Chapter 115

Fiona

Going against my better judgement, I answer the phone and bring it to my ear. The way I immediately regret answering the phone isn’t surprising to me, but it’s sad. I shouldn’t dread answering a phone call from one of my parents, yet here I am.

“That witch!” My father screams, making my ears ring. I pull the phone away from my aching ear and contemplate hanging up, but I hear him shouting my name, “Fiona! Did you hear me? Fiona?!”

“I’m here, but could you not scream at me?” I ask, not bothering to hide the annoyance in my tone. I’m done trying to hide my true feelings for someone who does nothing but cause me problems, so if he hears it, then I’m okay with that. Maybe it’ll snap something into his brain for once.

“Do you know what she did to me?” He shouts again, ignoring me. “Your stepmother just—”

I hang up, and my phone begins ringing straight away. This time when I answer, he shouts, “Why the hell did you hang up on me?”

“Because I asked you to stop screaming and you didn’t.”

With that, I end the call again, waiting. He may want to scream and rant, but I don’t want to listen to it. I don’t even know why he’s calling, so if he wants me to listen, he needs to learn really quick that this call will be on my terms. Not his.

In less than a minute, he’s calling again.

“Fiona, do not hang up the phone again,” he says, this time not shouting. Finally, he listens… and then he doesn’t as he launches into a long rant. “Your stepmother and stepsister are grating on my last nerves. Your sister gets herself into a world of trouble and thinks I will bail her out, but did she think about the fact that I do not play with the justice system? NO, she didn’t.”

“Do you know why she’s in trouble?” I ask, still annoyed.

“No, she wouldn’t tell me, which is why I refuse to help her. She’s grown and can take care of her own problems, but your stepmother,” he pauses and groans. I find it interesting how he’s complaining to me like the two awful women are my responsibility. “Your stepmother has the gall to try to force me to pay bail for your sister when I don’t even know what she did.”

I sigh and close my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose as a headache starts to form behind my eyes.

When I open my eyes again, Ethan is standing there with his eyebrows raised in question. I nod and offer a small smile to let him know I’m fine.

“And don’t get me started on how your stepmother is cheating,” he growls. “She’s been acting strange lately, so I got one of my private investigator friends to follow her. Turns out she’s sleeping with that young masseuse she goes to twice a week. Can you believe that?”

What I couldn’t believe is that he doesn’t know Jessica tried to burn me alive. Or if he does know, he doesn’t mention it.

“She’s so cruel,” he complains with a groan. “How could she turn on me after everything I’ve given her and done?”

“So, why are you calling me, Dad?” I finally ask, tired of his complaining. What does he think I can do for him? He practically disowned me for no reason, and now he’s calling for what? Support?

He scoffs or gasps- I can’t tell- incredulously like he can’t believe I just asked him that.

“I called to tell you that I’m getting a divorce.”

“What does that have to do with me?” I ask slightly confused and a lot angry. I want nothing to do with him after the way he treated me, so why is he pulling me into this power struggle with his wife?

“Because you’re my daughter,” he answers simply like it’s the most obvious thing on the planet, and I laugh. The sound that bubbles up is a full body, insanely loud laugh of resentment.

“Your daughter?!” I grit through my teeth. “Did you remember that I was your daughter when you were plotting against me with Jack? Did you think about how you’d hurt your daughter as you betrayed and verbally abused me along with that wife of yours? How do you think I feel when I woke up to my house on fire because your precious little Jessica tried to burn me alive?!”

My words come out in ragged pants as I try to take a breath, but I find it difficult to breathe normally as my anger rises.

“Wait, Jessica did wh—”

“That’s the problem,” I cry. “You don’t even know that I almost died and here you are complaining that your ridiculous wife has been cheating on you. Well, Dad, you reap what you sew, and with the way you treated Mom before she died, I say you’re getting exactly what you gave.”

“What kind of man doesn’t care about his wife and daughter?” I ask softly, feeling the exhaustion from the day and the conversation fall over me. It feels like a weight on my back, and I sigh, sliding to the floor. Just days ago, he’d been on my stepmother’s side, and now, he’s against her?

The inconsistency is one reason I wanted to be out of his house. It’s one reason I was blinded to Jack’s true nature.

“I… I admit I haven’t been the best father or husband, but I want to make up for that, Fiona. I want to apologize for my wrongs,” he says quickly, the hardened tone in his voice softening slightly. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you these past years and I want to—”

“Stop. You can’t just apologize and think everything will be okay. Do you even know what you’re sorry for? There have been so many things that I don’t even know if I can remember everything,” I tell him, letting my head drop back against the wall.

I shouldn’t have answered this call. I should have silenced my phone and let him realize I didn’t want contact, but the softer, kinder side of me had me pushing that little green button.

“There are so many,” my father admits. “I was wrong to be with another woman while your mother was sick, and…”

His words blur as my mind reels.

I’d never confirmed my suspicions that he was cheating on my mom, but I had the thought several times. I hated to think about it, but there were many nights when I was in the hospital with Mom, and where was Dad?

Not there.

It makes sense as to why she didn’t leave him anything in her will. It was his own fault.

“I’m sorry I helped your stepsister hurt you and that I hid your mother’s will for Jack. I should’ve never accepted the bet that made me use your college money…” he says, listing every one of his wrongdoings through the years. The list grows with each confession. Each one chips away at my heart, breaking it more and more as he admits things I’d never known before.

A sound to my left makes me look over, and I find Ethan standing there, watching me with soft, worried eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asks, knowing very well that I’m not. I try to offer him my usual smile, but the corners of my lips pull down as my eyes blur with tears.

In the blink of an eye, Ethan has me in his arms and has us settled on the couch. The soft purring rumble that vibrates from his chest offers the comfort I need to relax and breathe again. His hand slowly rubs up and down my thigh in a soothing gesture, allowing me to focus back on my conversation with my father.

“Allowing him to hurt you was also my fault. I knew Jack was up to no good, but I still let you marry him…”

I may not want this conversation, but I think I needed it in order to cut things off with my father. For closure, and while I hate that it’s happening when Ethan so distinctly set time aside for just the two of us, I need the closure.

“Why did you do it all, then?” I question, sinking further into Ethan’s arms when they tighten around me. It dawns on me that he could be listening, and I realize that I don’t mind. I won’t have to repeat everything to him.

There’s silence on my father’s end of the phone for a moment before he answers, “I was blinded by the power and money I was offered, but that—”

Before he can finish and completely destroy my heart, I end the call, dropping my phone and turning into Ethan’s chest. Tears pour from my eyes as sobs shake my body. I cry for my mother and the hard time she had with him, and I cry for myself, for ever wasting time on the hopes that he would love me.

As I break down into tears, I allow Ethan to pull me into his lap and hug me close.

“Everything will be okay, little mate,” he whispers.