AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Listen to me. That man is using you, Ariel!”
“That’s a bit funny since you used me, too. You’ve used all of your daughters, Dad, marrying us off to the highest bidder. Did you know that Attina tried to kill herself when she found out that she was to be married? Or that Aquata had her tubes tied so she can’t have kids?”
His eyes widen, but I’m not done.
“Andrina is scared to death that you are going to kill her when you find out her secret, but since she’s under Kieran’s protection and I have her blessing, I’m going to tell you. She’s a lesbian, Dad. She will never marry a man that you pick for her. In fact, none of the younger girls will. I’ll make sure that they’re allowed to marry for love.”
He shakes his head. “Ariel, you have to believe me when I say that everything I’ve done has been for you girls.”
“No, it hasn’t. It’s been to save your own ass.” I shake my head. “Max Erics told me about the additional loan you took out. You have a problem, and you need help, Dad, especially since you no longer have daughters to sell.”
His face pales. “Max Erics is a liar. I never borrowed any money from him.”
“All men are liars, Dad.”
“But so is Kieran Van der Zee. He’s never going to let you marry John Greystoke.”
Oh, how I want to tell him that he’s wrong, but he might tell Max when the wedding is. Hell, he might even try to stop it with the way he’s acting. Anything to save his own ass yet again.
I say, “I guess we’ll see.”
“Listen to me. He’s using you to get back at me. He’s out for revenge and you presented him the perfect opportunity.”
“Revenge? For what?”
“I… I took something from him years ago. Something he wanted badly.”
“What was it?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I snort. “Sure, Dad. You said what you wanted to say, and I have more important things to do than to listen to an old, bitter man.”
“Ariel, you have to believe me. Kieran has been planning this for years.”
I have nothing left to say to my father, so I turn my back to him. The car rounds the corner and Sebastian jumps out, rushing toward me.
“Everything okay?”
“I’d like to go home, please.”
“Of course.”
He eyes my father before giving me his arm, taking me to the car.
Once we’re inside, he turns to me.
“Ari, what in the fuck happened?”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to go home and go to bed.”
Seb nods, though I can tell he doesn’t like it. He pulls out his phone, texting. He’s probably telling Kieran that I saw my dad, but Kieran won’t give a damn. He’s made that much clear to me.
I simply don’t care.
21
Kieran
