It's Not What It Looks Like (Recently Completed)

Chapter - 10

Zach

Daughter. Col has a daughter. Col's declaration knocks the wind out of me and I am rendered speechless. When the silence stretches, Col starts to plead her case.

"She is only 6 years old. She is too young for all this. I wanted to find her myself but I don't know how or who to approach. I only know when she was born. I haven't even seen her in person since the day I gave birth to her. Father sometimes shows me pictures but I don't know if it's really her. You have money and your Dad knows a lot of people. Please, Can you help me find her? I can pay you back. Please.", Col pleads and I am struck by the amount of injustice done to her.

Just when I think it can't get any worse, it does and I am struggling to come to terms with it. If Lily is 6 years old, then Col was barely a teenager when she was pregnant and became a mother. I can't imagine how she handled it. I remember my sister being pregnant a few years back. Even with my parents and her husband were at her beck and call, she made so much fuss driving me crazy. Who was there for Col? I can't imagine her cold mother helping her out or her father.

" Who is Lily's Father?", I ask as soon as I remember Mr West. I already know the answer to the question yet I ask hoping that I am proved wrong.

"Father", she whispers and I can't stop myself from cursing him. If that asshole was in front of right now, I will kill him myself.

"It's not Father's fault.", Col says softly sensing my anger. Her words only anger me more and almost shout at her.

" How the hell not?"

"Father didn't know that I had started menstruating. When I first saw blood in my panties I thought I was sick. I was scared that they would give me an injection. I hate needles. So I kept quiet. Father only found out I was pregnant when I was almost 22 weeks along. The doctor said abortion could kill me. So Father let me carry the baby", she says like Mr West had done her some a favour.

The bastard got his teenage daughter pregnant who apparently didn't even know about menstrual cycles at that time. Anyone can see who is to be blamed in this situation, but Col seems to suffer from a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome.

First time when Col defended her father for making her sleep with his colleagues I let it go. I thought when I get her away from her Father's clutches, I will explain to her that no father asks his daughter to sleep with men to buy her a laptop or to get her a driving license but I can't let her continue thinking so little of herself. She was 15 for Christ sake.

When I was 15, I once destroyed my entire room for some silly reason and Dad had to buy me a new TV, Xbox, laptop and sound system. God, I had been so ungrateful for everything I got in life without raising a finger. While I was wasting away money, Col was probably sleeping with men so much older than her for small things like the internet. This realization makes me feel like a monster myself.

" Col, listen to me very carefully. I will find Lily. I will get you out of that house. But do not defend that bastard. The moment he looked at you like someone to satisfy his lust, he became a monster. He was the adult and you were an innocent child. So nothing is your fault and everything is his.", I say firmly hoping that she stops defending him.

"Okay", she says softly but her words have no determination. She is just agreeing to me so I will help her. I am not affected by it. For the entirety of her life, she has thought that she was at fault and it can't be changed with just a few words. When I get her out off there, I will make sure its drilled into her gorgeous head that she is innocent.