AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Epilogue
Charlotte
After a week, Dad is allowed to leave the hospital and placed on hospice with a twenty-four-hour private nurse. Rawlins gives me special permission to go home whenever I want to. She doesn’t offer the same to Astrid. I figure out later that Astrid didn’t answer her phone because she was with Bryce, probably in the basement bathroom. I never go in there anymore. Just thinking about the two of them having nasty sex makes my skin itch.
The Uber drives slowly toward the house. The driver cranes his neck to see a full view of the house through the driver’s window. “You live here?” he asks.
“No, my father does.” I’m being a smart ass, but Stonehaven is more my home than my father’s mansion. I put my key in the lock, but it doesn’t turn. I pull it out and try again. Nothing. I wonder if Astrid did something stupid again, and Dad had to change the lock. I sigh as I jab my finger into the bell.
Mrs. Donovan answers the door. She pulls me inside with a big hug, smothering me in her arms. “Lotte, I haven’t seen you in too long.”
“Please call me Charlotte.” I walk past her into the house and look around at all the empty rooms. It’s too big for one man. “Is Dad in his room?”
“Yes, he is. I’ll take you upstairs.”
“I know the way. Why was the lock changed?”
She stares at the door. “I’m not sure.”
The smell of disinfectant slams into my nose as I walk up the stairs to Daddy’s bedroom. I can’t help but feel a sense of dread at what I might see. He looked so frail in the hospital as if he were already dead. Mentally, I pull it together. He’s my father, and I have to remember that. He needs me now, and I have to be brave. I have to show him that I love him no matter what the situation.
I stand in the doorway to his bedroom and peer in. He’s lying comfortably in his bed. He’s dressed in pajamas. His gray hair is combed neatly, and his nails are manicured. He looks as if he’s waiting to be put in his coffin. His bedroom has some medical equipment—a wheelchair and a commode—but everything else looks the same.
I quickly stop in my tracks. A quiet woman in scrubs sits in the corner, reading a book, and gives me a fright. The nurse apologizes and smiles, but I want to give her a slap. Instead, I smile politely.
“Are you Astrid?” she asks, “Dr. Howland’s daughter?”
“No, I’m Charlotte,” I reply abruptly. “His other daughter.”
She frowns slightly but directs her attention to Dad. He lifts his hand and points to the door. She places her book down and scurries out the door. Smiling broadly, I walk over to Dad’s bed, glad to see he’s not changed a bit.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“Sit.” He frowns. “We have to talk.”
Like the nurse, I do as I am told. Sitting by his bedside, I wait patiently for him to say something, or maybe he just wants me near him while he sleeps. I know he’s tired, but he wants to talk so we will. I’m not a crass person, but I need to know who I should call about the money after he’s gone.
Dad clears his throat. “You are not my daughter, and you are no longer welcome in my home.”
“What?” I ask, “Is this the medication?”
He continues as if I didn’t speak. “I had long suspected that you were fathered by another man, and I sought definitive proof. The woman who was your mother had base morals. She had no qualms about presenting me with a child that wasn’t mine and preventing me from raising the one that was.”
“I don’t understand,” My voice is breathless. “Mommy loved you.”
“Quiet,” he snaps, “When you donated your blood, I pulled some strings for a DNA test. I was right. You are no daughter of mine. A relic of the bitch who stole my posterity from me.”
The room starts to move on its own, and that smell is making me nauseous. “It’s wrong. None of this is right. I’m your daughter. I can’t be anyone else’s.”
“You’ll need a detective to track down your real father, I suspect.” He scoffs. “Your mother was a gold-digging whore who raised a daughter in her image. All you care about is what men can give you, like your mother. I bet even now, on my death bed, your mind is fast at work thinking how much more money you can squeeze out of me.”
The last few words cut deep. And I feel the shame of holding those exact thoughts before I even greeted him rush to my cheeks.
But everything else? None of it makes sense! It has to be the meds. Why is he being so mean to me? I look around the room for the nurse, but she ran out as soon as she heard my name. Maybe I’ll talk to Mrs. Donovan. She’ll know why Daddy is acting crazy. Maybe the cancer has spread to his brain, and it’s making him lose his mind.
I start to cry in frustration. He wouldn’t say these things if he was well. “Daddy?” I touch his hand softly.
He shoves my hand away. “Don’t you ever call me daddy again. Save it for a man foolish enough to fall for your games. You are not a Howland. You don’t belong here. Get out of my house.”
