Alone

Chapter 5

"Had you heard back from the PI ?" My father asks as he taps his cane on the floor , his old fingers gripping hard on the handle as he walks through the door of our mansion .

"Not yet , daddy ." I sigh and bow my head in respect as he walks past me , the smell of expensive cologne following him as his body guard , Bernard , follows behind him , giving me a wary look as my father makes his way to the sitting room .

My father hired a body guard since Vincent's incident . He's become more protective over his life than he was before as now more and more people have their eyes on him , some fans of Vincent's calling my father the murderer .

People are strange . I now realise how deluded I was to think I enjoyed the company of others and the watchful eyes of the poor .

"I don't like what this has done to you , my girl ." He moans in pain as he rests in the arm chair , his neck hurting as he relaxes back whilst Bernard lights him a cigar .

"What do you mean , daddy ?" I ask softly and sit in the love seat across from him as he takes a drag from the cigar .

"The death of your husband has made you different ." He squints his eyes as he watches me play with the sleeve of my blazer . "You've become more reserved and look-" he flicks his other hand at me in disgust "- you're even dressing like a man . I raised you on the finest dresses and coats and here you are - flaunting yourself as a man would ." He scoffs in disappointment.

My chest aches in hurt as I tear my gaze away from my father . This is not because of Vincent . Lorain opened my eyes to how foolish I was dressing . Revealing pink gowns made me look like an object of sex . I hated the perverted gaze of anyone who wasn't my husband or Lorain . No one should look at me like that anymore .

"Daddy..." I trail off as Bernard watches the hallway as servants walk past with cleaning supplies " I don't care about Vincent ." I state " Lorain was shot and now I'm left with no one . How could you expect me to pretend I'm okay when I'm not ? " I raise my voice in frustration, something Id never done to my father .

Silence takes over the room as my father watches me closely , putting out his cigar as he folds his hands on his lap ." Since when do you care about that filthy girl ? She was fucking your husband ! How could you hold anything but hatred towards her ?" He yells , making me flinch in my seat as his bushy eyebrow pull together in fury .

I'm so tired of this . What good is pleasing my father when I don't even want to be around him ?

"Because I loved her !" I scream and rise to my feet in anger as tears burn my eyes , my breathing becoming faster as I keep my eye on my dad . Bernard takes a step forward in warning as my dad reaches for his cane .

"What?" Is all he asks as I purse my lips in anger .

"I . Loved . Her ." I say slowly and fix my blazer ." I saved her from Vincent and we fell in love . She showed me what it was like to live a normal life . " I breath in , catching my breath as I cry " She showed me what love truly means and it wasn't what Vincent has for me .  "

My father's angry expression disappears as he stands up , hissing softly before leaning on his cane . He watches me with his head tilted to the side before taking a couple wobbly steps towards me ." You loved her ?" He asks blankly.

I nod , wiping the snot and tears away as I try and collect myself . " She made me feel-"

WACK!

My head turns to the side from the impact of my fathers hand against my cheek . The side of my face burns from the hard slap as I hold back another round of tears as my heart breaks .