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I don’t know how, but Dad survived. The bullet that struck him entered two centimeters away from his heart, and where he was lying, he avoided the bomb blast, too. So did Dante’s friend, Virgo, and his men.
It’s hard to believe that all happenedtome and around me.
Two weeks have passed since.
Two weeks of all sorts of things happening.
Dad had surgery and has been recovering, but while the doctors have worked endlessly to save his life, the press has been running wild with the scandal of the governor who turned out to be a murderer and a fraud.
Despite the terms of my contract, that wasn’t Dante’s doing.
As part of Dad’s punishment, Igor leaked everything my father had ever done to the press in an attempt to destroy his legacy. Since I was supposed to be dead, that legacy included Melissa, Natalie, my extended family, and all the employees at Dad’s law firms.
There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by when Dad hasn’t been in the papers or on TV. So have all of us.
Lawrence called off the wedding, so of course, Natalie was a mess.
And because she’s already in the public’s eye with her modelling contract, she’s lost a few assignments. Like the job in Brazil. Although her contract hasn’t been revoked, it’s like it has. She probably didn’t lose it altogether because she’s famous.
As I’m notfamous, I worried I’d lose my placement at the art show, but I didn’t. Jean-Rene genuinely loved my work and assured me I got in on my own merit.
It’s been hell, but in the background, I’ve had Dante. We haven’t seen each other as much as before because we’ve each had a lot of things to sort out, but he’s been there for me.
He sat with me during Dad’s thirteen-hour operation and went above and beyond to take care of me in the days that followed.
Dante was different from the man who was hellbent on killing my father and found out my father helped kill his. He pushed aside all differences like they didn’t exist to be there for me.
I’m going to see Dad now. He’s staying at the General Hospital in police custody. Because he’s walking around and out of the woods, he’ll be transferred to a secure unit tomorrow morning. When he’s well enough, he’ll be going to prison.
Today is the last day I’ll see him like this.
This is a sort of goodbye, as I don’t know if I’ll ever really see him again.
Not that I won’t be allowed to visit him when he goes to prison. I’m sure I will. I just don’t know if I’ll want to. My father has crossed too many lines for me to forgive and forget.
My presence here today and being around this whole time is closure.
As I turn the corner to go onto the wing Dad is staying on, I see Melissa walking toward me. She’s dressed in full black like she’s attending a funeral.
My stepmother notices me. There’s no way she couldn’t. She’s looking right at me, yet she keeps walking right by when we meet in the middle.
It’s as if we’ve never met and all the years of being this so-called family never happened. I wish it were so.
I glance over my shoulder at her continuing down the hallway.
Chances are that whatever conversation she just had with Dad was not good.
She’s lost all her fake-as-fuck friends who want nothing to do with her, the access she had to the country club, the charities she supported, and for once, she has the wrong kind of attention in the press.
I don’t know what the money situation is, but I don’t think it’s good either.
When I reach Dad’s room, I have to sign in with the two police officers guarding the door. I’ll only be allowed to see Dad for a few minutes.
The officers check me and my bag before giving me the okay to head inside.
There I find Dad sitting in a wheelchair by the window.
He turns to face me when he hears me come in. Surprise fills his face, as if he thought my last visit really was my last.
