Chapter 35
“She is strong,” he corrected, his tone steady. “And if she is the one that is manipulated, what does that make of you, the man who chose to play her to get her in his bed?”
I turned to fully face him, irritation creeping into my voice. “What’s your point, Father?”
Dad studied me for a long moment, the disappointment in his eyes clear. “You’re spending an awful lot of time watching someone you claim not to care about. Whether or not you want to admit it, you know for a fact that you care about her. You want to deny it because it angers you that you did not know about a few things, that you chose to hide something from you.”
I rolled my shoulders back, keeping my face neutral. “She’s the mother of my child. That’s it. That is why I care about her presence and trust me when I say I would rather I throw her out faster than could even say her name. Then she could say my name.”
Dad let out a humorless chuckle. “If that were true, you wouldn’t be so damn bothered by her presence. As for throwing her out, it would have to be done over my dead body. The second that you see me being put inside my grave is the second that you can throw her out or do whatever it is that you want from her, but you will have disgraced me and your mother.”
I gritted my teeth. “She left once. She’ll leave again. Me kicking her out, it’s not going to change the fact that she chose to leave herself. You just don’t want to see it because you believe her to be an angelic soul. That is not a real.”
Dad’s expression darkened slightly. “If she leaves, Damon, it won’t be because she wants to. It’ll be because you pushed her away. And if you push too hard, one day, she’ll stop looking back. She’s going to stop trying to fight you if she is staying here. Trust me, it is only because of Isla. She does not want to stay here. It is your mother who asked her to stay here and if you are going to tell me that you could have told her to leave. You have a daughter and trust me when I say she is not going to leave without her child. No mother that loves her child would leave without her.”
Something tightened in my chest at his words, but I shoved it down.
“I don’t care if she leaves,” I said coldly. “My child would be staying whether or not she likes it.”
Dad let out a slow exhale, shaking his head. “Then why are you still standing here, watching her?”
I said nothing. Because I didn’t have an answer.
And I hated that.
Dad chuckled under his breath, but there was no amusement in it. “You should figure out what the hell you want, son. Before it’s too late. And the sooner that you do it, the better the outcome. If you believe that fighting a mother for her own kid is going to be the best option or the best thing that you are going to think about doing, then you are very wrong, son. Sometimes standing by the mother’s side is the right thing to do. No matter how difficult it might seem…”
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving me standing there, my fists clenched.
I forced myself to tear my gaze away from Sienna’s door, pushing forward with long strides.
I had more important things to worry about than a woman who didn’t know her place.
At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
At least that’s what I wanted to keep in mind…
