Chapter Sixty-Three-1

Chapter Sixty-Three: Maggie My father, Wayne Carter, is here. He's fucking here. I felt the room spin as I stared at the man before me with a slack jaw and wide, dumbfounded eyes as if I had just seen a ghost and not my actual father. I tried to rattle my mind of possible conclusions of how he could be here when he should be in New York, living his best life without a family to burden him anymore. So I can't understand for the life of me as to why he's here, in the flesh, talking to Tiffany like she's the enemy in this situation and not him. I was basically numb at this point, and I couldn't seem to move my feet but Tiffany had managed to pull herself together faster than I could as she shook her head and spoke back to my father, her tone firm but her eyes spoke otherwise. She was terrified of him. "I-I'm sorry, but I don't necessarily remember inviting you, Wayne. Much or less permitting you to tell me that my son's engagement will not be happening." she hissed as he smirked back at her, his gaze cold and daunting. "I also don't remember granting you permission to have my daughter engaged but oh well, look where we are now." he shot back as I watched Tiffany gulp while he took another step forward. Even though Tiffany was the one with the microphone it felt as though my father's presence dominated the room more than hers, as he once again spoke with so much animosity in his voice that I'm pretty sure every guest flinched with every word that slipped past his mouth. "Who the fuck do you think you are getting my daughter engaged like she's some property you can just buy and own?" he scowled "I will not stand here and see my child get auctioned off to your family and let her get married to your filthy excuse of a son." His spiteful words directed to Evan and how he spoke so belittling of him snapped me out of my trance as I felt something inside of me flare-up, all the while as I looked up to see Evan staring at the scene, in disbelief still, but it was obvious he was affected with what was just said about him. The pain in his eyes visible as the rage boiling inside of me finally hit its peak; as I then diverted my attention back at my father, marching my way towards his direction with clenched fists and my teeth gritted, absolutely seething as I drew closer. "Who the hell do you think you are coming back here?!" My dad wasn't able to collect his bearings when I aggressively shoved his chest, causing him to stumble back as tears started to spill out of my eyes. More so from anger than it was from hurt, but by now, I don't know what to feel anymore. Do not cry, don't you fucking cry right now. Don't you dare allow this man to see you act weak, for once, you need to stand your ground and not let him have his way with you. He was silent after that, for the first time stripped away from his dominant facade as he watched me seethe in anger, and just then I noticed that he still looked about the same as he did when he left us, his hair brown with a few strands of gray hair showing. I locked eyes with him, the same eyes I once stared at with immense hatred, and this time not much different. If anything, the loathing intensified. How can he have the audacity to show up here and act as if he was a father who cared about his daughter, in the first place? When it wasn't that long ago when he walked away from his family like it was so easy for him to just abandon us. As if we meant nothing to him. The stinging memory of it all hurt like no other, it pierced through me and made my chest ache along with every part of my body, but the one brewing inside of my rib cage was the most unbearable out of them all. The utter boldness of this man was incomparable, it shocked me the most because I was certain the day he left me and my mother was the last time we would ever see him. But it seems as though we were wrong. With how he just waltzes in here demanding me not to proceed with the commitments I've done as if he had more say in what goes in my life than I did, despite barely being there for me, was what crossed the goddamn line for me. He has no right to come back and act as if he gives a damn. Like he cared about me, his family, at all. The silence that stretched across the room was so painstakingly long I'm sure people were still doing their best to recollect themselves, but after a while, I felt familiar callous fingers grazing the skin of my wrist and I turned around to see Evan tugging me back against his chest. "Baby, calm down," he whispered as I felt my inhibitions falter staring at his worried gaze. But it soon vanished when I sensed the burning eyes of my father as he glared at Evan and the way he was touching me "Get your hands off my daughter," Without expecting it, I was wretched out of Evan's gentle hold and into the cold and merciless hands of my father, eliciting a surprised gasp out of me. It felt as if I was pulled out of a warm place of passion and comfort that I grew accustomed to the second my father snatched me from Evan's embrace, one that felt like a daydream too good to be true, only to wind up being sucked into the same harsh reality I had actually lived in. The harsh reality I was so sure I had finally run away from, only to come back sprinting after me like a shadow that's just never going to disappear and will always follow suit.