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Liam
Ihadgotthroughthe drive thru when my phone started to ring. I had been running from one meeting to the next all morning. I hadn’t had a chance to stop. I wasn’t much of a fast-food guy, but every now and then, I would hit up a drive thru to get something greasy and bad for me. Today was going to be that day. I needed some serious fuel and grease to help with this hangover that seemed to be dedicated to lingering. I stuck a fry in my mouth as I hit the speaker on my phone.
“Hello?”
I didn’t look at who was calling. That was my first mistake.
“What fucking game are you playing Liam?”
The penetrating anger bounced off the walls of my car. I really should have looked at who was calling.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Because really at this point it could be anything.
Chances were Francis had heard about me sleeping with his daughter. I had no idea how he heard other than Jasmine had told someone and it trickled down to him. It was really only a matter of time before the truth came out.
“You are paying for Jasmine’s legal fees,” he seethed.
“Wait, what? How do you know that?”
It had only happened this morning, and Jasmine hadn’t even agreed to it technically. There was no way for him to know about this. I highly doubted Jasmine had called him to talk about it.
“I heard it from Jefferson.”
Which meant he heard it through the grapevine. I didn’t think he would hear about this that way, especially this fast. Something else must have been going on for word to spread to him this quickly.
“I’m not understanding why you are so angry about this.”
“You have no right to get involved in what does not concern you.”
“I could argue that she is living in my house. Same as your grandson. It does concern me to some level. And you know just as well as I do that Adam is going to go to Henry, and he’s going to use whatever connections or schemes that he has to make sure Jasmine’s life is a living hell.”
Out of all the things that could have pissed Francis off, this was one of the ones that he was overreacting for. He should be the one to offer to pay for her bills, not me. He should be on her side, and it seemed like he was on Adam’s which made no sense. I didn’t care that Henry was his business partner. We were talking about his blood.
“She has been doing this to herself. Adam gave her the chance to come back home and quit this nonsense. She wants to be rebellious and make poor decisions. Of course Adam filed for custody for Jeremy. A boy needs his father. It is the only way for him to learn how to be a man. Jasmine is not capable of doing that. She will have him running around making a mess and being feminine. I will not have my grandson bring disgrace to my name.”
Jesus fuck. I knew Francis could be extreme with his views at time, but I never thought he would ever act like this. Say these things. Jeremy was only three years old. He had plenty of years to go before the type of man he was going to be would emerge. Even if he was creative, so what? There was nothing wrong with raising a creative child. Just like there was nothing wrong with a single mom raising a boy. Especially when the male in the child’s life was someone like Adam.
“Jasmine is a fabulous mother, and Jeremy will grow up being a kind and good hearted man. One that will respect women. You’re in the wrong this time Francis.”
I couldn’t believe I was having to have this conversation. I never would have imagined that I would have to convince Francis that he needed to support his daughter and not some outsider. This was insane.
“No, you are in the wrong. You have no business getting involved in my family’s affairs. When I learned that Jasmine would be working for you, I thought it would prove to her that she was not capable of being a single mother. That she was not capable of raising a child while working. I needed you to make her life harder, not easier.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? Come on, Francis. This is your daughter. Do you really want her to fail that badly that you will go out of your way to try and harm her?”
This was just bullshit. Where the hell did the protective and caring kid that was my best friend go? Sure, he had always been tougher. There had always been a bit of darkness in him, but that was always directed towards someone that was threatening the people he loved. He should be going above and beyond right now towards Adam. He should be the first person standing in front of Jasmine and Jeremy, ready to go to war, to kill, and to protect them. And yet he was acting like some traditionalist asshole.
How could we have grown so far apart? How could we have become so different from each other?
“She is my daughter, and you have no right to try and dictate what you think is best for her. This is my family, and I will not tolerate anyone threatening it. She needs to be with Adam. They will get married, and the three of them will be a family. That is how it is supposed to be. It was decided four years ago when she got pregnant.”
“She doesn’t love him. And from what little I have heard of him, he doesn’t love either of them. What type of father goes days without even speaking to their child? You have no idea what has been going on in that house. You only want to see what you want to see and not what is right in front of your face.” I had to pull over, because I was getting too worked up. I had a meeting I needed to get and at this rate, I had no idea how I was ever going to be able to be present and calm for it.
“You are the outsider here. You have no idea what they have been through. What Adam has had to put up with. She is a mess. She can’t stay organized. She is a bleeding heart and won’t think twice about wasting her money away. She refuses to grow up and do what is needed to be done as an adult. If you want to take pity upon her and allow her to work for you, that’s your choice. But you will not support her at all.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do with my time, my home, and especially my money. I will spend it however I wish. My life is not for you to dictate. I am not going to kick her out. I am going to help her, especially when I know the fight is going to be rigged against her. I know Henry will pull whatever strings he can to ensure Adam wins. I am not going to allow that to happen.”
It wasn’t like Jasmine was going into this as a fair fight. Henry had zero morals, and I was not going to stand around and allow Jasmine and Jeremy to be destroyed. Not while it was within my power. Maybe things would be different if they weren't living in my home. Maybe I wouldn't think twice about it. But they were living in my home. I would be there to see the fallout and the destruction that Adam and Henry caused. I couldn’t stand around and do nothing.
