Chapter 0028
Sighing, I lean my forehead on the window. The cool glass offers a bit of like Ryan said.
Pite, so I close my eyes and try to relax
It doesn’t work, but I do get a bit of time to clear my head before we pull into my father’s driveway.
Steeling myself with confidence, I get out of the car, ask Ryan to walt here for me, and make my way to the house. My father opens the door with a smile, which calns some of my nerves.
“Fiona,” he greets, pulling me into a hug. My surprise is taken over by happiness as I hug him back. “Who’s car is that you’re driving?” He asks, and I look up, realizing he’s not paying attention to me but to Ethan’s car.
The happiness I felt inmediately pluminets in my gut, and disappointment takes over. Why couldn’t he just be interested in me and how I’m doing?
“Yeah, who are you sleeping with now that gives you such a nice car?” Jessica’s sharp, irritating voice asks. I look back inside to find Jessica walking up. “Because I know you didn’t spend your own money.
“It doesn’t matter, Jessica,” I say, trying to be civil as I grab my dad’s arm and turn both of us toward her. Apparently, Jessica doesn’t like that because her eyes narrow at me with venom.
She hisses irritably and steps forward, poking me in the shoulder with her finger.
“Why are you always clinging to our father when you have nothing to offer him?”
Disbelief hits me.
“Do I have to have a reason? He’s my father,” I retort, anger building. Ever since she came into our lives, Jessica has been nothing but angry at me… especially lately.
A disgruntled laugh falls from her lips as tears begin to form in her eyes. Here we go again. Anytime she wants something or doesn’t get her way, she starts up the waterworks.
A broken sob wracks Jessica’s body, and my father takes a step back. She wails, “You’ve never done anything for him! Never been there when he needed money or when he wanted any gifts!”
She spits the accusation like I’ve committed murder. Then she keeps going, “And he only treats you well. I’ve done so much for him, and he favors you? You? The witch who doesn’t give him anything!”
“Why, Jessica? Why did you pretend to be so nice on the surface but hide your hate for me? Why weren’t you just truthful? Maybe we could’ve fixed the problem,” I tell her wish she’d tell the truth.
“Because he was mine and stole him!” She screams.
“Dad?”
you
“No, Jack. He was mine first, and you came in and stole him from me,” she growls, shoving me into the wall. The push was nowhere near as shocking as her words.
They’d been dating?
“Why didn’t you tell me? I had no idea you two were together!” I protest, thinking back to when Jack asked me out. “Jack said he was single, and then he proposed… If you were a couple, why didn’t you say anything?”
It’s not my fault, I tell myself.
My disgust for Jack grows with every new thing I learn about him. Seems he’s a cheater all around.
“I had nothing. Even if I told you, it wouldn’t have mattered,” Jessica says then sniffles, wiping her tears as her
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eyes narrow, resentment and venom filling them again. “When your mother died, I was actually overjoyed, but i had to pretend to be sad and console you.” She rolls her eyes, and my heart squeezes in pain.
“All I wanted was for our father to publicly acknowledge me as his daughter, but he kept refusing, afraid of hurting you,” she shouts, shoving me again. “But I’m his daughter too! I was only seventeen!”
“And how is any of that my fault?” I sneer. I understand her pain, but there’s no reason she should’ve treated me this way. The unsteady feeling I always get from being stuck between my family makes me feel powerless. Looking at my father, I hope to get some kind of response from him, but he just looks away, unable to meet my
gaze.
“When you were a child, you always wanted a sister,” my father says, catching both of our attention. “Then when Jessica came into the picture, I thought you would be happy. You both acted like you were happy with each other. I remember when you both went on a shopping spree for your senior year prom.”
He sighs and a faraway look fills his eyes. Seems like he remembers things in a much nicer light than we
- do.
“You both looked so pretty on your prom night in gorgeous gowns. My daughters,” he murmurs, and finally, the tears filling my eyes spill over.
Everyone stays silent, watching him remember the time with a fondness I wish I felt.
A sharp, loud ring fills the air, making me jump.
Jessica groans and pulls her phone out of her purse, lifting it to her ear. S growing wider and wider, until she screeches, “What? Bankruptcy?!”
listens for a moment, her eyes
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Chapter 0029
