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I don't know what this dinner is hiding from me.
We all walked into the room. I trailed behind them. I found dad sitting on the far end of the dining table, on the head of the family chair. He was busy talking on his cell phone.
"Dad" Subrina squealed and ran towards him in excitement. Dad cut the call as soon as he saw Sabrina running towards him.
"My Princess, how are you?" Dad said while hugging her when she jumped on him like a Koala bear.
"I'm mad at you, dad." You came home after a month-long business trip.
"Do you know how much I missed you?" she huffed, pursing her lips forward in a cute pout.
"I'm sorry, dear. I will make sure not to go on a month-long business trip," he said while kissing her forehead. I kept standing a little away from them, looking at them. A small smile formed on my lips looking at them. I never had that kind of bond with my father, but I was happy that Subrina was getting what she deserved. Every child deserves that kind of love and protection.
"You will stop showering that love on her once I tell you what kind of mischief she is getting into nowadays in her school," Lilly said while looking at Sabrina with narrowed eyes.
"Mom, not now. You can tell that to dad some other time. Today I'm so happy that both my favourite people are home," she said while looking at me. My dad's brows knitted when she said that, and that's when he noticed my presence in the room. The only thing my dad and I had in common were our eyes. I found the same set of green eyes looking at me. His face went back to being stoic. I felt I was intruding on their family time. Both of us were seeing each other after a long time, but there was no greeting between us.
"Grace, darling, why are you still standing there? Come join us," Lily said with a smile on her face. I just gave her a small smile and walked to take my seat. Lily was seated on the left and Subrina on the right side of dad. So I took the empty chair beside Subrina.
"Today I have especially told Alfred to prepare food you like," she said, asking the helper to serve us.
Soon, the food was served to us. Alfred made sure to put a large portion on my plate. Dinner was going on, with Subrina telling us things that were happening in her life. I had just eaten a few morsels of chicken rice when my dad cleared his throat. Sabrina stopped talking, and the air around us became thick.
"How is your business going?" he asked in a stern voice. I let go of the spoon, took my glass, and took a sip of water.
"Good," I said in the same tone after gulping the water. I took my time to answer him. I had lost my appetite even before coming here because I knew dad had not called me here to eat dinner with him.
"How is your health?" I asked after a few minutes.
"Good," dad replied in the same tone.
"I have decided something for you," dad continued, and I kept looking at my half-eaten plate. My fingers curled into my fist. He has again decided something for you. My inner voice mocked, but I kept quiet.
"Why don't you both talk in your study after dinner?" Lily said before dad could continue. Grace, why don't you try these stuffed rolls? Alfred told me you used to love them. Lily continued not letting my dad say why I was summoned today.
"No, let him continue." Everyone here knows I'm not here for dinner. I'm here to hear what he has decided for me without my concern," I said sternly while looking at the person who has brought me into this world and has been deciding things for me since I was born.
"So dad, tell me what you have decided for me again," I said sarcastically while looking at him. His eyes narrowed my way.
"I have always made the best decision for you, and today I did the same thing. I have fixed your marriage," he said, looking straight into my eyes. My eyes widened in disbelief.
"What?" I asked because I think I heard something wrong.
"I have fixed your marriage," he repeated when I looked at him in mistrust. "It's the best deal that could benefit both of us," he continued, making a lump form at the base of my throat.
"Of course, it's for your benefit. My life is just a deal for you," I asked, looking straight into his eyes. My voice shook a little bit in the end. Tears started to form in my eyes, but I swallowed them.
"You don't have to react in such a way. He is a good man and a great businessman. He will take good care of you," he said, and I lost it when he said that name.
"I don't need anyone to take care of me. I have been doing it very well for so long," I answered back a little loudly. Now he wants the man I will marry to make decisions for me.
"Still, you need to get married someday. Erick is a good man, and you—" he said sternly, trying to put his words in my brain. I gasped in horror when he said that name. I didn't let him complete his sentence.
"You have made this deal with the Erick Villain." I again found myself questioning him in utter disbelief. I couldn't digest it. I can't. How could he even do this to me after everything that has happened between us in the past? The tears I was holding back started to well up in my eyes. His silence answered my question.
"You know what? I've had enough of this. I'm a grown woman who no longer needs you to decide things for her for your benefit. I know you never taught me as your daughter but I still taught you as my dad. I think I should stop giving myself false hopes. I'm just a deal for you" I said in my heavy voice while looking into his eyes. Doing my best to hold myself. He stayed quiet saying nothing.
"I won't marry him or anyone else" I gave my decisions in a firm tone.
"Lilly, I'm sorry for ruining your family dinner," I said with a faint smile on my face and walked out of there before they could say anything more.
"Grace, don't say this. We are family" Lily said while walking behind me but I didn't turn around.
Family! I never had one.
"Grace, listen" Lily and Sabrina came running behind me, but I didn't listen to them and walked out of the house. A tear slid down my cheeks from my left eye when I stepped out of the house. Sometimes I question myself. Does dad even have a little bit of love for me in his heart? But every time I question this to myself, I feel like a fool. He is ready to trade me in on a deal.
I shouldn't have come here in the first place.
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Bed of Nails
Romance"Get out," I said in a firm voice, but it shook a bit at the end. The muscles in his jaw tensed when I said that. Instead of getting out, he closed the door and started taking calculative predatory steps toward me. His eyes moved all over my length...
