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“Because, Caitlin, he was my personal assistant’s boyfriend. He was cheating on her with our daughter.” I don’t even try to sugarcoat it for her. I’m so damn mad at Anna for this, I need Caitlin to understand what our daughter has done.
I can’t believe Anna’s nerve. Did she really think she could invite me to dinner with Eric and pretend that I didn’t see their antics earlier? It doesn’t make sense.
“Oh, is that all?” Caitlin gives a shaky laugh.
“Wait, what?” I sit up straight, not believing my ears. “That’s all you’ve got to say about it? Our daughter stole another woman’s boyfriend, and you don’t care?”
“She found someone she loved, and it’s unfortunate that he was with someone else,” Caitlin explains calmly. “There’s nothing else to it. You know how headstrong Anna is.”
“And you are giving her an excuse for cheating,” I grunt. “Ridiculous. Go figure.”
I’m not surprised. Caitlin had cheated on me on multiple occasions throughout our relationship. Somehow, both of our daughters are mine, but Caitlin would not stop sleeping around. It was so humiliating to find out that she had made her way through several of my employees and several board members too. It was like she had a bucket list to sleep with everyone in the building who had a pulse.
Needless to say, I needed a serious employee overhaul at the time. Trusting someone who’s willing to sleep with a married woman—and their boss’ wife—is not something I can tolerate. Caitlin knows all of this and she also knows that she screwed up her life with her behavior. If it had not been for the fact she was our daughters’ primary caregiver, I wouldn’t have paid her anything beyond what was agreed to in the prenup.
That woman is more trouble than she’s worth.
“I’m just allowing love,” Caitlin protests. “You can’t argue with love, can you?”
I scoff a little too loudly. “You can when it doesn’t exist.”
“You don’t believe in love anymore?” she asks, and there’s actually a tone of disappointment in her voice. As if she cares.
Of course, I know better.
“I don’t believe Anna went into the relationship with good intentions, Caitlin,” I sigh. “She’s always disrespectful toward Megan, because my PA isn’t afraid to tell her where to get off. Then she gets with Eric and stages a make out session in the office for Megan to see. I think it’s safe to say that Anna isn’t doing this because she is in love.”
Caitlin huffs. “Honestly, Joel, you’re far too cynical. I heard Anna on the phone just now, and she sounded so excited. She adores him.”
“Well, you can listen to her nonsense as much as you want. You’ve done it for years,” I reply, trying to not sound too patronizing. “As for me, after what I witnessed today, I’m not going to dinner with our daughter and one of my employees.”
“You’re willing to be horrible to your kid over her choice in men?” Caitlin sounds flabbergasted.
She hasn’t been listening to me at all. Go figure.
“It’s not being horrible,” I argue. “I’m not supporting a relationship that started by cheating on someone else. I’m not interested in condoning that.”
Caitlin snorts. “You’re such a bore, Joel. How did I manage to stay married to you for so long?”
“I’m wondering that myself,” I mutter. What I don’t say is that I also wonder why I married her in the first place.
“Anna’s found a guy, and she’s happy enough with him to introduce us,” Caitlin’s still going on. “Can’t you just do that for her?”
“I already know him, Caitlin,” I remind her. “He works for me, and he was dating Megan until a few hours ago. What will it say about me if I go and have dinner with him?”
There’s a pause, and I can hear Caitlin’s mind working over the phone. “So, you’re going to support an employee over your daughter? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I’m saying I don’t support cheaters. Now stop calling me about it.” I end the call and stand up, stretching to release the built-up tension of the day.
Part of me wants to call Megan and see how she’s doing, but I don’t know how she is going to react. She’s probably still trying to figure out how to deal with this, and I doubt she will want me—the father of the woman who stole her man—to be checking in on her.
Anna’s made a mess of everything, and she just doesn’t care one bit.
Chapter 3
Megan
Irolloverforthe umpteenth time, but it’s no use. Sleep doesn’t find me there either. Every time I close my eyes, I see Eric and Anna together. And the scene always plays out the same way. My mind is racing too much, wondering what signs I might’ve missed. But I can’t think of anything. I just feel like I’ve been taken for a fool.
