NINE
“You know, when Beth told me yesterday what happened between you two, I was stumped.” My dad is berating me over the phone this morning.
I yawn as I prop myself against the bed frame in a sitting position, mentally beating myself up for mistaking my ringtone for an alarm and picking up the call. Ignoring all his calls these past few weeks had proven to be successful thus far, and I had intended on continuing the streak, but I guess that’s all gone out the window now.
“To say that I’m disappointed in you would be an understatement,” he continues.
I peek at my phone screen and groan. It’s way too early for this. I can already feel a throbbing headache forming, which typically happens when my dad decides to check up on me.
My dad and I have a very rocky relationship. He’s pretty much lost all sanity since my mom and him split up, remarrying three times in the short span of the past three years. And, suspiciously, to mostly wealthy heiresses as well.
His last one was to a two-time widow with a fortune the size of Daniel Kerrington’s father’s. I can only imagine how she got all that money.
My dad’s carefree nature toward marriage has always irked me, given that he never tried hard enough to mend things with my mom. I know my parents weren’t perfect, but their marriage had always been solid. So when my dad suggested divorce to my mom, it came as a huge shock to the whole family. My mom was shattered but ultimately agreed to the divorce, and decided to move out of the country to find some closure from it all.
Giving up is second nature to my dad. His other failed marriages have only served to prove my point. Ergo, he doesn’t deserve my respect, nor do I think he ever will.
“Okay . . . ” My voice trails off, unsure of what else to say on the matter.
It’s clear he’s fishing for an apology. Well, tough luck because he’s not getting one from me. I’m not sorry for what went down between me and Beth. She deserved to be called out for her selfishness.
“You aren’t even going to try to explain yourself?” he demands. I hate it every time he takes that tone with me—as if he’s the least bit capable of being a good dad.
“There is nothing to explain,” I reply, gripping the phone tightly. “She had an affair with my boyfriend and I told her off. End of story.”
“Did you really have to do it in front of everybody? She was absolutely mortified afterward.”
“Okay, first off, she confronted me in public. And I didn’t say anything to her that wasn’t a lie. Secondly, you talk about Beth as if she’s not nineteen years old and can’t take some heat from her sister. Heat that was rightfully deserved.” It baffles me that my dad continues to defend her. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; Beth can do no wrong in my dad’s eyes. A muscle ticks in my jaw as I strangle the phone with my grip. “Come on. She did tell you she slept with Jax, right?
You know—the guy you absolutely despised? ”
Just like how my dad has never approved of anything I’ve done, he’s also never been the biggest fan of the boys I brought home, which had been sparse to begin with. And when I first introduced Jax to the family, a few lines of conversation between him and my dad was enough to seal my dad’s hatred for him. Since then, I never let the both of them be in the same room together for the fear that they’d butt heads.
So it’s ironic now that he’s trying to defend my sister dating him. A classic tell of who’s my dad’s favorite.
“Look, I’m not trying to excuse what she did with him.”
He lets out a sigh. “But at the end of the day, she’s still your sister.”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna work on me. Just because she’s family doesn’t mean she gets a pass for being a terrible human being.” Annoyance climbs up my body. “And by the way, you of all people shouldn’t be lecturing me about keeping the ‘family’ together.”
I hear my dad’s sharp intake of breath, indicating that he’s tired of me constantly bringing this up. “Sienna, I’m sorry. I don’t know how many times you want me to say it,” he says. I can picture him massaging his temple with his fingers, something that he does when he’s getting really frustrated with me.
“I only bring it up because you’re being a hypocrite right now. So excuse me when I choose not to listen to your advice. That’s just like listening to Hannibal Lecter on how to be vegan.” I shoot out of my bed, chucking my blanket away.
“This blame game is getting really exhausting, Sienna,” he says. “We’re talking about you and what you did to your sister. You know she’s hurting.”
“Well, some things are just unforgivable, Dad,” I say dryly, digging my teeth into my bottom lip.
He pauses for a beat, then lets out a defeated sigh. This is usually the point in our conversation when he’s at his wit’s end but won’t let go of the chance to slip in another generic piece of fatherly advice. And sure enough . . .
“You’re going down a dangerous path, Sienna,” he warns me. “You need to let all that anger go or you’ll never be able to move on.”
“Yeah?” A humorless laugh leaves me. “Well, maybe I don’t want to move on.”
And then I hang up and drop the phone on the bed.
This is exactly why I dread talking to my dad—because I know that regardless of what Beth has done, he’ll always see me as an irrational, volatile person who only serves to invite chaos to the family.