum gives me a pointed look, her blond brows raising slightly. “Do you really think we lost all of our connections when your dad had his accident?” She huffs out a weak laugh. “We have Julian’s number.”

“Julian wouldn’t have told you that,” I counter instantly, and her smirk grows.

“Really? Do you think he loves you that much?” The words feel like a punch to my gut. “I offered him a deal.”

My teeth grind together. “What deal?” I grunt, not at all amused.

“We agreed that if you can be a full-time driver again, he will offer you a new contract for three years, and you’ll be made their top driver.”

Tilting my head back, I let out a groan, wanting to smash my fist into a wall. Instead, I grip Jade tighter, controlling myself. “You had no right to offer him anything. You shouldn’t even be talking to him. He’s my team manager, not yours.”

She snickers loudly. “We are still your managers, Noah. Julian has to go through us if he wants to refresh your contract.”

“What?” I blink at her slowly, not knowing what she’s talking about.

Her pink-stained lips curl upwards again, contorting my stomach with how wicked it looks. “When you became a driver for Reign, your dad and I were put as your personal managers, and you never took off our names.”

My fisted hand turns white with how tightly I'm squeezing it. “You can’t do that. It’s my life, Mum, and you haven’t been part of it for almost nineteen months! ”

“I let you have your fun, Noah.” My eyes flare as she looks at Jade on my hip, her face softening a little. “Wow, she does look a lot like Em.”

“Do not speak about Em!” I shout at her, making her smile falter, but she doesn’t flinch. “I don’t want you meddling in my life. I don’t want to race after this year. I want to be with my daughter?—”

“And Mia?” She cuts me off.

My throat goes dry at her name coming off Mum’s tongue. I shake my head, not wanting to know, but I have to. “How do you know about Mia?”

“Because I told her to leave when she came here like Little Red Riding Hood with coffees in her hand, smiling because she thought you were here.” My heart drops to the pit of my stomach like a boulder. “She won’t be needed anymore. You’ll be moving with us to focus on your career.”

Mum should count her blessings that I’m holding my daughter right now; otherwise, my rage would have me throwing things at the walls. “How—why—you…” I can’t get one single thought out as multiple pile up in my mind, fighting to get out.

She cocks a brow at me, like she is amused with how confused I am.

“Please, do you mean to tell me that she was good? That she could give you what you deserve? She is nothing but a part-time babysitter who lives with her grandma. She’s nothing.

You will find someone a lot better when you focus on your racing. ”

“I don’t want anyone else!” I shout abruptly, making Jade blanch and sob, but I’m too enraged right now to keep myself together. “Mia is who I want. This life is what I want. You had no right to come here and tell me what to do!”

“I did,” Mum snaps back. I'm vibrating with white hot fury. “You will be signing that contract for next year. You’ll be moving to Rafters Falls, and I will be watching your daughter while you focus on what’s important.”

I’m seeing so much crimson right now that I might spill some in a moment. My chest is heaving so much that I might just have a heart attack right here, in my upside-down kitchen. “Go.” My timbre is so murderously low that I see her flinch this time.

Her lips tighten, body stiffening as she mumbles out, “Be reasonable, Noah. This is the perfect opportunity for the both of you. We will pay for her schooling and help you out. And you will go back to racing. Think about it.”

My mouth goes to clap back when I watch her pull a glass out from the top cabinet.

The same one that I helped Mia get hers from, gaining me another one of her heart-melting kisses.

I feel my throat burning as I swipe a mug off the island bench and smash it against the wall, not caring if it chips the plaster. I can’t control it anymore.

Mum’s eyes flare. Jade’s fingernails dig into my flesh as she cries against my shoulder. My blood is whooshing inside of me like it’s electrified with rage. I need them out of here.

“Get out of my house!”

“Noah.”

“I said, get out!” I growl.

Mum’s chest is moving quickly now as she looks at Jade who is bawling in my arms. “I was right. You should never have kept her. She doesn’t even trust you.”

“Get out!”

“That’s no way to talk to your mum.” I hear Dad’s voice carry from the doorway. Rolling into the room, I see animosity rippling in his older features.

“And I told you to leave me to live my life,” I clap back at him .

“We are trying to help you,” he adds defensively.