Page 86 of The Awful Truth

“What?” she asked, completely taken off guard.

He rinsed the ladle and handed it to her to dry. “Have I been a good father to you? Did I give you what you needed as a child? Did I encourage you enough?”

“Where is this coming from?” she asked, feeling genuinely scared.

“Just answer the question,” he said, wiping the knife with the sponge. “Please.”

“Of course you have. You worked long hours, but when you were home, you were always good to us.”

“I’m glad,” he answered, handing her the knife. After a moment, he said, “And when I got you your job, did you… feel like I was pressuring you to take it?”

“No. I was grateful. Where is all this⁠—”

“Good. That’s good. I would hate to think that any of this was my fault.”

In the background, she could hear the sounds of her mom’s favorite show, Ljubav je na selu. It was a reality show about lonely farmers who need to find love, and she found herself wishing she was one of the hopeful women on the TV instead of being who she was—a woman who had been used and tossed aside, and who had made what could turn out to be the worst mistake of her life. Her throat felt scratchy and her stomach heavy. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I think you do,” Henrik said, rinsing the cutting board. He busied himself emptying the rest of the fish stew into a plastic container for their lunch tomorrow.

He knew. He must have found out what she did. Petra held the damp cutting board to her chest, feeling feverish. Her stomach roiled and she felt tears prick the backs of her eyes. She didn’t have the first clue what to say, and she felt a desperate urge to call Luka and ask him for advice, only she couldn’t do that, could she? She forced her mind to think of some way out of this, only to come up blank.

Finally, when she hadn’t said anything for two long minutes, her father said, “Have you gotten yourself into some type of money trouble?”

“What? Of course not. Why would you ask me that?”

“Please, Petra, don’t insult me. Don’t lie. I already know what you did.”

Her gaze landed on the empty bottle of wine and she felt instantly furious at it. That damn wine. If she hadn’t drank so much, she would never have called that tabloid TV show. She never would’ve sneaked up to her room after she hung up to upload the files from the USB stick and send them to that producer who took her call. But she had drank the wine. Just like she’d let herself believe Luka could love her. “What did I do, tata? What? But try to get myself out of this…this life I’m stuck in. I’m just a pathetic middle-aged woman who lives with her parents and no one respects.”

He opened his mouth, but she shook her head and continued. “Don’t try to deny it. I’m nothing at that office, tata. Nothing. And I’m a joke to this family. And I have nothing of my own. I sleep in the same little bedroom I’ve slept in since I was a baby. I have no one who loves me, who sees anything worth loving when they look at me.”

“But, Petra, even if you felt this way, this isn’t how you go about changing your life. Stealing secrets and selling them won’t make any man love you. You betrayed your boss. My good friend. And to risk prison time? It’s like you’ve gone mad.”

Her head snapped back. “Prison time?”

“Interfering with an ongoing investigation is a crime.”

“I didn’t interfere,” Petra said, her voice growing louder.

Henrik’s voice matched hers. “Yes, you absolutely did.”

She was trapped, so she did the only thing she knew. She fought. “What does it matter?! It’ll all come out in a couple of days.”

“I heard you on the phone this evening. You gave them everything.”

“Again, it’ll all come out soon. Probably by morning. If it wasn’t me, some cop would make the money.”

Henrik sighed heavily, suddenly looking much older than his seventy-one years of age. “Petra, Petra, Petra,” he whispered, shaking his head. “You stupid, silly child. You really don’t understand what you’ve done.”

A wave of desperation crashed over her, making her knees feel weak. “I’ve done nothing. It’s fine. No one needs to know.”

“But people do know,” he answered. “I got a call from Dominik just before you got home. You used his login to access the case file. I didn’t want to believe it. I told him that you must have had a good reason to do that. I begged him not to fire you until I had a chance to talk to you.”

Petra’s pulse thundered in her ear drums as her father’s words set in. The Director knew. Her father knew what she was up to, and instead of telling her right away, he waited to see what she would do. He eavesdropped on his own daughter. Just as the rage started to build in her, she looked into his eyes. He was tired. Hurt. Humiliated. He wasn’t the one who betrayed her. Luka was. Tears filled her eyes now. “I never thought… I didn’t think…”

“No, you didn’t.”

Desperation flowed through her. She reached out and clutched her father’s forearm. “I’ll call him right now and apologize. I’ll beg The Director to forgive me. It’s the only time I’ve ever done anything like this. I’ll never do it again.”