The next few days did not go well for Levi. After he punched Daniel at the pub, he instantly gained a reputation as a loose cannon that should be avoided at all costs. People that he used to think were his friends (or at least amicable colleagues) posted scathing comments about him on social media without any hesitation. When it came to a conflict between Levi and Daniel, the correct choice was obvious.

This was terrible for him from a professional point of view. It suddenly became impossible for him to find anyone willing to edit for him or collaborate. To make matters even worse, a couple days after the incident, an article suddenly popped up online criticizing his writing as being offensive. The writer argued that his work both fetishized mental illness and discouraged people with real problems from seeking help. 

His work actually saw a sudden increase in popularity for a short while, however this attention was almost entirely negative. The ratings on his latest short stories had been very positive before, but after the article, a wave of negative reviews tanked his scores all the way down to two stars out of five. He had better ratings when he was first starting than he did now.

As a result, Levi’s stories were listed at the bottom of any rankings where they would never be seen. Some platforms just outright removed his work entirely. The moment that he had enjoyed a small amount of success, he once again found himself thrust back into obscurity. 

The final nail in the coffin came when Levi got a message from his print publisher. Due to the controversy surrounding him, they had decided to discontinue working with him. The representative was polite, but also very firm. There was nothing he could say to change the company’s stance.

Levi did his best not to let the circumstances get to him, but it was hard not to be affected when it seemed that everything was going wrong at once. He became closed off and no longer went out in public much. He didn’t have the motivation to write either. 

Eloise of course noticed he was stressed. She showered him with affection. Any time he had the urge to check his messages and notifications, she made sure to steal his attention. Levi didn’t notice the reason that she was being extra clingy, but he was happy to spoil her all the same. If he didn’t have Eloise during that time, things would have been much worse. 

After Levi walked Eloise to class as he always did, something unusual happened. A black BMW pulled up beside him as he was walking back to his apartment. The expensive car did not fit in with the rundown shops and dirty streets of his neighborhood. Levi stopped and waited to see what they wanted.

The BMW stopped just beside him and a chauffeur in a red vest stepped out from the driver’s seat. He looked straight at Levi as he opened the door to the back, then stood respectfully to the side as he indicated for Levi to get in.

“Good day. Mr. Faron respectfully invites the sir to join him at his restaurant for a meal.”

Levi stared at the chauffeur hesitantly before he confirmed the truth. 

“Mr. Faron? As in Armel Faron?”

“Indeed, sir.”

There wasn’t a lot that Levi knew about Eloise’s foster father, but what little he had gleaned did not fill him with confidence that this meeting would go smoothly. As far as he could tell, Faron seemed entirely absent from Eloise’s life and cared very little about her. 

The only reason that Levi even knew of his relation to Eloise was that he noticed she became awkward when his political ads were on TV. When he asked her about it, she fidgeted and dodged the question. He had finally pried out of her that Faron was her foster father, but that was it. She had nothing more to say about the man.

Eloise’s reaction was especially strange because it did not seem to Levi that she simply didn’t wish to talk about him. She truly had nothing to say. As if he barely existed in her memories at all. 

Eloise had difficulty recalling anything from before she entered her boarding school. Her body would tense up with a physiological response indicative of fear, but she couldn’t explain why. Levi had heard that victims of abuse sometimes experienced something similar as a defense mechanism to deal with trauma. Even though he didn’t know for sure if Faron had done something to Eloise, Levi still felt an instinctive dislike towards him.

Now he suddenly wanted to meet without any warning. Something about the situation was off. Levi had countless questions that he wanted answered, but he sensed danger. There was no way that drawing this man’s attention was a good thing for him or Eloise.

Still, Levi didn’t believe that he could avoid the situation just by refusing to get in the car. Now that he had somehow gotten the man’s attention, a meeting was inevitable. At least in a public place like a restaurant, he wouldn’t need to fear for his life.. Right?

“Sir.. If you would please.” The chauffeur once again ‘invited’ Levi to get in the backseat.

Despite all of his hesitation about the strangeness of the situation, he didn’t refuse. Levi gave a nod and entered the car. The chauffeur closed the door behind him and returned to the driver’s seat. What followed was an awkward 20-minute ride into the city’s heart downtown.

As they were nearing their destination, Levi couldn’t resist the urge to break the silence. Perhaps he could get a few answers so that he wasn’t going in completely blind.

“You said that Mr. Faron owns a restaurant?”

“Indeed, sir. Mr. Faron owns three in fact. As well as two hotels, several luxury boutiques, a theater, and numerous other establishments.”

So he was filthy rich as well as someone important enough to have a political career. Yet despite that, he stuck Eloise in an obscure boarding school on the outskirts of the city.

“Did he say what it was he wanted to meet with me about?”

“Apologies. My instructions were simply to invite the gentleman and nothing more.”

“I see…” Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance.

The chauffeur’s expression never changed, but his eyes darted up to the rearview mirror several times.

“If I had to hazard a guess.. I believe that Mr. Faron wants to speak to you about your involvement with his daughter.”

“He disapproves of our relationship?”

“I dare not speculate that far. I only know that someone of Mr. Faron’s status needs to take into consideration how all the people he is related to reflect back on him.”

“...And his daughter dating someone like me looks bad for him?”

“That is my understanding of the matter.”

The man was very blunt in his evaluation, but Levi appreciated his honesty. If what he said was true, then most likely what brought about this sudden invitation was the negative article about him. Perhaps someone who read it visited his social media and recognized Eloise in a picture. Or maybe someone from his campaign team recommended breaking them up before something similar happened. Whatever the case, it was clear that the two were not going to see eye to eye. 

Levi didn’t get any longer to muse on the matter. The car stopped outside a fancy formal restaurant. It was the kind of place where you needed to make a reservation a month in advance. 

A moment later, the driver opened his door for him. He didn’t follow after Levi stepped out. He just returned to the car and drove away, leaving Levi on his own with little choice but to head inside. 

Obviously, Levi did not know he would be attending a formal setting beforehand. He wasn’t dressed for the occasion. As soon as he stepped into the grand foyer with its royal red carpeting and crystal chandelier, he looked like a bum that had wandered into the emperor's palace. The distinguished gentlemen in tuxedos and beautiful women in their best evening gowns glanced at him with the same curiosity of witnessing a monkey at the zoo. Perhaps this was an intentional strategy to make him feel unworthy. Levi wasn’t amused.

The hostess took notice of him immediately and looked like they were about to ask him to leave, but someone else came forward and whispered in their ear. She gave the messenger a nod before she approached Levi. 

“Sir, please follow me. Right this way.”

Levi didn’t say a thing and just did as he was told. He was led up a set of marble stairs to the second floor. Unlike the main restaurant, this floor was partitioned into private rooms. They twisted through several corridors before he finally reached a large set of double doors.

The hostess pushed open the doors and motioned for him to enter. When he did so, she closed them again behind his back. He entered into a spacious dining hall with a long central table. The room was entirely empty except for one person. Sitting at the head of the table, a man in his 50s with a full beard and graying sideburns dug into a premium steak. 

This was Armel Faron, Levi was sure. No one told him so, but the man seemed to radiate authority. He looked a bit like a civil war general. Something about him just screamed ‘old-fashioned’. 

For a few moments, Levi stood there silently watching while the man ignored him and ate his steak. He finally set his knife and fork down with a clink, sipped from a glass of chardonnay, and turned his eyes up to Levi.

“You are Mr. Levi North then?”

“And you’re Armel Faron.”

“So I am. Are you impressed?”

“Very impressed. I got the whole country bumpkin trading places treatment.”

The man smiled. He didn’t seem to mind Levi’s sarcasm. Instead, he wet his lips with another swig of wine and indicated to an open seat that was prepared with another meal. 

“Please, sit. Enjoy yourself. It seems my little game has already caused us to get off on the wrong foot.”

Levi kept his eyes on the man as he moved to the table and sat down. Even though Faron was acting cordially, he did not relax his vigilance. 

“Try the wine. It’s White Burgundy imported from France. $15,000 per bottle.”

“Mr. Faron, I take it that you had something you wished to discuss with me regarding my relationship with Eloise?”

Rather than play along with the small talk, Levi chose to cut directly to the point. That seemed to bristle Faron, as the man scoffed and shook his head. 

“Since your time is so precious, so be it. My daughter is not in a point of her life where she needs distractions. Moreover, she is a troubled person, so a long-term relationship is not something that would work out between the two of you anyhow. You are going to need to stop seeing her.”

Levi was about to object, but Faron held up a hand and interrupted him again before he got the chance.

“However, I’m not simply asking you to do as I say without any incentive. Afterall, I cannot expect you to believe that I know best for Eloise from my words alone. So if you do as I ask, there is a reward for you. How does $200,000 sound?”

Levi knit his brows together and looked at the man with disgust. A reward? Or in other words, a bribe to stay away from Eloise. 

“Eloise and I aren’t just a random fling. We live together and we’re serious about each other.”

“Of course you are, and loyalty is a valuable quality for a man to have. How about $350,000 then? Is that a respectable enough value on your loyalty, Mr. North?”

“Absolutely not. Eloise is important to me. She gives me something that money can’t buy.”

Faron narrowed his eyes on Levi. He set down his wine glass and folded his fingers over each other. To him, this conversation was a tricky negotiation, but to Levi it was just a waste of time.

“You are trying my patience, Mr. North. There is a limit to how much one can ask for without appearing greedy. $500,000 and this is the final offer. Half a million dollars and all you need to do is take the money and get lost.”

“No! You don’t get it. It doesn’t matter how much money you offer me, I’m not going to abandon her. What’s the matter with you?”

Levi was astonished. Half a million dollars was a life-changing amount of money, but it didn’t tempt him in the slightest. He knew that it was strange to be so committed to a girl he knew for less than two months, but he felt no hesitation towards his decision. 

The part that made him pause was the fact that Faron was willing to throw around such a huge sum just to remove a potential factor that would complicate his political campaign. Perhaps there was more to it than that. But if so, what was the main point? To keep Eloise isolated? It didn’t make sense to him. Maybe what seemed like a massive amount of money to Levi was just pocket change to Faron and he was overthinking it.

Faron finally understood that this method wasn’t going to work on Levi, so he changed strategies.

“I understand that you’ve faced difficulty recently with your career. I could help you with that. All it takes is the right connections with the right people, and your next book gets endorsed by all the major reviewers. It then becomes a bestseller that tops the charts. Certainly that is something you find tempting?”

Of course it was something that Levi wanted. But accomplishing it through some backroom deal behind the scenes would defeat the whole purpose. Levi wanted to write something that people actually liked. He felt slimy just getting the offer. Was this how other people topped the rankings? Because they knew the right people? He didn’t want to think about it or he’d make himself depressed.

“Mr. Faron, you’ve made your offer, but I’m not interested. Eloise is 18, she can decide her own course in life regardless of what you wish for her. When it comes to choosing between you and her, I will always side with Eloise. Please excuse me for wasting your time.”

Levi stood up with the intention to head for the door and leave. Faron finally exploded in anger. He slammed both hands on the table hard enough to spill his wine. As he stood up, he loomed over the table in a wide stance. A vein on his forehead throbbed as he scowled at Levi.

“Brat, just who the fuck do you think you’re talking to? I’m Armel Faron! Armel-fucking-Faron. I own half this city. No one refuses me, do you understand?”

Levi was taken aback by the sudden outburst. He wasn’t ready for this seemingly dignified gentleman to instantly change into a mad dog that snapped as soon as he didn’t get his way. As Faron continued his tirade, he flung spittle on the table with his shouting.

“If you don’t want to play nice, that’s fine. We’ll see how easy your life is when you don’t know what’s good for you. Forget about making it as an author, a few words from me and you won’t even get a job flipping burgers.”

The man was crazy. And not the cute kind of crazy like Eloise. He was a narcissist and sociopath. Levi had heard enough. He ignored Faron’s ranting and quickly made for the door before he turned violent. Levi wasn’t afraid of getting in a fight with him except that there’s no way he would survive the fallout if things got physical. Even as Levi walked out the door, Faron was still shouting at his back.

“Watch your back at night from now on, Mr. North! The city can be awfully dangerous, especially in your part of town.”

The hostess from before was still waiting out in the hallway. She gave Levi a look of pity and then meekly hung her head. Without a word, she led Levi back the same way that he came and escorted him to the entrance. 

Soon, Levi was shut out on the street outside. He breathed out a heavy sigh. Meeting the parents for the first time was always a stressful moment in any relationship.