The Girl Who Always Wins (Soulless 13)

He took a long time to answer the question, his eyes shifting away. “My daughter is a grown woman who doesn’t need my approval. She should love who she wants to love, without my opinion or interference. I’ve learned this the hard way. But I will say this… Derek is from a different marriage, a different mother. My wife is not related to him biologically, but she loved him like her own, loved him better than his own mother ever did. And then Derek became a father to Lizzie, whom he doesn’t see as his stepdaughter. None of us do. My point is, you can grow your family in other ways, and family is more than just blood.”

I didn’t realize how much I cared about his personal opinion until he didn’t give it. The disappointment must have shown on my face because he stared at me for a while before he addressed it.

“No, Atlas. Doesn’t change anything at all.”

4

Daisy

I didn’t go out with my friends.

Just stayed home and worked.

Didn’t realize I was depressed until I looked at myself in the mirror and saw death in my eyes.

I sat at the dining table with my paperwork around me, a half-empty pizza box there too. Like most people going through a hard time, I threw myself into work.

I knew Atlas was doing the same.

He never made eye contact with me at the clinic.

He avoided me.

I avoided him.

It sucked.

A knock sounded on my door.

I instantly looked up, hoping it was Atlas because he couldn’t be apart from me a moment longer. But I knew that wasn’t the case. It was someone else, and I hoped it was a Girl Scout selling cookies. Could really go for one of those right now.

I opened the door.

Mom and Dad.

Dad was in jeans and a shirt, his hands in his pockets. Mom was dressed up in her typical pencil skirt and blouse, like she’d come straight here after leaving the concierge desk.

My eyes narrowed. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Just wanted to stop by.” Mom stepped inside first, giving me a half-mast smile.

Dad followed, giving me a quick pat on the back. “Hey, sweetheart.”

“But you only stop by when something is wrong.” I shut the door then turned to them.

Dad was near the dining table, looking at my paperwork and pizza box. “What’d you get?”

“Combination.” My arms crossed over my chest. “So…everything okay?”

Mom took a seat on my white couch, sitting upright, her ankles crossed. “Of course. Everything is fine with everyone. We just wanted to talk to you about something.”

Dad took the seat beside her, his forearms on his knees, his dry palms sliding past each other absentmindedly.

I dropped down onto the couch across from them, wearing black leggings and a baggy top, my hair in a messy bun. My eyes shifted back and forth between them, seeing them staring at me like they didn’t need to blink. “Alright…you guys are freaking me out. What is it?”

Dad cleared his throat. “Atlas told me what’s going on with you two.”

“He did?” I asked, unable to contain my shock. It had taken so long for him to tell me, and I was the one dating him. He just told my dad like he was…his dad.

“Yes,” Dad said with a nod. “We just thought…you might want to talk about it.”

Honestly, I hadn’t spent much time thinking about it. I was still processing what he’d told me. “There’s not much to say. He said he wants me to seriously think about what I want in life, but I haven’t been doing that.”

“Then what have you been doing?” Dad asked.

“Thinking about him, I guess.” I crossed my legs and leaned back into the couch. “I just keep picturing it all in my head…everything he had to go through… And it just breaks my heart. His ex-wife is a bitch, if you ask me.” But whatever, her loss was my gain.

“She wanted different things in life,” Mom said. “It happens.”

My eyes narrowed on her face. “Doesn’t matter. In sickness and in health, it’s literally in the vows. I understand a woman not signing up for the ride, but it’s totally different to be married to someone and then abandon them like that. That’s not love…that’s not loyalty.”

Dad gave a nod. “True. But family is the most important thing in the world. When you’re denied that—”

“He was her family. You’re married, you have the same last name, it means you’re family.” I hated that stupid skank, and if I ever saw her, I’d fight her ass. “Of all people, I can’t believe you don’t agree with that—”

“Never said we didn’t,” Dad said quickly. “But making a child with the person you love is the most wonderful thing I’ve ever experienced. When I look at you, I don’t just see myself. I see your mother too. It’s the greatest form of immortality you can possess, to see your love live on in another person. There’s no way to describe it, to describe how I feel looking at you right now, to describe how your mother felt carrying you and holding my hand when she gave birth to you. I don’t agree with the decision his ex-wife made, but I do understand it. I understand someone wanting that to the exclusion of all else.”