Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 50828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
“Diana asked you for a divorce because you were sniffing around Julia,” I point out.
“I wasn’t. We were friends. Just friends back then. She knew about the cancer because she came into the office looking for you the day I got the diagnosis. I was at my desk, losing my shit, and I blabbed. She promised she’d keep my secret and helped me hash out a wellness plan. She was my support system over text and email during treatment and while I recovered. It wasn’t until I came back stateside years later and long after my divorce was final that something more happened between us. Izzy had just left for college, and I was finally getting back on my feet. I showed up to your house to repay you the money I took, but Julia answered the door. We started talking. There was a spark. Things…happened. I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this after I grew up?” Isabella demands.
“I didn’t know how to bridge the gap between us. Once I was out of the woods medically, I’d missed holidays and birthdays, crushes, tests, and teenage rites of passage. I didn’t think I had the right to just appear out of nowhere and be Dad again. You seemed to be doing all right and”—he kicks at a rock in the driveway—“I thought I’d just be in the way.”
“Even when Mom died?
“I should have asked if I was welcome, not assumed I wouldn’t be. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me.”
“What about this last year? You just dropped off the face of the earth again. Never mind you’d promised to pay for my school. I took out student loans—”
“The cancer came back. I had to return to Brazil, and I needed the cash for more treatment.” Doug sends her an imploring stare. “That’s why my hair turned so gray. The last year has been rough.”
Holy shit. I had no idea what Doug endured. Still, he picked himself over his daughter. Yeah, life or death versus money, but Isabella wasn’t a child anymore. If he couldn’t part with his green, at least he could have given her the truth.
“Are you in remission?” she asks softly.
That’s what I love about my wife. Even when she’s been wronged and has every reason to be upset, she still cares about the people around her. Despite the crap people have heaped on her—me included—she has a big heart. It gives me hope she’ll forgive me someday.
“Two brain surgeries and more chemo later, yeah. I’m broken, but I’m alive.”
“I-I don’t even know what to say.” Her voice catches. “You’ve been through so much…”
Doug tears up. “I know you have, too. And I know I’ve largely failed as a father.” Then he shifts his stare to me. “Maybe if I had reasserted myself in your life sooner, you wouldn’t have married this bastard. He’s only using you to get to me.”
“Dad—”
“I’m serious. He sent me pictures of you two. Did you know that? Of him on top of your naked body in bed, next to your wedding dress. I don’t have to guess what he was doing to you in the name of revenge just before he snapped this picture.”
Damn it, I’ve already done my own damage. I don’t need him fucking up things with my wife even more. He’ll paint my actions in the worst possible way, and how will Isabella feel? How hurt will she be? “Doug—”
“Shut up. You can’t defend this. I haven’t been a great father, but I’m here for Izzy now.” He opens his phone and shoves the image in her face. “He doesn’t care about you. Stop being his whore.”
I grab the phone from his hand. “You don’t get to show up on Christmas night with your righteous indignation and call your daughter names. I fucked up, and I deserve her anger. But you’ll have to come through me if you want to say that kind of shit to Isabella and crush her again. I will beat the fuck out of you if you don’t treat her with respect.”
“You sent my dad pictures of us? In bed?” Isabella sounds shocked. Betrayal pinches her expression. “I knew you married me for revenge but—”
“You knew?” Doug narrow his eyes at me. “Then you must have forced her to marry you. How? Does she owe you money? I’ll pay it.”
Before I can answer, Isabella sucks in a sharp sob and lurches away from me. “I-I can’t believe you sent him a picture of us…and hurt me intentionally.”
Her choked voice crushes me. I ignore Doug; I don’t owe him a damn thing. But my wife deserves an explanation. “I was always going to tell your father we were married. You must have known that.”
“Tell him, yes. But a picture of us in bed? You took it while I was sleeping, didn’t you?” She shakes her head as if she’s stunned by the depths of my betrayal. “I was vulnerable, and I trusted you. And you trampled on my privacy and chose revenge at my expense.”