“I’m your father!”
Oh, he had the gall to throw that into the mix. “You’re wrong. My father died the moment he tried to f**k with my life. If you were so scared about Zara, you should’ve come to me. If you had reservations about how I lived my life, you should’ve spoken up,” I yelled at the blanched stranger before me. “You didn’t have the right to get to choose for me, but you didn’t respect that at all. Instead, you went the cowardly way and betrayed my trust.”
Parents shouldn’t meddle. They’re there to support your decisions, the good and the bad, not f**k you over. I didn’t understand how others could think that simply because they were the parents that they could get away with anything. That they could treat their children so appallingly and still appear like they were the good guys. If you treat your children this way, there was only one way it could go… they’ll eventually rebel and would try to get as far away from you as possible.
“I did what I thought was best. I did it for you!”
That got me to snort, hideously. “Fuck off, you did it for yourself. For your selfish needs.” I shook my head, disgusted. “It all comes down to money.”
The old man kept quiet. He knew I wasn’t backing down. Now he had to find a different way to salvage his company because I wasn’t going to give him the easy way out. Oh no, Charles Kensington needed to learn respect.
It took me three years of careful planning, of hard work and sleepless nights, but I had finally done it. His company was crumbling. Without his money, he didn’t have any power to mess with people. Karma was a bitter nemesis.
“You can have her back. I’m sure she’d be more than happy to have you in between her legs again.” Charles threw out his last weapon. Zara.
How dare he? HOW FUCKING DARE HE!
“Fuck you! You have the gall to come in here and offer the woman that was supposed to be your daughter-in-law, but instead you took her away from me. Zara meant everything to me!” I got up, ready to throttle him by the neck, but I suppose he sensed my damning rage because he immediately went for the door.
“You can get her anytime you want,” he parted before he shut the door with him.
Zara. What the hell was I supposed to do with her now?
No, I thought, shaking my head. “Zara was my past,” I whispered. Thoughts of our happy moments flashed through me and I wasn’t going to lie, it still hurt like a bitch. Her betrayal ran too deep to be easily forgiven.
My anger was roaring in folds as my heart and mind recalled Zara. Gripping the closest thing my hand could grab, I flung it across the room, hitting the wall before it crashed to the floor. “Fuck!”
My father’s visit was the last straw. London stifled me and the need to get away was now necessary if I wanted to keep my sanity.
I needed to leave.
I needed Stella.
Now.
Chapter 19
Stella
Mark and I were on our way back to my office when my phone rang. It was Callum.
“Hey!” I cheerily greeted.
Callum didn’t bother saying hi, but immediately shot his intentions. “I’m taking a week off. I was wondering if you’d want to go somewhere with me?”
Random, but nothing out of the ordinary, I thought with amusement. Vacationing with Callum would be a treat I’d never forget. “Of course. How about Maldives?”
“Actually, I was thinking of St. Lucia.” His tone was still a bit serious. “Your home.”
Okay, anywhere except there.
“Let’s go somewhere else? How about Positano? I’ve always wanted to go there,” I lightly suggested, swerving away from the prospect of going back to St. Lucia.
Mark wrapped his arm around my neck before whispering into the phone. “I invited her a few months back, but Derek wouldn’t let her.”
I grunted out as I tried to push Mark off, but he was being playful and, when he was in this mood, the only way to stay sane was to wait until he was over it.
There was dead silence on the other line. I had to press on my screen just to check if he’d hung up on me, but no, he was still there. “Callum? You there?”
“Yeah.”
Yeah? “Yeah, what?” I snapped. My patience was a bit on the touchy side. He was acting like an ass because I was with my best friend? While he was possibly thinking about another woman he craved to be with at all times. Hell yes, I was mad jealous.
It didn’t take a genius to breakdown that Callum was going through something because, seriously, who would call out of the blue, suggesting we should go on a vacation with a voice that sounded like someone had died?
Not to mention the destination he wanted to visit. Home was too personal. Besides, I wasn’t ready to share it with him. I knew Callum had been there before, but this time, it would be just the two of us. It would be more intimate. On top of that, I didn’t want to bring him there knowing how much that place meant to me.
I never thought of bringing another man with me unless I was ready to share the rest of my life with him. Callum wasn’t that man.
Even though my feelings for him were shifting towards the deep end, I wasn’t a stupid woman thinking that he felt the same for me. I knew his heart was with Zara. It was sad, but when we had sex the other night—the night he fell asleep on top of me—I heard him murmur her name.
It was the most painful thing I had ever experienced.
I wanted to hold him close, feel his heart beating against mine, but I knew I didn’t have the right because his heart belonged to the one he loved. Zara.
Callum cleared his throat. “You know what, forget I ever mentioned this. Good day.” He quickly hung up on me, leaving me more distressed than I was last night.
What a double standard swine! I silently simmered, careful not to let Mark know that I was pissed the hell off. No one could know about how I felt with Callum so I had to keep it to myself.
When my building came into view, Mark dropped me at the door, kissing me goodbye. Usually, I ran towards my office and immediately got to work, but… that feeling was absent.
Glancing at my contact list, I called on someone for a shoulder to lean on.
My time was limited. It was only a matter of time until Callum dropped me. He was known for his six-week discharge and I knew I would be in the same shoes once I hit the time limit.
An afternoon of relaxation and no depressing thoughts of Callum would be ideal.
~S~
How I spent my afternoon was interesting.
I spent a total of five hours in the spa, walked around London, shopping my socks off and then met up with Lucia, Mark and Alec for dinner. When Mark invited me to come and join them, I was reluctant at first, but now that I was laughing with them with a chilled glass of wine, I was glad I did. I was a firm believer of laughter being the best cure for everything.