Page 34 of Passion and Privilege

I hesitated, trying to find the right words. It was a complicated situation. “I’ve been in Paisley’s life since she was five. Her mother, Regina, and I had a whirlwind romance that turned into marriage after only four months of dating. I loved them both, and I raised Paisley like my own daughter, but she’s not legally my daughter. After the divorce, I had no legal rights to Paisley. I tried to adopt her when we were married, but Regina wouldn’t have it. Every time I brought up the idea of adoption, Regina was against it. Looking back, I think it was her plan all along. She always planned to move on to someone else eventually. She got one hell of a divorce settlement from me and remarried pretty quickly. I suspect she intends to hop from bank account to bank account. I’m a damn fool for falling for her bullshit. I believed her crap. I got suckered. This next guy will get suckered. Paisley is just being dragged along for the ride. Regina insisted on sending her to that boarding school because she doesn’t know how to handle her. She can’t seem to understand that her daughter might need her.”

Catherine’s expression shifted from confusion to understanding. “I’m so sorry, Timothy. That is so sad for her. I feel bad for her. The poor kid.”

“I love Paisley. I do. She is like my own. I was her father for almost ten years. When Regina left, she didn’t think twice about what that might mean for Paisley.”

“Did she walk out on you?”

I took a deep breath. “I was cheated on, Catherine. It was a long-running affair, right under my nose. It devastated me in more ways than one. I know that’s something you can understand.”

She groaned. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t married to Scott. We didn’t have a family. I’m sorry. That had to have been hard.”

“It was humiliating,” I admitted. “It pissed me off. She had been fucking the guy for a long time. I was so stupid I didn’t realize.”

“Hey, don’t take that on yourself,” she said. “I know what you mean, though. You do feel stupid for not realizing, but cheaters are good at what they do. They know how to hide their affairs. It’s not a bad thing that you didn’t know. You trusted your wife. I trusted my boyfriend. That’s because we weren’t cheating. Normal people don’t suspect everyone is cheating on them. It’s the cheaters that suspect there is cheating because they are guilty.”

I nodded, appreciating her perspective. “Good point. Once I found out, it was over. She barely let the ink dry on our official separation. Regina ran off the day our separation went into effect. She pulled Paisley out of school and out of the home she had been in for ten years and dragged her to Berlin.”

“Why Berlin?”

“It’s where her new husband lives,” I said. “He’s the same man she had the affair with, and coincidentally, my business rival.”

Catherine’s eyes widened with a mixture of shock and sympathy. “That’s awful! I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you.”

“It was a betrayal on so many levels. She planned it all. The affair, the move, the new life. I was just a pawn in her game.”

“That’s low,” she said with a shake of her head. “When she decided to send Paisley to boarding school, I offered to have her live with me. She could have stayed in the same school in New York. Regina wouldn’t have it. Paisley didn’t want to go. Regina tried to get me to pay for the school.”

“Why?” Catherine asked with shock.

“Because she’s a manipulative bitch. She tried to tell me it was what Paisley needed. I didn’t believe that for a second,” I continued, clenching my fists. “Paisley was always a shy kid. Happy to be in the comfort of her own home, surrounded by people who love her. She’s not built for a boarding school, especially one that’s miles away from everyone she knows.”

“You didn’t pay, did you?” Catherine asked, concern washing over her face.

“I refused,” I declared firmly. “I told Regina that if Paisley was unhappy with the move and she didn’t want to handle her own daughter, then she should let Paisley stay with me instead. But she wouldn’t let it happen.”

“I can’t even imagine how hard that must be for you, Timothy.”

“I know the reason she’s acting out is because she hates her new stepdad,” I said. “I managed to get Regina to let Paisley spend the summer here. She only agreed because the kid is out of control and she doesn’t know how to handle her. As usual, her solution is to send the kid away.”

“Poor Paisley,” Catherine said. “I can’t imagine what she’s going through. I lost my mother when I was young. Paisley lost the man she knew as her father at a time in her life when a girl needs her father.”

“I tried to get some kind of visitation,” I said with a sigh. “I feel like I failed her.”

“It sounds like you did what you could,” Catherine said. “And the fact she’s here now says a lot.”

“Regina only kept her from me to piss me off,” I said. “She wanted to twist the knife she plunged into my back. I don’t know why she’s mad at me. She cheated. She walked away and now she feels like she needs to remind me of what she did.”

Catherine sighed. “I have to say, it must be a rule among cheaters. They must have a handbook. I just received a wedding invitation from my ex.”

“The ex you just broke up with?”

“Yep,” she said, nodding. “They move on fast, don’t they? Makes you feel like you’re easily forgotten and replaced, like the last years never mattered.”

I saw the hurt on her face. I felt a sharp pang of betrayal. “Yes, it does,” I admitted. “Regina married her new husband a week after our divorce was finalized.”

She shook her head with disgust. “I don’t understand why the cheaters just don’t be honest. Why not just say they aren’t interested and then leave. Why cheat? Why drag something out? And why would they send me an invitation? Just to hurt me?”

“If only we had those answers,” I said, sighing. “It’s twisted logic, if you can even call it logic.”