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I felt as if my throat was closing up.Is this what love is? Needing the person so much, it’s almost as if you can’t breathe without them?
Awaiting the answer he wanted to hear, my father looked at me expectantly as my heart raced in my chest. Everything within me that has been groomed by his authority and control was coaxing me to say yes, to satisfy him because the repercussions had been proven to be dire.
But I couldn’t. Not when Archer was by my side, giving me the support I needed to face my father. Not when we had already been through so much. I loved Archer. I loved his smile, his caresses, his attitude, and his possessiveness; I loved him too much to let him go so abruptly. And as a result, I uttered a word my father never liked to hear.
“No,”I whispered.
He tilted his head as he approached me slowly again. My adrenaline was through the roof, and I felt I had enough energy to run a marathon and pass out simultaneously.
“No? Did I hear that correctly?” he asked.
I nodded. “No. Y-you don’t even want to listen to Mom or us... Why should I bother to listen to you?” I asked, and even my mother looked shocked as I stood up to him. And how was I feeling at that moment? I was practically trembling in anxiety as he looked terrifying, his shoulders shaking with anger.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “If I say you’re going to do something... you do it, no fucking questions or concerns. You don’t need to be dating anyone right now…especially him.”
“I’m my own person, Dad. I’m twenty years old. You keep treating me like I’m a little girl, and I’m sick of it!” I yelled, stepping out of Archer’s hold as tears streamed down my face.
“You better watch your tone with me, or you will be locked in your room for the next month,” he warned me, and I groaned loudly.
“Did you really just ignore everything I said!? Why is everything about what you want and never about what makes us happy?!” I screamed.
He simply looked down at me in complete rage. “Because I am your father. I make the fucking rules, and you listen because you’re my little girl. Whatever ‘claim’ this boy thinks he has over you is over, as it shouldn’t have started in the first place. Like I said before, say your goodbyes and take your ass to your room.Now,” he seethed.
My chest heaved as a sob broke through. My mother had tears in her eyes as she looked at me in pain, and Archer didn’t move as my father already had his eyes set on him.
“I hate you,” I whispered, defeated.
Dad simply stared at me. I didn’t care about the hurt that flashed through his eyes as he took a look at his watch and turned away from me.
“Hurry up. I expect to see you in your room in the next ten minutes.”
Archer placed his hand on my lower back, and I stomped my foot and clutched my hands in a fist as I sobbed once again.
“I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Archer shushed me as he laid my head on his shoulder and rubbed my back. “It’s okay... Princess. It’s okay,” he whispered.
I wiped away my tears and shook my head as I soon pulled away and continued screaming at my father, who was now looking at me with his arms crossed.
“No, it’s not okay! All you’ve ever done is control me! What I wear, where I go, how I look, what I do, who I’m with, EVERYTHING!” I yelled with a sob as he stared atme, emotionless. “Mom listens to us. She compromises. She understands that she cannot control her children... but you? All you’ve ever done is control me! You don’t even care if I cry or throw a tantrum, but the world bends over backward when you throw one, right?! RIGHT?!” I snapped, and he remained stoic.
“But you justify needing to control me because I’m your little girl, right? But you don’t treat me like it! You treat me like I’m something just for you to control or own, and I am sick and tired of it!! If this is how you treat me... how you treat us, yourchildren,then I don’t want to be your little girl anymore, because you’re not even my realfather!!!” I seethed.
My heart felt like it was crumbling in my chest.
My father remained silent, and I wiped my tears as I left the room and made a beeline to the front door.
All that was heard were the clicks of my heels and Archer’s footsteps. Other than that, you could practically hear a pin drop throughout the entire house.
Archer closed the door behind him. I felt my knees going weak, and he pulled me into an embrace as he shushed me softly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and continued to sob as he gave me what Killian wouldn’t in that moment:love, understanding, and trust.
Chapter sixty
Brielle
A Few Days Earlier
“Are you sure you don’t need anything else, Brielle? Tea, water, anything?” Juliet said, literal tears in her eyes.
