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“What do you want?” Ava repeats, sterner this time.
This isn’t going as planned. I need to find a way to fix this quickly if I want everything to work out as hoped.
“I’m sorry you’re angry and hurt. I don’t want anything from you. Well, other than to have a relationship with you. I want to get to know you. You’re married with kids. I want to meet my grandchildren.” She stares at me, calculating the honesty of my words. “Please. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“I wanted and needed you years ago, but you never showed up.” She steps away, only to spin back around three steps later. “Do you know what I want?” She pauses but not long enough for me to speak. “I want you gone. I want you out of my life for good.”
“I’m your mother.”
“You are, but I don’t need to have you in my life. Dad might not have been perfect, but he was present. He didn’t leave me.” I block her exit by grabbing her arm. “Let me go.”
“Let her go!” Oliver shouts from the foyer. His stern voice reminds me so much of Dougal. I wondered when I would see him.
I do—although hesitantly.
“I’ll let you cool off, Ava. But I want to see you again. There’s so much we need to talk about.”
She remains quiet as she shrugs out of my hold and exits the living room. Oliver escorts me out. I’m tempted to tell him who I am, but it’s not the time or place. The Manarchs have no idea what is coming to them.
My visit wasn’t as fruitful as I had hoped, but I need Ava onside to make Dougal pay for his crimes against me. Dougal needs to suffer. But the only way that will happen is by maiming him where it will hurt him the most. Ava being the wife of Dougal’s heir will make everything easier, but how can I get her to trust me? She is an obstacle I wasn’t counting on. Her anger runs deeper than I’ve calculated.
I don’t know what Pat has told her about me, but I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant. I don’t stand a chance with Ava if she knows the truth about why I left.
Even though I wasn’t planning on it, seeing Pat might be my only option.
I leave Ava’s house with a new mission on my mind. I knew there was a possibility Ava would reject me. I just didn’t count on Olly’s behavior toward me. But I’m not giving up. Ava has a role to play for me to get what’s mine. But first, I need to visit dear old Pat.
I’m not surprised when I learn Pat is still living in our old apartment. He was never an ambitious man. The reason I stayed with him for so many years still eludes me.
“I should only be fifteen minutes,” I advise my driver while tossing bills over the protective divider.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
I slip out of the cab and walk inside. The building is old and smells terrible. It wasnothinglike this when I lived here. Back then, the building was barely a year old.
I decide not to wait for the elevator—who knew what one might catch in there—and take the stairs.
I’m even more horrified by what I see as I approach the apartment door. This place is disgusting. I’m so glad I left when I did, or I’d still be trapped here in a marriage I didn’t care for with a daughter I didn’t want.
“Who is it?” I don’t answer Pat’s question, I merely knock again. I can’t risk him not opening the door. “I’m coming.” He opens the door, then takes a step back. “Diana, is that you?”
Pat hasn’t aged well. He is wasting away. Not the man I once knew.
“Do you have a minute? I want to talk.” Not waiting for him to answer, I enter his apartment without permission.
“Sure.” He combs his hair flat. I actually pity him. “Would you like something to drink? I’m sure I have something somewhere in the apartment.”
“No. I’m not staying long.”
The apartment is antiquated like him—old and wasting away. I momentarily feel horrible about the conditions Ava was brought up in but quickly recover. That wasn’t my problem. He wanted her.
Ava was Pat’s responsibility.
“What brings you here, Diana?”
I spin to face him. “What did you tell Ava about me?” I ask, getting to the point.
“You’ve seen Ava?” His shock can’t be hidden.
