Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
SADIE
I’m standing outside my mother’s building with a war raging inside of me. What’s the point of confronting her?
A million questions ran through my mind as I drove, but now that I’m here, I find myself not moving. I want to scream at her, but where has that ever gotten me in life? She’ll have a long list of excuses for why she did what she did.
This has to be the reason the divorce is dragging out as long as it has.
Is she threatening my dad with telling me?
That means he already knows. Thinking about the other side of the coin, I swallow hard.
What if he only just found out, and now he’s fighting her so she’ll get nothing because my mother lied to him about me for two decades?
That would hurt worse than finding out he wasn’t my biological father. After the divorce, he won’t even be my stepfather.
“Sadie?” I spin around to see my mother standing on the sidewalk.
She’s dressed in a sparkly gold dress and heels. Her makeup is smudged around her eyes, and her hair is tousled. I’m sure I don’t appear much better since I only pulled on yoga pants and sneakers before I got out of my stolen vehicle.
“Walk of shame?” I ask, and my mother rolls her eyes at me.
“Do you always have to be a smartass?”
“Do you always have to be a liar?” I toss back at her.
“What are you talking about?” She steps toward me, and I step backwards to keep space between us.
“I know,” I tell her.
Her expression turns to one of surprise, which is confusing. Did she really not want me to know? Has she been bluffing my dad to get what she wants? God, do I still get to call him that?
“He told you.” Her lips purse with anger.
“Why does that make you so mad?” As I study her, a small part of me wonders if maybe there is a mom somewhere inside her cold heart.
“He really wants to make sure I get nothing,” she hisses. And there it is. The truth.
“How long has he known?” I ask, and this question is scarier than the last.
“A while.” She shrugs, and I feel a tear slip down my cheek.
“Were you threatening to tell me to get more money out of him?”
“You have a right to know!” She stomps one of her four-inch heels and almost falls over.
“Are you shitting me right now?” A hysterical laugh bubbles up because I thought I could be ridiculous.
“You’re old enough at this point to know the truth.” She pulls her shoulders back magnanimously, like she’s the hero in this situation.
“Then why are you holding it over his head?”
“He’s trying to leave me with nothing,” she shouts, but quickly gets herself under control and gives me a controlled smile. “Let’s talk about this inside.” She glances around to see who might be watching, but only the doorman is getting a nice show.
“No.” I shake my head, and another tear escapes. Her whole demeanor changes when she realizes this hasn’t gone the way she wanted it to.
“Okay, I wasn’t going to tell you. I was bluffing.” She softens, but it’s all an act.
“You really can’t stop lying, can you?” There’s no missing the anger that flashes in her eyes.
“Both of you act like you’re better than me. You're my daughter, not his. You should be on my side.”
“I’ll never be on your side. In fact, I’ll never be anything to you ever again.” I turn and leave her to stand on the sidewalk alone. She calls my name, but I ignore her.
As I put some distance between us, I take the last of any control she has over me. I won’t be a pawn in her game, nor will I give her any more of my energy.
When I get back to Ari’s car, I take off, although I’m not sure where I’m going.
The light on the dash gets my attention, and I see my phone come to life.
I found it at the bottom of my bag when I pulled out my pants and sneakers, and it must have been charging this whole time. On the screen I see the word Dad.
I can’t avoid his call, so I hit the button so it plays over the speakers. He doesn’t wait for me to say anything before he starts speaking.
“Sadie. Sweetheart.” More tears stream down my face when I hear his voice. “I’m sorry. I love you so much. I should have told you. I just…” He trails off.
“Just what?” My voice hitches.
“I want to be your dad.” His honest confession forces a sob to escape me, and I have to pull over. “Fuck, I wish I was there. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” I wipe my cheeks. “When did you find out?”
“Honestly, I think I always knew, but the second I held you, you became my little girl. But it all came to a head when you were in high school.”
“What happened?”
“Your mother made a few comments.”
“Don’t call her that,” I cut in.
“Megan,” he corrects. “It was one thing I wouldn’t let her toy with. She threatened to take you and leave, and I couldn’t stop her. So after that, we made a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yes, she’s trying to renegotiate now with threats about telling you everything.”
“What was the deal before now?”
“She had to let me adopt you. Once I paid her off, I paid him off, and they both signed.” My dad won’t even say his name. “You’re my daughter, Sadie. You’ll always be my daughter.”
“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.” I can hear the emotion in his voice.
“Then divorce her ass and get her out of our lives. She has nothing over you anymore, and I want us to be free.”
My dad chuckles. “You never hold your punches, do you?” He sounds proud, which makes me smile through my tears.
“Not when it comes to my family.” An image of Ari flashes through my mind. “And she’s not our family.”
“I’ll handle it. I promise.”
“Thank you, Dad.” I glance up when red and blue lights shine through the car, and I see a cop pulling up behind me. “I’ve got to go. I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too,” my dad barely gets out before I end the call. The last thing he needs to hear is my getting arrested. A second later, the cop knocks on the window, and I roll it down.
“Hello, Officer. Did I do something wrong?” I give him a giant smile, which I’m sure is terrible with my tear-filled eyes and blotchy face.
“Besides stealing a car?”
“I didn’t steal it. I borrowed it.”
“Borrowed it?” I swear he’s trying not to laugh.
“You know what? I plead the fifth.” Let’s see what he does with that.
“All right, ma’am. I need you to turn off the ignition and hand over the keys.” He holds his palm out, waiting for me to comply.
“Did I mention I was kidnapped?”
“Oh you’re about to be kidnapped.” Ari’s voice comes out of nowhere. “Thanks, Copper. I’ve got it from here.” The officer nods to Ari before turning and walking back to his cruiser.
“You got the fuzz on your payroll?” I glare at Ari, but I’m sure it’s terrible at the moment because I kind of want to burst into tears again.
“The fuzz?” Ari lifts a brow but doesn’t smirk.
Oh shit, he’s pissed.