Chapter 10 Who
Dahlia.
My presence was clearly unwelcomed, an intrusion.
" Father?" My voice shook with tremors of shock and disbelief as I called out.
They looked happy, very harmonious. And as I stood there, watching the heartwarming moment, I couldn't help but feel like a stranger.
He didn't answer. He was too engrossed in whatever Sofia was saying to hear my voice.
"Father?" I called once again, this time, louder than before and that successfully earned his attention.
Surprise and confusion marred his features as he turned to look at me.
I expected to see guilt, though. But there was none. He didn't even look like a person who had been caught doing anything wrong. If anything, his face wore righteous indignation, like whatever he was doing was the right thing to do.
I was not being dramatic, okay? Sofia and her mother were a forbidden topic in our family. I hated them, and everyone in the Brooks family did.
And the last time I checked? My father couldn't stand the mention of the shameless pair, even.
They had ruined our family. They were the reason I grew up in an incomplete family.
For the longest time, he had wanted to patch things up with my mother. He had promised to never entertain another woman, if not my Mom.
I had believed him, totally. I had even promised him that I would help create opportunities for him and my Mom...
In fact, I had planned to use my wedding with Jason to bring them together, to create an opportunity for them to talk, hoping that after so many years, they could finally let go of their differences and relive the happy dreams that they once had. In my heart, I had assumed that they still loved each other, and what they lacked was an opportunity to rekindle their love, which I had vowed to provide, since, after their divorce, they never saw each other, again. My Mom had done everything to make sure that her path never crossed with his, after all.
I had even fantasised about seeing them holding hands months later, after their reunion, coming to see Jason and mine's baby. Yes. You heard that right. I had fantasised about having a baby with Jason ever since I was ten. In my mind, the baby would have been as cute as his father if he were a boy, and as beautiful as I if it were a girl.
But now, after his betrayal, my and Jason's kid would never be born and yet, that wasn't even the heartbreaking part. My Dad and Mom would never hold hands coming to see my baby with Dalton, if we ever had one.
The sight before me shattered the hopes that I had for my parents ever reuniting.
And taking another look at them, bitterness lodged in my throat and for a moment, words failed me. Jason's betrayal was heartwrenching, but my father's? It didn't just break my heart, it completely shattered it, wiping away any love that I had for him.
" What are they doing here?" My voice was icy cold as I asked, my eyes sharpened with daggers as they glared at the shameless mother and daughter pair.
It was enough that Sofia had shamelessly seduced Jason. I had already accepted that and moved on, but now? My father was acting father to her, to his illegitimate daughter, and how was I expected to take it, exactly?
" Calm down, Dahlia!" My father snarled, his features darkening with disapproval. He had just shouted at me, actually.
To say I was hurt? That was a lie. I was so surprised that for a moment, I didn't know how to react.
In my twenty years, that was the first time that my father was shouting at me and honestly, I didn't know how to react. Surprise and hurt coursed through my veins with so much intensity that for a fleeting second, I saw dots.
" Why are you home so early? You weren't supposed to be back until after aother week!" Maybe he'd realised that his tone was too arsh because his voice softened a little as he asked, but even then, I didn't feel relieved, and especially when I saw the displeasure on his face, my blood went cold.
He was having his best moment with his family and my coming early had totally ruined everything for him.
It then dawned on me. It was not a one-time thing. From how relaxed they all were around each other, it was not the first time that they were spending time together.
My father had been playing family with Sofia and her mother, and I had been in the darkness all along. And if I had not decided to pay home a surprise visit, I wouldn't have known, probably.
" Well, I finished things early. I thought I should come home early, but from the look of things, my presence is no longer needed here." I expressed, my voice laced with thin veiled sarcasm.
" It's not what it looks like. Sofia will be getting married soon." He looked troubled as he explained, and as his words sank in, the corners of my lips lifted in mockery.
Sofia was getting married? Of course, more than anyone, I was very aware of that..She was getting married to my ex-fiancé, after all.
But from the looks of things, they assumed that I was in the dark about Jason's betrayal.
And looking at my father, I couldn't help but wonder.
Was he aware that Sofia was getting married to Jason? Was he aware that she was the reason I was about to call off my wedding with Jason?
Deep down, I had a feeling that he did, but for the sake of the relationship that we shared, for the sake of the daughter-father memories that we had created over the years, I chose to give him the benefit of the doubt.
" For the sake of her future, I have decided to recognise her as my daughter. You know how the upper-class society works, after all. No prominent family would recognise her mistress coming from a broken family. "
" No matter what happened between her mother and me, she is not a part of it, and she shouldn't be punished for the same. I am doing this for her future. I don't want her to suffer in the future. She is my daughter. "
" She is also your sister. You should put your differences aside and welcome jer home. From now on, she will be staying with us." he explained, his words coated with finality, breeding no room for negotiation.