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As soon as I open the door, I can hear them. Maggie and my father have always clashed. While her life has gone exactly how he wanted, she still did it her way, and he doesn’t like to be defied.
“Dad. She is happy, they are healthy. She is successful. Stop trying to put her into this perfect box where you think she belongs!” Clearly, they don’t know we have arrived, because it is obvious that they are talking about me.
“She belongs in New York with Daniel!” he shouts, and Ivy stiffens beside me. She has seen both her grandfather and father be violent with words toward me, and even though she is my most fierce protector, it is still frightening.
“Daniel is an abusive asshole, Dad!” Maggie screams at him, and I stop. We have been telling Dad for years that Daniel is not the sweet, successful doctor everyone thinks he is, but no one, not even our own father, believes us.
“I don’t care!” He doesn’t care? He knows Daniel is abusive to his own daughter… and he doesn’t care?
Ivy and I walk into the kitchen then, Maggie spotting us immediately. Looking into her eyes, she is ropeable, but I can also see her sadness.
“Ivy, go and find Abby in her room and get ready for soccer, okay?” I lean over to her and kiss her on the cheek, giving her my phone, like I always do. She doesn’t go to her grandfather; she merely glances at him with fear, and then runs down the hall to Abby’s room, where I’m sure she is hiding from her grandfather as well.
“Hi, Dad,” I say cautiously, keeping my distance.
“You need to come back to New York and to Daniel,” he states without greeting, me around like he’s my boss and this is his meeting. There is no question, only demands, and my heart breaks all over again. No “Hi, honey. How are you? No “Hi, how is my beautiful daughter and granddaughter this morning? No, he hasn’t spoken to us like any normal dad would in years.
“I left Daniel over nine months ago, and I have no plans on reuniting with him. He is verbally abusive, was starting to become physically abusive, and he doesn’t accept Ivy,” I say, but he cuts me off before I can continue.
“He will accept Ivy. He has no choice,” Dad spits out, and I tilt my head.
“Why? Why, after all these years, would he accept Ivy? He never wanted kids. When I got pregnant, it was because he forced himself on me, Dad. He didn’t use protection, then wanted me to get rid of the baby. He wants me, he doesn’t want her, and he never has.”
The worst part is, he already knows this. But every time I tell him, he either doesn’t listen or doesn’t want to believe it. And as his daughter, that hurts the most.
“Well, he has to fall into line now,” Dad grits out, and I stare at him.
“What is going on, Dad?” Maggie asks, and like me, she looks at him in question.
“He is running for senator of New York. He needs to portray a perfect family, and that is what you are. So you”—he points his finger at me, taking a step toward me—“will get in line, do your fucking duty as the eldest of this family, and come back to New York and be his fucking wife.”
While my father has always been a dominating asshole, he has never been this vicious. I find myself flinching from his aggressive tone and stance.
“No, Dad. I will not…” But the words get stuck on my lips as his hand flies through the air and straight across my cheek. I immediately fall into the armchair beside me, one hand bracing myself and keeping me upright, the other holding my cheek to stop the sting spreading across my skin.
Maggie and I gasp, a lump forms in my throat, and my eyes burn with tears. My own father hit me. The three of us stand in silence, all in shock, including my dad. The only sound I hear is my heart thumping, while my cheek throbs beneath my palm.
“Is this what we have come to? What would Mom think?” I whisper to him in disbelief, and he runs his hands through his hair. In frustration or panic or maybe both, I’m not sure, before he turns and walks out the door. Slamming it behind him. Not saying another word.
Maggie and I stand in the kitchen, lost for words, as we hear his car tear out of the driveway, and it isn’t until he has left the property that we both take a breath.
“What the hell?” I breathe out, my eyes wide, my hands starting to shake and the tears now falling freely.
“I can’t believe he did that…” Maggie shakes her head, completely at a loss, coming up to me. As her arms wrap around me, I fall into her embrace, the two of us crying.
“Why does he hate me so much?” My tone nearly begs her for the answer that neither of us knows as I pull back and we look at each other.
“Fuck them. You are not going. You cannot go back to New York or back to him,” Maggie says with venom, now pissed as she releases me to throw the drink bottle and half-time oranges into a backpack on the kitchen bench. Then she’s grabbing an ice pack and handing it to me.
I have no idea how to hide this from Ivy. I put the ice to my face and hiss at the contact.
“He was really angry this time...” I say, the words not forming in my mind right now. Daniel? Running for senator? This has to be my worst nightmare. If he is running for politics, then the stakes have now been lifted. He will have huge money behind him—from his own family who are one of the wealthiest in New York, but also from my father. Being one of the best doctors, he will also have the whole medical community backing him and his reputation. He will most likely look like the best man for the job. Young, energetic, intelligent, beautiful family, history of giving back through his career in medicine.
I need to sit down as my heart races. My breathing quickens, and I begin to feel slightly dizzy.
“Maggie?” My voice breaks as I’m starting to feel overwhelmed with what the future may hold. “Daniel’s profile will be elevated, paparazzi, interviews… no matter if I go back to him or not, Ivy and I will be pulled into the circus. Journalists will follow us, asking questions I can’t answer honestly. It will affect my work, Ivy’s school. The safe, simple life I have created for us is about to implode… I have no idea what to do.”
There is no way out for me.
