Becca

This didn’t need to happen. It was the housekeeper’s fault – a hundred per cent. If she wasn’t such a tattletale and told my father I had rarely been home in the past twenty-eight days, we wouldn’t be in this situation. She was always looking for ways to get me in trouble, and I knew why. She had to slave all day and work for a spoiled, entitled princess – me.

I’d already told my dad I was sleeping over at Mary’s and Jane’s, but she just had to whip up this story of how I kept disappearing from time to time, and how on the first day I left, I brought with me a huge luggage full of clothes. Just thinking about what was happening made my blood boil. She never did this when my half-sisters were around. They were much older than I was, and so, there was no way she could tell lies to my dad, and have my father pick the help over his own daughters, my half-sisters. My dad loved them; they followed the path he carved out for them unquestioned, and they were on top of the world, heading and managing many of my dad’s ventures. I loved them too; they were always looking out for me, stood as the mother figures in my life since my mom died.

But they weren’t here right now – when I needed them. But I doubt they’d understand. The idea of a man keeping me for thirty days to have sex whenever and wherever he desired wouldn’t ease anyone’s nerves, and now my father was demanding to know where I’d been the past weeks.

I finally broke, scared of what could happen if I disobeyed my father, and told him a half-lie, half-truth. I told him I was staying with my boyfriend, and now, Jake and I were on the way to meet my father for lunch.

“It’s going to be okay, I’m here,” he said, trying to reassure me. He reached out to rest a hand on my shoulder, squeezed, and pulled back his arm.

The gesture calmed me down a little, but my inner self was telling me it was a futile move. We were twenty-eight days into our agreement; two more days then I’d have to walk out. At that thought, I immediately felt a stabbing pain in my chest. There was no denying it. By spending every waking and sleeping moment with him for the past weeks, there was no way I wouldn’t fall for him.

But I was just a diversion.

He’d popped the virgin’s cherry. He was done with what he wanted to do, succeeded in making his fetish a reality, and after a couple of days, he’d be back on the market, dating and fucking supermodels and more mature women who looked like goddesses and had the sexual experience I could only dream of.

“What are you thinking about?” Jake then asked, breaking my train of thought. I watched as he pulled my car up into the driveway of the five-star hotel. Our doors were opened by the valet attendants waiting, and Jake handed one the keys before we stepped into the hotel.

I felt Jake take my hand as we were greeted by a grand double staircase and gold-rimmed and marble columns. When I turned to look at him, there was a hint of unease with the way his lips were tight and shut. He didn’t feel like he fit in; I knew what he felt, but I’d told him repeatedly he didn’t need to care. He walked away from this life; it didn’t deem him unsuitable. No one could, not even his self-entitled, snobby family.

Or so I thought.

“Fuck,” I heard him breathe as we walked into the restaurant at the topmost floor where my father booked us a reservation.

I turned my head and followed his line of vision and let out a string of my own expletives. I should have expected this. Why didn’t I see this coming? Of course, my father and Jake’s would have lunch together regularly. They were doing business together.

“So, this is your new boyfriend?” The look on both businessmen’s faces were unmistakable.

“What are you talking about, Connor?” The elder Huntington said, sitting up straighter on his seat and tapping his ring on the table. The knocking sound it made was slightly annoying.

“My daughter has been gone for almost a month, not sleeping or eating or showering in the house. She said she had a boyfriend. Apparently, it’s your son.”

Before I could speak my mind, my dad started off. He began raising his voice, not caring if a few heads were starting to turn to look at us. My dad expected everyone to bow down to him, even strangers. This situation was no exception; he didn’t care if he was causing a scene because he expected the world to accept what he wanted, no questions asked.

“Haven’t I warned you enough times about Harry’s delinquent son?” I stiffened when he said ‘delinquent’. Now my father was just exaggerating. Jake was anything but. He was passionate, hardworking, and empathetic. “Didn’t I tell you he was an ungrateful brat who ran away from the family who’d given him everything? Why don’t you ever listen to me, Becca? Why can’t you see I just want what’s best for you? Why are you always looking for trouble?”

“By the best you mean, the richest, most successful man you can hook me up with?” I said, trying to control my anger. There was no changing my dad’s mind. We’d had this kind of argument countless times before. He’d always try to drag me to his high-society events and force me to talk to his friends’ children in the hopes I’d get into a relationship with any one of them and secure a future of success and wealth most of the world’s population could only dream of. “I don’t need that. Jake is-”

“Sorry, dear,” my father cut me off. “The world runs on currency. You just have to accept it.”

“Do you just have to go around and ruin someone else’s life? Aren’t you satisfied with ruining your own future?” That was Harry Huntington speaking, his voice booming and authoritative, and the lawyer in him surfacing. I turned my head to the side to gauge Jake’s reaction, and I couldn’t be any prouder. He stood tall, unwavering, and held his own ground despite the toxic words coming out of his father’s mouth. No wonder our fathers were such good colleagues and friends. They were just two peas in a pod. “Don’t ruin her future like you ruined your own. You don’t deserve her. What can you give to her that her father hasn’t already have? Last time I heard, your tattoo place is barely surviving. Do you know that?” He then turned to address me. “He only has enough money to keep himself afloat.”

That was it. I couldn’t handle the shit they were throwing at him anymore. My father spouting out words of discouragement by himself was bad enough but having him and Jake’s dad doing it together? Any person could only take so much before they’d crumble.

“Shut up.” I winced at my own words; I knew I was digging my own grave, but I was too infuriated to care. “You don’t know anything about him. You’ve been out of his life for years. You haven’t seen how he’s touched people’s lives, how he uses his art to connect with the world around him because all you two care about is the bottom line.” My hands were balled into fists at my sides; I felt like I had so much emotions running through me, so many feelings I wanted to let out. “He started his own business to follow his own passion, not to rob the world, so you two can just become richer and richer. I’ve never met more selfish people than you two.”

“Y-you-”

“I’m not finished,” I said, glaring at my dad. I didn’t know where this newfound courage came from, but it was allowing me to let out feelings I’d bottled up inside for years. “Don’t tell me who to date and cannot date. Too late. I love Jake…he’s been there for me when you were absent…he’s been there to listen to me and take care of me. I love him…as much as I do mom,” I carried on, my fingers on the waistband of my shorts. “I got a tattoo…” I pulled the denim slightly down to give them a view of the butterfly. “It’s what mom used to call me. There’s not better art than bringing the two people I care most about in this world together. Thank you for nothing, dad. You’ve been telling me you just want what’s best for me, but I know the truth; you want to carve my life just so you can pad your own pocket.” Then, my eyes swerved to meet Jake’s father’s. “The both of you can go to hell.”

And with that, I grabbed Jake’s hand and led the way out of the restaurant. There was no turning back.