Chapter 92 - Daddy Dominant's Good Girl

Shaking my head at Bethany, I turned back to my mother.

“Don’t worry about her.” I handed my mom a fresh tissue and kept her focused on me. “The doctors will tell us as soon as anything changes.”

“You’re ignoring me?” Bethany asked, putting her hands on her hips. I could see her from the periphery of my vision but I wasn’t going to play her game.

My dad could be dying and my mom was an emotional mess. I didn’t need Bethany trying to stir up trouble, too.

As if money could mean anything at a time like this. She was prancing around, talking about how she stole our fortune. We were worried about my father’s life and she wanted to talk about money?

I shook my head again and kept comforting my mother.

“How long have they been working on him?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Too long, it seems like,” my mother whispered.

“Do you guys even care? The Richardson fortune now belongs to me!” Bethany taunted, pointing to herself and puffing up her chest.

“Bethany, now is not the time,” I said. I sighed heavily to keep myself calm. My mom needed me to be strong. I wasn’t going to be pulled into Bethany’s games.

“Of course, it is. You two don’t have to be here to look after Dad. You’ve been disinherited,” she said proudly.

“It isn’t about the money.” I kept my voice as calm and even as I could.

My mom sniffled and I didn’t want her to hear anything else Bethany had to say. Standing up, I grabbed Bethany’s arm and pulled her away from my mom.

“Look, we are here to support Dad and to see him get better. It has nothing to do with money or inheritance. Don’t you get that?” I asked. My blood was boiling under my skin but I kept myself cool on the outside.

I wasn’t going to make a scene here. Bethany was just there to stir up trouble.

“What I ‘get’ is that you seduced Carl and led him on, without ever really loving him or wanting him. Then you ripped his heart out,” Bethany taunted, smirking at me.

My hands shook and I held them down at my sides. I gritted my teeth. “That isn’t true,” I ground out.

“And now, you’ve got your claws in his father and he won’t let him go either,” she continued.

“Shut up, Bethany! This isn’t the time!” I snapped, losing my cool entirely.

Bethany smirked cruelly. “Oh, the perfect daughter finally snapped. What are you going to do to get me to shut up?” she asked, laughing shrilly.

I sighed and shook my head. No, I wasn’t going to get into an argument with her. Not here.

“Hah. That’s what I thought. You’re not going to do anything! You’re nothing but a coward,” she accused, pointing sharply at me.

“I’m not a coward,” I argued. “I just know there’s a right time and place to have these conversations.”

“That’s just a sad excuse. Your excuse to sit back and do nothing! That’s all you ever do, nothing. Just like in the past, you never know what to do and wait for others to jump in and save the day.” Bethany jeered, showing me all her teeth.

I grimaced and wrapped my arms around myself. My whole body shook with rage but I willed myself to keep it under control.

“I see it in your eyes now. You're pissed. You’re angry. But you’re too weak to do anything about it…”

SLAP!

The palm of my hand struck Bethany’s cheek.

“Shut up you b*tch! Daddy is dying and all you care about is money and revenge. I don’t have time to deal with your issues.”

Bethany rubbed her cheek. First she looked absolutely shocked and confused. Then she glared at me and her eyes gleamed.

“How dare you hit me!” she snapped. “How dare you touch me!”

She raised a hand to strike me. The few self-defense classes I’d taken when I was living in Europe kicked in and I grabbed her wrist.

Bethany snarled and ripped her hand away from me.

“That is enough,” Ellis' sharp voice hissed as he approached the two of us.

Bethany looked up at him and cringed, like she was a dog that was about to get scolded.

“Olivia is right, this is not the place for your revenge schemes,” he chastised, slipping an arm over my shoulders.

It was true, Ellis and my parents had always been there to stand beside me against Bethany. This time, I’d fought back and I’d stopped her. I still wasn’t going to turn down help when it came to my aid.

“Well, well, just like I thought,” Bethany scoffed. She pulled her phone out and dangled it in front of my face. “I had a feeling you’d snap today, so I recorded our encounter. I have you slapping me on tape. I’m sure the police would just love to arrest you for assaulting me.”

“Bethany,” I argued.

Laughing, Bethany skipped away from us and headed down the hall, dialing the police station.

I looked up at Ellis. “Did you get in touch with your doctors?” I asked. My father was my top priority now. Bethany could play all the games she wanted.

“They’ll be here in a few hours and take over his care,” Ellis assured, touching my cheek.

“I have to figure out what I’m going to tell the cops,” I muttered, pulling back.

Ellis smirked and put his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got everything under control.”

I had no idea what he meant by that but I believed him completely. I looked into his eyes, so warm and affectionate, and I nodded.

“Okay,” I whispered.

Ellis stood with me when two police officers arrived. We stayed in the waiting area just in case the doctors came out with any news. My mom was still sitting and resting, but I knew she’d witnessed everything.

“Over here,” Bethany waved at the police. “Olivia Richardson. She assaulted me and I have proof.”

Ellis put his arm around me again and I didn’t pull away. The cops listened to the recording and handed Bethany’s phone back.

“It sounds like she slapped you once. It didn’t leave a mark. I’d hardly call the assault,” one of the officers said.

Bethany huffed. “Well, then, I’ll pay you to arrest her!” she snapped, pointing down the hall to me.

“What, you can’t arrest my daughter,” my mom said. She stood up and came to stand with Ellis and me.

“I’ll handle this,” Ellis assured, touching my mother’s shoulder. He went toward the police and I instantly missed having his arm around me. “Officers. Might I introduce Bethany Diaz.”

“Bethany Diaz?” one of the cops asked, looking at Bethany sharply.

“We have a warrant out for your arrest,” the other said.

“What, me?” Bethany asked. She pressed her hands over her chest, giving her most innocent look.

“We recently obtained some evidence that ties you to the attempted murder of Toby Diaz.”

“What!” Bethany and I both asked together.

So much had happened since Toby’s accident, I’d put it out of my mind. I figured since the police never followed up with me, all the rumors about my involvement had been dismissed.

I felt bad that I hadn’t bothered to find out if Toby was okay or if they’d found the person that hurt him.

“Toby is one of my cousins. Why would I ever hurt him?” Bethany asked, shaking her head.

“Toby is younger than you. If you didn’t solidify yourself as the heir to the Diaz fortune in time, other family members could petition to have Toby named the heir,” Ellis said, answering for the cops.

Bethany glared at him and then at me. She snarled threateningly, like she thought I had something to do with this. I shrugged. I had no idea what Ellis was talking about.

“Given your knack for getting into trouble and causing problems, I suspect you wanted as much competition out of the way before they discovered who you really were,” Ellis suggested.

“No! Toby is family. I wouldn't harm him,” Bethany insisted, shaking her head.

“Just like you wouldn’t harm me?” my mom asked. “I raised you as my daughter. You were our family, but that hasn’t stopped you from hurting any of us.” She motioned to me and the empty hospital room where my father had been staying before he’d been brought to the OR.

“That’s not…” Bethany trailed off, bowing her head.

“I suspected that Miss Diaz would get herself into trouble. I’ve had a PI tailing her for months now. When he gave me the footage of the birthday party, I turned it over to the police,” Ellis added with a casual shrug.

“Thank you Mr. Peterson for the evidence. We have video footage of Bethany pushing young Toby Diaz into the water,” a cop said.

“No!” my mother gasped, covering her mouth.

“It’s not true!” Bethany wailed, shrinking against the nearest wall. “You should be arresting Olivia for hitting me!”

“What a terrible thing to do to a child,” my mother whispered.

“It is absolutely despicable and we do not take child endangerment or attempted murder of a child lightly in this district,” one of the officers said.

“And we will be taking Bethany in and punishing her to the full extent of the law,” the other cop said.

“No! I didn’t do anything! I called you here. You can’t arrest me!” she cried.

I put my arm around my mom and hugged her against me.

“Bethany Diaz, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Toby Diaz and child endangerment. Turn around and put your hands against the wall,” an officer said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

Bethany looked at me and my mom. She snarled and glared at Ellis, but she turned around. One cop cuffed her while the other did a quick pat down to search her for any weapons.

“You can’t do this to me. Don’t you know who I am?” Bethany wailed as the cops each took one of her arms and started leading her out of the hospital.

“Wait here, mom,” I said.

I followed after the cops, a little too dazed to really believe what I was seeing. I wanted to actually see Bethany get put in the police car.

Just as they got to the hospital doors, Bethany started to struggle against them. She elbowed one in the side.

With a grunt, the cop released her. His partner was fast and grabbed both Bethany’s elbows, holding them behind her back.

“No! No!” Bethany continued to cry and curse as the cop literally dragged her backward out of the hospital.

Was she finally out of my life for good?