My father slices a conceding hand upward. “Fine, consider this my last gesture of kindness before closing out your accounts.”
“You’re right. Very generous.”
“You think this is a game?” He’s been bluffing, the same as he’s always done. My father doesn’t really want to cut me off. I don’t even think he really knows how. He just wants me to do what he wants.
Eventually, his bluffs will turn into action. Which I suspect from the redness in his cheeks will be very soon. “Did I hear right that you are no longer interested in Chloe?”
“I was never interested in her from the beginning. I made that quite clear.”
His eyes narrow into thin daggers. “You were interested in maintaining contact with your mother and bank accounts from what I remember.”
“You can take my money, Dad,” I say. “You can’t take my mother.”
Shock filters over him.
He’s surprised I’m actually challenging him. “We shall see about that.”
“Yes, we will.” I pause, staring back at him cooly from across my coffee mug. “Are we finished?”
“No.” The camera trembles. “You’re going to call Chloe and apologize. Propose. Anything to win her back.”
“I’m not going to do that.” I remain unfazed. I’m set on this. There is nothing this man can do to me anymore to bend me to his will. “I’m not marrying Chloe.”
A weight gently lifts from my shoulders.
Am I finally going to get out from under my father’s shadow? Am I finally going to have the freedom to live as I please, do what I please, love who I want? The idea is both unnerving and empowering all at once. I’ve never been without a billion-dollar support system before. Now, I’ll be reliant on a significantly reduced source of funds, but I won’t have to answer for how I spend them.
I won’t have to answer for anything. At least not to him.
“Do you have some little hussy on the side?” my father asks suddenly.
I freeze. Whatever threat he means to hurtle toward me, toward Chloe, I’ll combat it every step of the way. “Let me give you some advice, son,” he says instead. “The thrill will wear off over time. Love fades. Desire fades. Money and family are the only things that last.”
“Until you don’t want to marry the woman your father chooses, right?”
“Fine, so be it. I’m closing the accounts.”
I shrug, knowing my indifference irritates my father even more than arguing. “That’s fine.”
“And taking the house.”
Now, this is where we get into a grey area. “The house is in my name. Only my name. Fully paid off. So...that’s not going to work.”
His nostrils flare into the computer screen. A rather unpleasant sight in all honesty. But I’m enjoying getting the upper hand on my father for once. It’s liberating. “Then...I’ll think of something.”
“Fine, Dad. Just send me a list, and I’ll make sure I set it outside in a flaming box for you to come pick up.”
“You insufferable-”
I shut the phone off before he can hurtle any more insults at me. I’ve spent too many years taking his humiliating words to heart. Spent years dodging his blows and tempers. Yet his words continue to sting even after I’ve hung up the phone.
The thrill will wear off over time.
Is it true? Will everything I’m feeling for Aly wear away over time? I’ve never felt this way for anyone before. I’ve never admitted to myself that I was in love with a woman. Yet, who’s to say this won’t all fade over time?
We aren’t getting married, I remind myself. Whatever sacrifices I’m making now is only partly due to Aly being in my life. I should have ended this power-struggle with my father years ago. No matter what it cost me. I just never had the courage to do it until now.
We can’t control what our parents do. Isn’t that the same story I’d been feeding to Aly? I can’t convince my mother to leave my father, to stand up to him so she can see me even after he deems it’s forbidden. I can’t control the stupid things that come out of my father’s mouth, or how he tries to manipulate everyone around him.