I would get on my knees and beg if I had to. Beg her to see exactly what she was pushing away. That I wasn’t just someone who loved her ‘despite’ her quirks. I was someone who loved herbecauseof them.
But something I’d learned about Cerise in the last few months was that she had to come to these realizations on her own. Pushing would do us no good. In fact, it would probably push her further away.
So, with a broken heart, I took one last look at her house, and headed down the road to find a carriage home.
I satacross from my sister at our favorite restaurant, sipping my beer as she took a drink of her red wine.
It had been two weeks since my fight with Cerise and I hadn’t heard anything from her. If I sat alone in my house any longer I was going to lose my mind, so I had called Ellie to meet me for dinner.
“How was the family after I left dad’s birthday party?” I asked. We hadn’t had the chance to debrief due to her traveling for work.
“Do you really want to know?”
I took a bite of a carrot. “Not really, but I probably should be aware.”
Ellie gave me a grim smile. “Mother was her usual self. Otto and Callahan…well, you know how they are. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“And Father?”
She winced. “It was bad.”
“What happened?”
She set her fork down and took a breath. “He disowned you.”
I barked a laugh, so loud we earned curious looks from the other patrons. “That’s it?”
“Liam. That’s bad. He’s never done that before.”
I shrugged. “Honestly, it’s about time. I have no desire to see that man again.”
She pursed her lips. “I know. It’s just—I’ve never seen himthatupset before. I heard Cerise stepped in and stood up for you. I don’t think he liked that. It made him look bad.”
My heart twisted at Cerise’s name, but I tried to ignore it. “No one else saw.”
“One of dad’s associates overheard. He was passing the office when it happened. And then it spread that a woman put him in his place so he practically publicly disowned you.”
“I really don’t care. Good riddance.” I paused, studying my sister. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to get in the middle of this.”
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault at all. Father is who he is and you are who you are. You know I’ll always support you. No matter what happens.”
I squeezed her hand. I was lucky to have her. It didn’t bother me that she still had relationships with my parents and brothers. They didn’t treat her the way they treated me and she had figured out her own ways to deal with my father. At least I had one family member in my corner.
“Are you all right?” Ellie asked, green eyes missing nothing. “You seem…off.”
I sighed. “Not really, actually.”
She waited for me to elaborate, so I told her everything. She knew Cerise and I had decided to try a long distance relationship but hadn’t known about the most recent fight we’d had. After I finished, she was quiet. I waited not so patiently for her to say something. My older sister always gave excellent advice.
“What do you want?” sheasked.
“Her,” I responded immediately.
“Have you talked to her since?”
I shook my head. “I’ve tried calling but she isn’t answering her phone.”
“What about a letter?”
