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“You make me so happy.” Murmuring softly, I winced slightly when Antonya yanked on my hair, but Anthony cupped my cheek with his free hand to kiss me harder. His passion, his need for me, slathered along my to
ngue, and I groaned softly even as our daughter pulled harder to force us apart.
“You make me happy too, babe.” Smiling as he thumbed my cheek, I carefully extracted Antonya’s hands from my hair, and she let out a squawk in protest. Sighing in content, I raked my fingers through my gnarled locks while Anthony worked to turn her to face him. “Let Mommy get ready for work, my fire Ant. Let’s go find something fun for you to do until you can’t stay awake anymore.”
“She’s been up for an hour already—I doubt you’ll make it to the living room before she falls asleep.” My declaration only earned me a dismissive grunt, and Anthony held our daughter away from his chest to bounce her lightly on his way out of my room. Watching them disappear beyond the cornered door frame, another content sigh escaped my lips.
Anthony had never let his money get to his head, but he seemed more humble than ever. His embarrassment over his father’s actions stretched far before the old man’s appearance at Marissa’s party. Snatching my hairbrush off the dresser, I smiled broadly at my own reflection. My biggest worry about him had been dashed, and my life wouldn’t radically change as I had so vigorously feared.
My sisters liked him. My life was on track just the way I’d always wanted it to go.
Everything was perfect—Anthony’s father be damned.
Epilogue
Anthony
Following Hailey through stark, wide corridors, I held my breath to keep back the harsh stench of cleaning chemicals and disinfectant. She walked with languid, easy strides, and there wasn’t even the faintest hint that she was angry or uncomfortable. Her strength gave me hope that, one day, I’d be able to face my demons and come out for the better.
I hadn’t told Hailey, but I had started looking into therapists under Owen’s advice. He encouraged me to stay, fading away into obscurity as the weeks turned into months. Summer had turned into Autumn, and the onset of colder weather had been reflected in how I treated my father.
Just like Hailey had anticipated—hell, just like everyone anticipated—my father threw a rich-kid tantrum of epic proportions. We’d filed a restraining order against him just two weeks before he found out about Antonya. He’d shown up at Hailey’s apartment, demanding I take a DNA test—calling her a manipulative whore—and swearing up and down that he’d cut me off from every cent I’d ever made.
That had been a rough day, and it was only made worse when my father started harassing her at work. George had been fantastic about defending her, but the higher-ups didn’t want the publicity and put Hailey on paid leave until this blew over. Honestly, it was a miracle she wasn’t fired just as my father wanted, and we were beyond lucky that no one realized she’d slept with me when I was a client.
My father had sent his lawyers after me, and I’d gladly signed the paperwork to hand his companies back to him. The main lawyer—some middle-aged guy I’d only spoken to twice before—had snuck in a nice ‘fuck you’ to my father into the contract that allowed me to keep what money I had in my personal accounts.
Which was a lot—much more than my father might’ve realized. I’d pay money to bet that he didn’t even read the contract, just trusted these professionals that he treated like shit.
“You’re scowling.” Hailey’s soft voice drew me from my thoughts of the past two months, and I refocused my attention on her to find we’d ended our journey. Standing outside a closed door to a hospital room, she watched me beneath furrowed brows, and I reached to wipe my mouth with my palm. “It’s okay, Anthony. Everything is working out. This isn’t something that’s going to be over quickly… honestly, I’m kind of glad we’re having this problem.”
“Why would you be glad?” Pursing her lips together, Hailey didn’t answer me verbally, and I held my breath as she reached for the door handle. The barrier gave way easily, without a single squeak in protest, and she entered the room first.
An old, decaying man laid unconscious on the hospital bed in a stark, empty space, and the machines he was connected to beeped shrill and rhythmic. Realization hit me hard and fast, and I sucked in a sharp breath tainted by chemicals and death even as I wandered closer.
Hailey’s father was pale, wrinkled, and frail, and I tore my eyes off him as my heart thundered in my chest. She crossed her arms under her bust, a drawn expression marring her features as weariness and dark, disgusting memories flashed in her eyes. For a long moment, she was silent, and my blood pounded in my ears until she opened her mouth.
“You know my dad got physical a lot. It was just something we had to deal with… we could never blame it on alcohol or drugs because he was always sober. When I was 17, and Marissa was 16, he found out she’d had sex for the first time.”
The blood rushing in my ears suddenly went silent, draining from my face while Hailey’s low, monotone voice took over my scope of comprehension. Her face twisted in ugly hatred, and she glared at her father as he lay, oblivious, on the bed across the room.
She didn’t get within 20 feet of him, and I was trapped between them off to the side.
“When he found out I was having sex, he beat me so bad I was in the hospital for six weeks—I was 15. It’s the reason I finally decided to really go for employment. Marissa had managed to keep it a secret for, like, five or six months, but somehow, he found out. He went crazy on her… not as badly as on me, but still really bad. I was upstairs with Tracy and Kelly, and I locked them in my room when he started yelling. I got downstairs and he’s just wailing on Marissa, and she’s on the floor curled up, and he’s kicking the shit out of her. It couldn’t have been more than 30 seconds. They weren’t too far from the basement, and the door was open because my mom was doing laundry. So, I pushed him.”
“He fell down the stairs, and he just never woke back up. It’s been 10 years, but he just won’t fucking die. My mom refuses to take him off life support. Even if he did wake up, he’s got charges for attempting to murder Marissa and I.”
Darkness coated Hailey’s tone thickly, and she took a shallow, shuddering breath; not once did her glare waver, but I couldn’t feel—couldn’t think—of anything at all. “The police and CPS got involved, but I somehow managed to convince them that I could take care of my sisters. I got the grunt job at Slanders, and I finished high school online. My mom only got involved if CPS was coming to visit or we had court or something. No one lied to the police, and they ruled me attacking my father as defending my minor sisters. The case was sealed, and this… this is the first time I’ve come to see him. My sisters haven’t at all.”
“You thought I’m important enough to bring me here even though you’ve never come before?” My bare, shocked whisper echoed around the otherwise quiet room, and Hailey jerked her head in a nod. Her fierce, heated gaze seated holes into my retinas, and I clenched my hands by my side even as my mind tried to catch up with her story.
“We can be better than our parents, Anthony… but we can’t do it alone. I had my sisters, my teachers, my co-workers… I had Mark, who became like a father figure to me. I brought you here to show you what’s going to happen to your dad.
He’s going to end up like this, and you’re going to lose your opportunity to make peace with what he did to you. Once he’s gone, he’s not coming back, and that makes it a lot harder.
You can’t forgive him. Believe me, it’s impossible to forgive, and you shouldn’t believe anyone that tells you otherwise—but it is possible to accept and move on. It’s not going to happen in a month, or six months, or a year, or even two years or more… but it will, eventually.”
How did I get so lucky?
