Captivated by the Millionaire

“It is, isn’t it? Though it doesn’t quite compare to the lit-up Manhattan skyline from a high rooftop.”

Jordan continued to study the picturesque scene in front of them. “It’s equally as stunning. In a different way.”

Jess breathed in deep. The air out here always seemed to exhilarate and refresh her. “The flora is different. But something about it reminds me of the Malaysian landscape.”

“You’ve been to Malaysia?”

She sighed as the memories resurfaced. “Yes. Once. To visit my father.”

Jordan turned to her in surprise. “I didn’t think he was very present in your life.”

Accurate. “He wasn’t. But my mother had me stay in touch with him and send him letters as soon as I learned how to read and write. Present or not, she was adamant that I knew I had a father.”

“I see.”

“He was nice about writing back. More of a pen pal, really. So when I turned sixteen, I asked my mom to let me go visit him as a sweet sixteen present. She obliged.” Jess humphed out a small laugh. “She probably figured it was an easy way to acknowledge such a major birthday without having to travel herself to come see me.”

Jordan reached for her hand and took it in his own. Though it most definitely wasn’t wise given the past week, Jess allowed his touch. Welcomed it, in fact.

“Sorry to hear that, Jess.”

The empathy in his voice sent a curl of warmth through her chest. “I don’t know what I was thinking asking to see him. He’d never really been more of a pen pal. My first clue should have been his less than enthusiastic reply when I wrote to tell him I’d be flying in.”

“I take it the visit didn’t go well.”

Again, accurate. “You’re right. It was a fiasco from day one. By the time I returned to the States a week later, I was more than ready to be back. And I have no doubt my father was ready to have me go.”

“What happened?”

His fingers gave hers a tight, reassuring squeeze. And it felt good. Talking to him felt good. She’d wondered all week when she’d see him again next. The scenario of the two of them sitting on her wooden park bench hadn’t exactly been one of her guesses.

“Nothing terribly surprising,” she answered. “By then he’d moved on, gotten married. Had two daughters and one son all several years younger than I was. I felt like a complete fish out of water staying at his house with them.”

“Oh, Jess. That was terribly unfair to you.”

“Maybe. I think his family thought the opposite. That I was being unfair to them.”

“What? That makes no sense.”

Jess hadn’t forgotten the pain of it. She’d been carrying it with her for over a decade, after all. The utter sense of rejection, of not being wanted. She’d felt that before during her childhood years. The various maternal relatives she’d been hoisted upon often made no secret that they’d only taken her in out of a sense of family responsibility.

But the sting of being rejected by your own parent, your flesh and blood, carried a stronger bite.

“They seemed to feel I was flaunting my very existence by being there. The wife was particularly resentful.” She blew a strand of hair off her face. “I wish she’d just been up-front about her objection to my visit from the get-go.”

“Sometimes wives in that part of the world don’t have much of a say in decisions made by their husbands.”

“I considered that. She just passive-aggressively shunned me when I was there.”

“Did you have any fun while you were there?” Jordan asked with genuine concern in his voice.

“My half siblings were nice enough. Except for the youngest one—the little boy—did keep asking me why I was there. Purely innocently. But it was just one more way the whole trip was awkward and stressful from the beginning.”

He rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb. “You didn’t deserve that, Jess. Particularly not at the already tumultuous age of sixteen.”

“Thank you for saying that.” She took comfort in those words. “That’s why Sonya’s so lucky to have you, Jordan. I’ve been wanting to tell you that.”