FOR THE LOVE OF DAHLIA

🌹Chapter 36🌹

TORI'S POV

I turned to Tina. "He's still not answering."

"Maybe he saw it already and is trying to sort things out." She said reassuringly.

I was going to speak up but Rita walked in with Dahlia on her hips. She had a worried expression. I immediately wiped my wet face so Dahlia wouldn't notice I was crying. She opened her arms so I could carry her so I stood up and took her from Rita, kissing her forehead. I turned back to Rita. "What's wrong?"

She passed me her phone and that's when I saw the pictures were already on the media. And this time, it was worst. There were more pictures of them in an ice cream parlor and in the mall. Great! There were over 1500 comments on the pictures already and I just didn't have the courage to look at those comments. I handed Rita her phone and noticed she was looking at the magazine cover. "Is it true?" She asked in a low tone.

I nodded.

"I'm sorry Tori." She said in the same low tone.

"It's fine dear. I'll be fine. We'll be fine." I added while looking at my daughter whose head was resting on my chest.  "Thanks for the help today. You can go now."

She flashed me a sad smile and looked at Dahlia. "Bye baby."

Dahlia smiled at her. "Bye Riri. See you tomorrow." She said in a tired voice.

Rita smiled and said goodbye to Tina and I before going out.

Dahlia looked up at me. "I'm hungry mommy."

I had to be strong for my daughter. I was about to stand up when Tina beat me to it. "Let me do it. Just sit and..." She was cut short by the doorbell. "I'll just get that first." She said and walked towards the door. I sighed as I watched her walk away. I didn't want her acting as if everything was fine between us. I knew she was just trying to help out and if I wasn't in such a bad mood, I'll have told her to just sit the hell down and let me run my home.

I got his masculine scent before I felt his presence. "Hi Tori."

I looked up to see Ian. His hair looked like a mess. He'd been running his fingers through it, no doubt. Dahlia was looking at me as if she thought I hadn't seen her father but I remained silent. The look on his face said it all. He had seen the magazine already.

He smiled at Dahlia. "Hey baby, how are you?" He asked with fake enthusiasm. From the corner of my eye, I saw Tina watching the scene silently.

"I'm alright." Dahlia said and remained quiet.

Ian smiled. "That's nice to know. I missed you." He said but she remained silent still. He sighed and looked at me before running his fingers through his hair again. "I'm really sorry about what's happening. I swear I didn't know someone was taking pictures of us while we were out. I was just so excited to be with her that I forgot about every other thing happening around us."

The normal me would have raised my voice but Dahlia was sitting on my laps and i knew she'd refuse to go with Tina so we were going to have this conversation with her in the room, which means I had to keep my annoyance in check. I gritted my teeth. "You would have been more careful." I said in a calm tone and glared at him.

"I know." He replied defeatedly. "I'm really sorry." He said while looking from Dahlia to me and back. "I'm very sorry."

"Just one simple play date and my daughter is all over the internet. How am I ever going to trust you with her? You're not good for her, Ian. You're not a good father. You will only make things complicated. You couldn't even protect her from the media." I said in a very low tone and the hurt that flashed through his eyes made me feel guilty about my words.