Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
Chapter 20
TANNER
The sun has barely risen when my bedroom door slams against the drywall with a loud BANG! My eyes barely get a chance to spring open before my father storms into my room, his face red in uncontrollable rage. “What the fuck did you say to her?” he booms, spittle flying across the room as he grips my arm and yanks me toward him.
Bri flies up out of bed with a squeal, scrambling for the blanket to cover herself as my fight or flight instincts kick into gear. This asshole must have gotten on a plane the second his new wife ended the call to me.
I throw myself to my feet, towering over my father before slamming my elbow down over his arm, breaking his hold. Anger drums through my chest, knowing he’s only here to try and save whatever shred of dignity he has left after his very own daughter outed him as a fucking low-life piece of shit.
I don’t allow him one more fucking word before I shove into him, pushing him back against my bedroom wall as Bri hovers in the corner. Her whole body shakes as the trauma of everything she’s been through comes roaring back to the front of her mind. “Who the fuck do you think you are coming in here and making demands?” I spit, never having hated this motherfucker more than I do right now.
Dad pushes back, trying to pull his usual intimidation tactics, but that bullshit hasn’t worked on me in years. “Answer my fucking question before I make you.”
I scoff and shove him back into the wall. “Or what?” I question. “You’ll go running back to your new family like the spineless piece of shit you are? Look around ya, old man. We haven’t needed you here in years.”
His fist comes out of nowhere, smacking into my jaw and rocking my head to the side as Bri lets out a rage-filled gasp, her fear only pushing me closer to the edge. How fucking dare he act like this in front of her. “What the fuck did you say to your mother? What does she know?”
My hand drags down over my face as a wicked grin pulls at my lips. I was more than prepared to keep him in the dark just as he’s done to us over the past few years. Keep him wondering and fearing for what we know, terrified that at any moment Mom will see she’s better off without him. But fuck it, there’s no time like the present.
I lean into him, letting him see the absolute delight in my eyes, knowing just how much joy his misery brings me. “I didn’t tell her a damn thing,” I say, pausing and allowing a moment for relief to pound through his body before dropping a fucking bomb on his ass. “I didn’t need to. She overheard the whole fucking conversation. Congratulations, asshole. You did this to yourself.”
His face drops, and I can practically see the panic claiming him. There’s a lot of shit my mother was willing to put up with over the years, but this? He’s fucked. My father has always clung to Mom. She was his first love and the person who’s always kept him grounded, but not anymore. There’s no way Mom will look the other way, not when he’s married another woman and started a family with her. She’ll never forgive him, and call me a fucking psychopath, but I can’t wait to sit back and watch him burn.
“You’re lying,” my father rumbles, poking me hard in the chest. “I don’t know how you did it, but this is on you. You told her. You’re responsible for breaking her heart. She was fine with me being away, she was coping, but this is going to destroy her.”
“This is on me?” I scoff, laughing at his bullshit attempt to put his affair on me while grabbing a pair of boxers and stepping into them. “Oh yeah, my bad. I forgot. I was the one who flew to Australia, and I was the one who fucked a random whore and knocked her up. Tell me again, how the hell did I manage to marry her while still married to someone else?”
His fist comes at me again, but I won’t be his fucking punching bag. My hand comes up, catching his fist and twisting it away. “Here’s what’s going to happen,” I spit, getting right in his face and letting him see the real me, the monster who lives inside. “You’re going to divorce Mom. You’re going to give her everything she wants, and you’ll never step foot in Bradford again. You’ll tell Addison how much you love her and admit you’re a terrible father, and then you’ll fuck off. We don’t need you, and after the bullshit hurt you’ve caused them, we sure as fuck don’t want you. Understand me, Trenton, if you even try to screw them over again, I will hunt you down.”