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“I better go,” Noah said. “I don’t want to piss off your dad any more than I already have.”
“Call me later.”
“You can count on it.” He caressed her cheek.
Stealing one last kiss, she hurried back inside, feeling elated.
Erase the past twenty-four hours. It never happened,Natalie told herself, hammering the final nail on her coffin of shame. She was unaware of how badly this karma would affect her life down the road.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
NOAH
I’d had enough of listening to all the sordid details about how Natalie had wound up in bed with Rob during the time we had dated. The truth was out now, but it didn’t matter. We couldn’t turn back the clock, nor did I want to.
“Please believe me, Noah,” Nat pleaded. “I never considered that Robert could have been Aria’s father. We had hooked up only once—and I was drunk when that had happened… You showed up at my house the next morning, and I just couldn’t tell you. I was too ashamed. I didn’t want to lose you.”
Aria’s silence bothered me. But that didn’t last.
“How could you cheat on him?”
Natalie hung her head and wiped her tears. “Sweetheart, I am so sorry.”
“How could you claim to have loved him when you hooked up with some other guy hours after a breakup?”
“Aria.” I reached for her hand, hoping to calm her down.
“Don’t touch my daughter!” Rob warned me.
“Oh, sonowyou want to act as if you actually care about her? Please,” I scoffed. “You’re just mad you were Natalie’s secondchoice. She settled when she married you. She was never in love with you.”
“Shut your mouth, you sly bastard!” Rob shouted. “This is a family affair now andyouarenotfamily, so leave!”
I was prepared to retaliate when Aria came to my defense.
“If you think I’m gonna start calling you ‘Dad’ and respecting you, you’ve got another thing coming. I hate you, Rob! Noah’s been more of a father to me than you ever were! Being related to you sickens me! Thank God I won’t be receiving your kidney; it’s tainted and toxic, just like you! All you ever did was abuse me—and for what? Because I wasn’t your biological child?The irony.” She laughed, wiping her tears.
“Maybe we should handle this elsewhere,” I said to Nat. “She doesn’t need to hear all this crap.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Rob said. “How about you leave?”
“Listen, jerk. From the moment Aria was conceived, I believed I was her father because Natalie had never mentioned sleeping with you. For seventeen years, I carried a heavy burden with me and felt horrible about not being there for her. I don’t have to explain myself to you, nor am I looking for pity. I attained custody of Aria in court fair and square. She’s been living undermyroof for nearly a year, and I’ve been there for her more than you’ve ever been. The sad part is you had the chance to raise her; you could have been an amazing father, and you wasted the opportunity.”
He finally had nothing to say, so I continued.
“I feel sad for Aria. You watched her grow up. You could have been there for her, but you treated her as if she was worthless to you. Why? All because she wasn’t your ‘actual daughter?’ Is that how you’re supposed to treat a child? If they’re not related to you, they don’t deserve your love? Or is there another reason? What are you hiding, huh? What’s your biggest shame?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Why unleash all your rage on a child? You’re a cowardly man, Rob. I hope you know that. You abused and neglected Aria. Now that you’ve found out she’s biologically yours, that changes everything? It doesn’t wash away the past.”
He looked remorseful, but I wasn’t finished.
“You don’t deserve the privilege of being her father. She doesn’t need you now because she has me. She willalwayshave me.”
“I know I’ve made mistakes,” Rob said. “But I want to—”
“Seventeen years! You might as well have never been there from the start. The difference between you and me—among the long list of the obvious—is that I genuinely care about her, and you don’t. You’re nothing to her. Do you hear me? Nothing!”
