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He stared at me, his ire melting into something more calculating. “Perhaps you’re right,” he said. “It might be more than a hiccup, in which case we could use Dante’s help. He’s upset now, but he has a soft spot for you. Convince him to…assist.”
Cold sank into my bones. “I told you, webroke up.He hates us. He doesn’t have a soft spot for me or anyone else in the family.”
“That’s not true. I saw the way he looked at you when your mother and I visited. Even if you broke up, I’m sure you could make him see reason if you tried hard enough.”
The cold spread to the pit of my stomach.
I stared at my father, taking in his perfectly gelled hair, expensive suit, and flashy watch. It was like facing an actor pretending to be Francis Lau instead of the man himself.
How had he morphed from the slightly corny but well-meaning parent of my childhood into the person before me?
Cold. Devious. Obsessed with money and status and determined to gain—and keep—both at any cost.
He looked the same, but I barely recognized him.
“I won’t.” My voice wavered, but my words were firm. “This isyourmess, Father. I can’t help you.”
I hated how my mother and sister would be affected should Lau Jewels capsize, but I couldn’t play pawn and possession for my father anymore. Plus, they each had their own nest eggs; they would be fine, financially speaking.
I’d turned the other cheek for too long. Been too willing to go along with whatever my parents told me to do because it was easier than rocking the boat and disappointing them. For all his faults, I loved my father and my family. I didn’t want to hurt them.
But I didn’t realize until now that not speaking up when they crossed the line would hurt us more in the long run than anything else.
Disbelief filled the grooves of my father’s face.
“You’re choosing yourex-fiance over your family? Is this how we raised you?” he demanded. “To be so disrespectful anddisobedient?” He spat the word out like a curse.
“Disobedient?” Indignation blew through me like a sudden gale, sweeping aside any remnants of guilt. “I’ve doneeverythingyou’ve asked of me! I went to the ‘right’ college, broke up with Heath, and played the role of perfect society daughter. I even agreed to marry a man I barely knew because it would makeyouhappy. But I’m done living my life for you.” Emotion thickened my voice. “It’smylife, Father. Not yours. And the same way you can’t make decisions for me any longer…I can’t make excuses for you. Not anymore.”
This time, the silence was so heavy it pressed down on me like a lead blanket.
“Of course, you are free to make your own decisions,” my father finally said, his voice terrifyingly calm. “But I want you to know this, Vivian. If you walk out of this office today without making amends for yourinsolence,you are no longer my daughter. Or a Lau.”
His ultimatum barreled into me with the force of a runaway train, skewering my chest with a bayonet and filling my ears with the roar of blood.
The temperature dropped into subzero territory as we stared at each other, his cold fury waging silent battle with my pained determination.
There it was.
The invisible monster I’d feared since childhood, laid out like a gruesome corpse of the relationship we used to have.
I could cover it with a blanket and look away, or I could stand my ground and face it head-on.
I rose, my blood electric with fear and adrenaline as my father’s composure slipped the tiniest fraction.
He’d expected me to back down.
I’m sorry.The apology almost fell off my tongue through force of habit before I remembered I didn’t have anything to apologize for.
I wanted to stay a minute longer, to memorize his face and mourn something that’d died a long time ago.
Instead, I turned and walked out.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
My father had disowned me.
My father had disowned me, and I hadn’t tried to stop him because the price was too high.
