She was still smiling at me as she left.
“I didn’t have much to say, but Dad wanted me to pass along a message. If you don’t come home soon, don’t bother coming back at all.”
I fell silent.
My relationship with my father had always been on the verge of completely breaking down. It all boiled down to the mess of a blended family, which had been magnified to extreme proportions in our case.
Selena and I shared the same father, but we had different mothers. My stepmother was my father’s first love. She was the type to be domineering, a classic spoiled rich heiress, which left no room for me in her life. And my father, guilty over the past, catered to her every whim.
My childhood memories were filled with me and my stepmother clashing, her running to my father in tears, and him punishing me for it. So, once I was old enough, I couldn’t get away from that house fast enough. I hadn’t gone back for years.
–
I stared at Ben, who was curled up on the couch, hugging his knees with those wet eyes of his locked on me.
I sighed.
Why had I gone ahead and spent 273 bucks to bring him back?
Financially, I was already struggling to make ends meet..
