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“Kayden’s parents,” I say in a rush, so the words blend together. No, that’s not just the wine. It’s my brain working overtime. “That’s what happened. Actually, it wasn’t so much his mom but rather, his dad.”
“Oh my god, did the bastard touch you?!”
“No!” I quickly reassure Sadie before she turns indignant, jumps up, grabs a pitchfork, and tries to smuggle it on a plane back home. “No, he didn’t do anything like that. Ever. But he did take me out for lunch one day, where he politely threatened to ruin my parents’ lives and my future career prospects if I didn’t break up with Kayden.”
Sadie’s eyes turn into flying saucers as she gapes at me. “What?! Why would he do that?”
“Because he didn’t want his son dragged down by someone whose family didn’t have…well, you know. We weren’t rich, and I wasn’t really suitable. I was fine for a college romance, but he must have found out Kayden was getting serious about…about making things serious between us. I mean, not that they weren’t. We lived together. But I guess his dad always hoped Kayden would break it off, find someone better, do better, and that after college, he’d decide the new version of himself didn’t want the old version of our relationship.”
“Kayden never would have done that,” Sadie hisses. “He loved you.”
“He did, yes. That’s why his dad felt he had to lay down the law—his law. His law was that if I didn’t give Kayden up for good, he’d ruin my father’s career. My dad worked so hard, and his whole life was in the military. I knew how much it took out of him, but I also knew how much he loved what he did too. It would have killed him if Kayden’s dad had done something, talked to someone, or poured enough money in the right direction to make it such that my dad was either shamed or made jobless. Either one would have hurt him beyond recovery. Kayden’s dad probably would have made sure that no matter where my parents moved, neither of them could find work.”
“But if you were with Kayden, you could have supported them. He had lots of money.”
“I don’t know. His dad probably would have cut him off or something. We would have been making it on our own with the odds seriously stacked against us. His dad probably would have persecuted us too so that neither of us would be able to find a decent job. I mean, I could have made it if it was just us. I would have worked anywhere and done anything to be with Kayden, and I know he would have done the same. We could have been poor and happy. At least, I think we could have. But my parents? I couldn’t ruin someone else’s life for my own happiness because I would have been ruining theirs, and really, Kayden’s too.”
Sadie’s nostrils flare. She looks pissed, but they go well with her scarlet cheeks. “That bastard! People…people should only do that kind of thing in books! Not in real life! How could he have expected you to choose between your family and Kayden like that?”
I shrug because I can still remember how casual Kayden’s dad was that day. He dropped the bomb on me like it was nothing at all. “He knew I’d choose my family because I loved them, and it was only natural. He also knew I’d do what was best for Kayden because I loved him too, and it was also natural. He knew me too well, after four years. Unfortunately for me, instead of wanting someone kind who loved his son more than just about freaking anything but had no money, he wanted something better—someone with less emotion and more dollar signs to their name. To him, that was just how life worked. Love didn’t really factor in because it was too mercurial. It was the one variable that couldn’t be controlled, so he needed to stamp it out. The only thing worse than me coming into his family with no money would be to exit it with lots. He knew I wasn’t a gold digger, but he also knew that if one day Kayden and I didn’t work out after Kayden married me, I’d get a huge settlement. Maybe he really was just trying to protect his son.”
“That’s ridiculous. The guy needs a good ball bagging!”
“Ha! I’d like to see you try.”
“I will! I’ll find the bastard, and I’ll…I’ll kick his nuts so far up with the pointiest shoes I own that they’ll replace his eyeballs.”
“Jesus. That would be quite a sight,” I giggle, but it’s more of a hiccup choking sound since I’m trying to smother it.
Sadie gets serious so fast that it’s like watching a shapeshifter in front of me. It’s kind of a little creepy, especially after four glasses of wine. “You need to talk to Kayden. You need to tell him what happened.”
