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Twenty-Six
IAN
The rage I feel at seeing my father crowd Lila as she shouts in his face in my defense is a living, breathing thing. It thumps in my ears and my blood and all through my body, so much so that not even the flicker of love that sparks from Lila taking him on for me can quell it. I barely register the moment in the time that it takes for me to rush my father, but suddenly his shirt is fisted in my grip and his body is up against a wall as I bump him with my chest.
“I do.”
He blinks at me, momentarily stunned, but he recovers quickly, his anger superseding any surprise I might have given him.
“Get off me, boy.”
I fist his shirt tighter. “Apologize.”
“Like hell I will,” he snorts. “I don’t give a damn about your flavor of the month. I care about the fucking mess you two have made. I know it was one of you.” His eyes flick over my shoulder toward Abby. “Or both. If you think that either of you will squeeze another dime out of me after this, then you’ve got another thing—”
“I never wanted your money!”
I turn my head toward a heaving, red-faced Abby, her eyes wet and her fists shaking as she stares at our father. Her chest rises and falls with shaky breaths, her lip quivering as she goes on.
“It was never about your money,” she says in that same exasperated tone. “I just wanted you to notice me. I just wanted you to be my fucking dad.”
My father surprises me by laughing, the sound harsh and cruel. “You did this? Just you? Wow. I have to admit, I didn’t think you had the balls. Do you even realize what you’ve done? You not only fucked with me, but with Ian too. Was it your goal to alienate everyone you had with this little stunt?”
Tears run down Abby’s face now, and her crushed expression as she finally lets herself realize exactly who Bradley Chase is crushes me in turn. My chest squeezes as I watch Lila go to Abby’s side, her hand curling around Abby’s, and I’m so in love with Lila at this moment that it hurts.
“Why couldn’t you love me? What did I ever do to you, Dad? You treat me like I’m just a—”
“Mistake?”
The cold tone my father uses to spit the word is gutting, and I hear Abby’s sharp intake of breath.
“I treat you like one because that’s what you are, Abigail. I didn’t need the headache that came from being in your life when your mother was alive, and that’s exactly what I told her when she let me know you existed. If she hadn’t gone and made herself a nuisance one last time by up and dying, then I wouldn’t be dealing with the full weight of my mistake right now.”
I shove my forearm into my father’s chest, gritting my teeth. “Watch your fucking mouth. You don’t fucking talk to her like that. What is wrong with you? Abby isn’t the mistake, you are. You’re the one who made your choices, Dad,” I sneer. “You cheated on my mother. You brought Abby into the world. You treated me like a fucking pawn to push around for the sake of your image my entire life. You turned your nose up at a chance for a relationship with the only child you have left who had any respect for you.”
“I made you,” my father seethes. “Without me, you’d be nothing.”
“You didn’t do shit for me,” I bite back, shoving him harder. “You gave me hockey, and that’s it. What I did with it was me. Just me. I don’t owe you anything. You weren’t there for me the entire time I was growing up unless it was beneficial to you, and now I don’t have any reason to put up with you at all. Now that there are no more secrets, I can happily tell you that we are done.”
“You’re just going to stand there and take her side? She hurt your mother, you know. She’s already kicked me out of the house. We were happy, and Abigail took that away from her. Are you really just going to let that go? Some fucking son you are.”
“Abigail didn’t do anything but quit accepting a life living under your thumb. It’s what she should have done in the first place. It’s what I should have encouraged her to do in the first place.”
“And this sudden attack of conscience is worth your mother losing her owner’s rights? Is it worth you losing your position? Because if you think I can’t work around your contract, you’ve got another thing co—”
“Enough,” I shout, leaning my full weight against him and bringing my face close. “It’s done. I don’t care what you do from here. You have no more power over me or anyone else. Understand? I should have never gone along with your lies. I should have never kept your secrets. I won’t ever do it again. I’m going to let the world know exactly who you are, and I am going to smile the whole time.”
I can see it, the moment my father realizes that the carefully crafted image he’s shirked his entire family for over the years is slipping through his fingers, and I wish I could say it was satisfying. I wish I gained any sense of triumph from it, but all I really feel is sorrow. Sorrow for the life we could have had, for the father he could have been, for the sister standing behind me who I could have been better for, for the mother I kept the truth from when all it did was ensure her suffering was tenfold when she finally experienced it—especially knowing what she’ll lose.
“I know people,” my father says quickly, grasping for leverage. “I could take away your career in a heartbeat.” He shoots a glare in Lila’s direction. “Your little whore’s too.”
“Sir,” Jack chimes in, choosing that moment to join the fray. “I realize that I have only one arm right now, but I will one thousand percent shove my foot up your ass if you even look at my sister again.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” my father hisses. “None of you.” He levels his gaze with mine. “Without me, Abigail will have nothing. You think I’ll keep paying for that fancy school she’s going to? I won’t shell out a dime for her. I won’t—”
“You won’t have to,” I interrupt, giving him one last shove with my forearm to his chest before stepping away. I go to Abby, who is still trembling slightly, and throw my arm around her to give her strength. I can feel Lila on her other side, and the warmth she radiates gives me strength. I don’t need this man who made me. I have everything I need right here. “I will. I’ve got more than enough to take care of her. She doesn’t need you. We don’t need you.”
My father is fuming, his face red and his body shaking, and for a moment, he almost looks as if he might want to lunge at the pair of us—but he just stands there quaking with rage, his nose wrinkling in disgust and his mouth curling into a sneer.
