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Shit, I had zoned out back to the past.
“I'm sorry, sweetheart. Momma is fine. Just got wrapped up in my head for a minute. Are you finally ready for school?” We have been walking on eggshells around the house for the past few days just sensing that something feels different. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the past just waiting for whatever my father will drop on us. I kneel to be at eye level with her as I wait for her answer. I have always tried to treat her with respect and give her the freedom to be herself while making sure she stays within the lines my parents drew for us.
“Yeah, I'll go to school. I still don't understand why I can't be homeschooled anymore. I liked having you be my teacher.” She pouts, and it’s absolutely adorable. We did have a good time together while I homeschooled her.
“I know, I liked teaching you as well, but this wasn't my decision you know that. Grandpa said that you were going to Evercrest Elementary starting this year. He wants you to get out and socialize with other kids your age.” I smile at her and kiss her forehead. This was exactly why I had been on edge the last few weeks. Alexis being in school meant I would be home alone with my father. I have a feeling he was doing it so he could have his business associates over once again without a little kid running around, meaning he wanted to show me off and see if he could get any of his friends interested.
“I promise you'll like it and make plenty of friends. You look beautiful. Now let's head downstairs, get some food, and get your little butt to school.” I stand up and start heading toward her bedroom door. I hope to make the best out of her first day of school.
“Race you, Momma!” Alexis calls out as she starts to run out the door. Long forgotten is her worry, replaced with excitement once again.
“No running in the house!” I shout behind her, hoping she will listen but knowing she probably won’t.
I make my way down the long hallway to the back stairs knowing they will take me closer to the dining room. Hard to believe I'm still living in my father's house at twenty-eight, but I had nowhere else to go. Or more like my father wouldn’t let me go anywhere else. The arranged marriage my father set up for me was thrown out the window the second he found out I was pregnant, and my father wouldn't hear of me moving out. I wanted him to trust me, I wanted to take Alexis far, far away from here, away from my father, but instead, he used her to control me. I gave up every aspect of my life to care for and protect her. I was determined to make sure she didn’t grow up as I did.
See, here's the thing, my father is a control freak. He has controlled every aspect of my life since I was born. The second he found out I was pregnant, well let's just say I'm happy that my unborn child and I survived. I’m almost positive he would have thrown me down the stairs to terminate my pregnancy if he thought he could get away with it. Instead, he just beat me in areas that wouldn’t harm my stomach as punishment. My pregnancy ruined his plans so he decided to use my own daughter against me to control me once more. As long as she was safe I would accept everything he threw at me. He hates that I still have signed legal documents that would protect Alexis should anything ever happen to me. He would never get his hands on my daughter.
“How many times do we have to tell you not to run in this house!” I hear my father roar from the dining room.
Shit.
I knew Alexis wasn’t going to listen this morning. Rushing into the room, I see my daughter trying to make herself look small and hide behind her chair. If you asked anyone in this house, they would tell you she is a happy and outgoing child. If you looked at her now, though, you would never know. She is terrified and tries to stay hidden and out of sight. I think she forgot that her grandfather would be home this morning. She is as quiet as a mouse when he’s home and stays hidden in her room. I taught her from a young age to not be heard or seen unless I was around. She should be able to be a child in her own home but my father refuses to allow it. When he isn’t home, she gets free reign of the house, and all of our workers absolutely love hearing her little laugh as she's running around.
“Father, I'm sorry,” I call out, rushing into the room to my daughter’s side. I have spent the last nine years protecting her from this man. I’m not going to let this day be ruined for her.
“Excuse her behavior. She is just excited to start going to school and make some friends. She knows better than to run in the house, and it won't happen again.” I run my hand through her curly brown hair, leaning down to kiss the top of her head, letting her know everything will be okay.
“Fine, fine.” He waves his hand dismissively. “Make sure it doesn't happen again. This is a house, not a playground.” His tone leaves no room for argument. He goes back to reading his newspaper, completely ignoring us.
“Yes, Sir.” I meekly answer before taking a seat next to the one my daughter is hiding behind, keeping my eyes down to not bring further attention to us. When she sees me sit down, her little body comes out from behind the chair and sits beside me, the furthest seat away from her grandfather.
I quickly make up her toast, placing it on her plate before making a slice for myself. There’s also some fruit at the table already placed in some to-go containers for Alexis and me to grab after our toast. Neither of us is really big on eating breakfast first thing in the morning, so our cook tends to make snacks to keep us full throughout the day instead. We sat quietly eating our food before my father broke the silence again.
“Don't forget, Emma, I need to speak with you in my office for an important matter once you return from dropping the girl off.” His tone makes him seem so uncaring. It's only gotten worse over the years. Rarely will he call my daughter by her name. It’s almost always the girl. Since she has Trevor’s blood, he would never consider her his granddaughter. She’s tainted in his eyes.
“Of course, Sir.” I nod to him, swallowing my fear from his words. My gut is already dropping knowing something is coming, and I’m not going to like it. “I will return straight home after dropping Alexis off.”
Raising from my seat I whisper to Alexis, getting her to follow. The less time we spend around that man, the better for us all. He is no longer the father I remember when I was young. Now he is just a cold-hearted bastard. He only sees numbers and our public image. Nothing else matters to him. Not even family. The only member of this family he likes anymore is my brother, William. None of us matter. He only attended my mother’s funeral during my sophomore year when she died of a heart attack because it was expected of him. He didn’t truly care anymore about her. They had been living their lives separately since I was in middle school.
“Come on, Munchkin. Let's go get you to school.” I smile and take her hand, leading us to the garage. I should have known that my father wanted her to attend public school because he was going to do something I really wouldn't like.
* * *
“Emma!”Robert hollers from his office the second I walk in from the garage.
Shit.Of course, he was stalking the cameras to see my arrival. I should have been home ten minutes ago, but Alexis had wanted me to take her to her classroom first. She was nervous that the kids wouldn’t like her and wasn’t entirely sure how to act since she wasn’t used to being around kids her age. Not that my father would accept that as an excuse. He would probably say that she needs to grow up and learn to do things on her own.
“Yes, Father?” I answer loud enough he can hear me through the closed door. Opening the door to his office, I enter slowly so as to not earn more of his ire or seem too eager to hear what he has to say. I make sure to smile the whole time and remain pleasant. It's safer that way.
“You should have been home earlier. Sit.” He commands, pointing to the leather chairs in front of his desk.
Knowing the drill, I immediately move to sit and remain quiet for whatever he has to say.
“Since you had to go and get pregnant and we canceled that first arranged marriage, I have finally come up with a solution for this problem. We are going to have an underground fight tournament. The winner will marry you.” His smile is wicked, like he just came up with the greatest idea. He knows I don't want to get married; this is just another way to control me.
I keep my face neutral as I consider everything he says. I can't decide which is worse, being married to someone who will bring more assets to my father. Or being married to someone my father most likely controls. Truthfully both go hand in hand. At least if it was a business partner I would probably just be used for breeding a child while my husband had a true lover at his side. Having someone who is a fighter, though, would mean I had two people in control, and my husband probably would be abusive and do whatever their boss and my father said. This is a lot worse than I had suspected.
Fight nights in our city are what some would consider epic. When I was younger, I loved to go and watch. The adrenaline pumping through the room was a high that could set your blood on fire. Several times I would go to watch Trevor fight in some of the small events. Though no one knew I was there for him. He always set me up with some of his friends to watch me because he knew I would be there no matter what he said.
