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“Thank you, sweetheart.” He looks up at me. “You look so much like her.” His eyes shine with unshed tears.
“How are you doing in here?” I ask.
“It’s not so bad. I’ll get used to it. Don’t worry about me. How is school?”
“Good. Fine.” I bite my lip, hesitating before finally asking. “What happened with the plea deal? You said… I don’t believe you took that money. You couldn’t have. You wouldn’t.”
He draws a deep breath in but remains silent.
“I just don’t understand, Dad,” I say.
“Cutting a deal is not the same as being guilty, sweetheart. I just weighed my options. Ten years in here is better than twenty.”
I shake my head, feeling like I’m missing something. What he did, it just doesn’t fit. Although his lawyer wasn’t able to discuss any details with me, I know he was also taken aback by Dad’s decision to reverse course.
“We don’t have much time. I need to discuss something with you, Phee.”
“I need to tell you something too.”
“I can guess what it is. Silas Cruz paid me a visit a few days ago.”
“Silas was here?”
“He mentioned something I don’t want to believe is true.”
“Silas Cruz is a self-satisfied?—"
“Are you engaged to Ethan Fox?”
Blood rushes my face. I open my mouth, but words don’t come.
“So, it’s true,” he says, reading my expression.
“I was going to tell you today. It’s one of the reasons I came.”
“How long have you been engaged to him?”
Shit. “Doesn’t matter.”
“How long, Ophelia?”
“A year. Just under a year.” I can’t quite hold his gaze.
He shakes his head, eyebrows furrowing. “And you didn’t think I needed to know?”
“A lot has been going on.”
“So, you didn’t think I needed to know that my daughter is engaged to a Fox?” he asks, voice firmer. “When is the wedding?”
“June.”
He looks shocked. “He moves fast.”
“It’ll be after graduation. And once we’re married, I’ll work for the company, Dad. I’ll take over the low-income housing project. I will head it up so it will continue.”
Now it’s me to surprise him. “What?”
“Mr. Fox was going to put an end to the project, and this way?—”
