Chapter 27 I Will Make Your Daughter's Life Miserable
Haley’s POV
The morning light stabbed through the gaps in my heavy velvet curtains like glass, hitting me right in the eyes as soon as I opened them.
“Ugh!” I groaned and buried my face under a pillow, but the pounding in my head wouldn't stop.
It felt like my skull was being crushed by a heavy object. My eyes were puffy from crying, and my body ached from standing out in the cold after Lucas dumped me on the side of the road.
Lucas.
Just thinking his name made my stomach flip in a sickening way. I could still see the red taillights of his car fading into the distance while I stood there like a piece of garbage he had finished with.
“Haha.. cough!” I let out a bitter dry laugh that turned into a choke as my throat was too dry.
"He's heartless," I whispered into the quiet room. "He is nothing but a cold-blooded animal."
Then, I rolled over and just stared at the ceiling. "And I’m the biggest fool of all, because my heart is so stupid for still wanting a man like that. A scumbag who treats me like an inconvenience the moment things get hard."
I tried to go back to sleep, to just go numb and forget everything, but the house wouldn't let me. From downstairs, I heard a constant, annoying sound of heavy thuds and loud voices. It was non-stop and people were talking loudly, which made it impossible for me to even close my eyes for a second.
Anger started to bubble up in my chest. It was a sharp, hot feeling that finally pushed me out of bed as someone was going to pay for my lack of comfort.
I needed to scream at someone and most importantly, remind the servants that I was still the boss here, no matter what had happened at that stupid Gala last night.
I got out of bed, my muscles feeling stiff and sore, I didn't even bother with my usual skincare routine. I just threw on a silk robe, splashed some cold water on my face, and tried to look as mean as possible.
I planned to go downstairs and take all my anger out on the first servant I saw. I wanted to see them shake in fear, to feel powerful again because, right now, I felt like nothing.
But when I reached the top of the stairs and looked down, my breath caught in my throat.
The foyer was a complete mess of activity. There were workers in blue jumpsuits everywhere. They were hauling rolls of expensive carpet, huge gold-framed mirrors, and boxes of high-end electronics. And they weren't just anywhere, they were moving everything into the West Wing.
My heart skipped a beat, then started thumping with a heavy sense of dread. The West Wing was my stepfather’s private area and the rooms were always locked.
Not even I was allowed to go in there and my mother had told me years ago that my stepfather, Benjamin, kept those rooms as a shrine for his first love, Elena Ricci.
But now, the doors were wide open and the dust of almost three decades was being cleared out. I could also smell fresh paint and floor wax.
I knew exactly what was happening, and it made my blood boil. He was renovating the most private part of this house for his biological daughter, Eva.
I felt a surge of blinding jealousy, as that wing was the most beautiful part of the entire estate. It had the best views of the private gardens. And Benjamin was just giving it away? To a girl who had been in his life for less than twenty four hours just because she is his daughter?
I marched down the stairs with my robe fluttering behind me. I spotted a young maid carrying a stack of old linens out of the suite.
"Stop right there!" I yelled at her, my voice sounded like a whip cracked in the noisy hall.
The girl jumped and nearly dropped everything, as she looked at me with wide, shaking eyes. "M-Miss Haley?"
"Who told you that you could go in there?" I demanded and stepped right into her space, my eyes narrowed and voice low. "That is a private area and you know the rules. Get out of there right now and put everything back!"
The maid shook her head fast, her face turning pale. "I’m sorry, Miss Haley! We were told... we were ordered to clear it all out. We have to work fast to get the new stuff in."
"By who?" I hissed. "My mother is still in bed…Who gave you that order?"
"I did."
I froze as that voice didn't belong to a servant. It was deep, calm, and had the kind of authority that nobody dared to argue with.
I turned around and saw my stepfather, Mayor Benjamin. He wasn't wearing his usual fancy suit, he had his sleeves rolled up, his tie was loose, and he was actually holding a blueprint. He was personally standing there, watching two workers mount a massive, 80-inch TV onto the wall.
I was stunned and it took me a few seconds to even find my voice. Benjamin was never home and he is obsessed with his job, always in meetings at the City Hall.
He was always "too busy" for anything at home. He had told us just a few days ago that he would be unreachable for the next two months because of his election campaign.
I forced a fake smile onto my face, even though it felt like my skin was cracking. I walked over to him, trying to keep my voice sweet.
"Dad? What are you doing? I thought you had that big emergency meeting today. You said you’d be swamped with work until the end of the month."
Benjamin turned to me, and for the first time in years, he looked genuinely happy. There was a sparkle in his eyes that I had never seen when he looked at me. He gave me a quick, distracted smile.
"I took a couple of days off, Haley," he said, his voice sounding light and cheerful. "I cleared my whole schedule, as I wanted to be here myself to make sure everything is perfect for Eva’s arrival this afternoon.
This room has been closed up for way too long. It needs life again and needs to be ready for her."
He didn't even wait for me to say anything else. He turned right back to the workers, pointing at the blueprint. "No, put the vanity by the window. She’ll want the natural light for her makeup. And make sure the high-speed internet lines are finished by noon."
I stood there, feeling completely invisible. He hadn't even asked how I was doing and didn't notice the dark circles under my eyes or the fact that I looked like I’d been through hell.
My hands curled into fists at my sides and my nails dug so deep into my palms that it actually hurt.
A memory flashed in my head, it was my birthday party a few months ago. I had begged him to come home early for the birthday dinner and I had even bought a specific wine I knew he liked. But he had just sent a short text saying he was "too busy" with a meeting. He came towards the end of the dinner, he missed the cake and the toast…He missed everything.
But for her? For this biological daughter who was a stranger until yesterday? He could take days off, move furniture and worry about "natural light."
The unfairness of it felt like poison in my throat. I had spent years trying to be the perfect daughter for him and done everything to earn a place in his heart, but she had just walked in and taken over the whole house in one night.
Benjamin walked past me again, giving me a quick tap on the shoulder like I was a pet. "Why don't you help the kitchen staff plan a nice lunch, Haley? It would be a good gesture to welcome her."
He moved away before I could even respond. I watched his back as he doted on a room for a girl I hated with every bit of my soul.
I turned around and marched back up the stairs. My heart was thumping a fast, angry rhythm against my ribs. I reached the top and looked down one last time at the busy foyer, and the house that didn't feel like mine anymore.
If she wanted this life, she could have it. But she was going to pay for it. I looked at the busy Benjamin once again and sneered.
"I will make your precious daughter's life so miserable that she will run away from this house…if she even makes it out alive."