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I shoot my dad a quizzical look, one of pure distress, and watch in horror as he nonchalantly turns his back on me, walking to his desk to pull out a cigar from his humidor. “What the hell is going on?” I yell in anger, suddenly forgetting my fears.
“Ahh, inquisitive as ever I see, aren’t you, Julianna?” my father starts off in a calm voice. He seems more intent and focused on his precious cigar than the matter at hand. “You see, Nick and I are business partners.” He pauses to place the unlit cigar underneath his nose and inhales, closing his eyes. “I’m a silent partner, if you will, a money-backer to Project Blyss,” he states simply.
I feel the second my heart stops beating, and I go numb and tingly on the inside. I get the distinct impression that this isn’t the end of his story. A bigger bomb is about to drop and detonate as I realize my entire life is exploding into smithereens before me.
“You what?” I hiss incredulously. I elbow Nick in his gut to get away. I want to claw his fucking eyeballs out.
“Whoa there, Princess,” Nick quickly interjects, stifling a grunt while he gets a better grip on me, preventing me from cutting loose.
“That’s right, you heard correctly. Just so happens Nick here, came along at the most opportune time with an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“You sold me! Your own daughter?!” Anger like never before consumes me. I yank hard on my arm to free myself to do just that, and almost succeed, but Nick is prepared this time. He’s too strong and quick. “You are sick. You are twistedly psycho, and you need help!” I spew.
My dad narrows his eyes, regarding me for a silent moment. An eerie stillness settles over him. “You know, I did the right thing. Your behavior patterns mimic your mother’s more and more every day. I knew…I just knew you were inherently born to be on their side,” he sneers.
My voice is a dubious whisper, “What? What are you talking about?”
“It’s the same thing she said. Said I was sick, except I’m not. She was constantly trying to drug me.” He narrows his eyes on mine as he comes to a conclusion. “I can tell it’d only be a matter of time before you’d want to do the same. Slip psychosomatic drugs in me where and when you could. Yet another reason why you need to be under lock and key, and controlled with drugs.”
“What? Where’s this coming from?”
An angered huff of air leaves his lungs, as if I’ve offended his intelligence. “That’s what I’d like to know. I’ve been nothing but good to you, thinking I could trust you all this time, but I can’t. You are one hundred percent your mother.” He pauses to put his cigar down, placing his hands on the desk as he leans in with a hateful glare. “She continually tried to poison me, you know. It got to the point where I saw her sneaking it into my food and drink, and one of those times, she outsmarted me. She damn near left me to die.”
As if I was just sucker-punched, a burst of air leaves my lungs in a whoosh. He’s making no sense. I blink several times and sway, thankful now that Nick is holding me. “What are you saying?”
He waggles his finger at me. “Oh, I think you know. Everyone always acts innocent, but it always turns out to be a front. She forced my hand; I had to take action against her.”
Everything turns into slow motion. I feel prickly tingles from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes as he moves to the front of his desk to stand before me. “I don’t understand,” I barely whisper. “You killed my mother?”
“Oh, for Christ’s sakes, Julianna, can’t you read between the lines?” he sneers, highly agitated. “Yes, she was not on my side. She was against me from the beginning.” He then gives me an evil glare, challenging me. “Don’t you deny it either. You might come off all innocent, just like your mother did at first, but I can read right through you.”
The hairs on the back of my neck prickle as an ominous dark cloud hovers over the room. The gloomy atmosphere seeps into my bones, and it should make me want to run, scream, fight…something, other than just stand here thunderstruck with my mouth agape as this possessed demon paces back and forth in front of me.
“You see, your grandparents were on my side after I had to take action against your mother. The way they took over and helped cover up the mishap,” he says, using air quotes. “They helped to make it look like an accident to protect me, but soon, I found out they too had ulterior motives. It didn’t take long before I was onto them too, and they knew it.”
