My Dad's Rival

I roll over in bed to watch him sleep. I can barely believe I stayed the night. My dad must be none the wiser because he hasn’t called to see where I am.

I need to get home before he wakes up and pretend like I just got home late last night. But all I want to do is lie here and watch the man of my dreams sleeping soundly. He shifts a little in his sleep, his arm protectively slung across my body as though to shield me from harm. My heart aches. How can I even consider leaving him behind?

Because I have to, that’s why. Being with Wyatt would make my entire world implode. And besides, it’s too late. I’ve been deceitful. When Wyatt finds out why we met in the first place, he’ll never want to see me again. Yes, last night was incredible. Yes, we connected in such an intense way that I never thought such a connection was possible. But I ruined it before it even began. I made sure that he’d never be able to trust me for real. I have to get out of here now before he sees the monster I really am.

I manage to slip out of bed without waking him.

I dress and call a car quietly, making my way through the maze of Wyatt’s huge house. With every step I take away from him, my heart aches a little more.

I want to run back to him. I want to spill the truth and have him hold me, tell me that it’s okay. I want there to be a world where this all works out, where everyone is happy and my heart doesn’t have to break.

But that’s not possible now. Maybe if I’d been honest earlier. But it’s too late now. And besides, my dad would never allow this to happen, never allow me to be happy with Wyatt. I have to make a choice between my dad and Wyatt…but my dad is family.

I guess that makes my choice for me.

So why is it so hard to leave?

When the car arrives, I manage to slip out of the house. The whole way home, I feel the finality of my choice. Wyatt will wake up and wonder where I am. He’ll slowly realize that I’m not the person he thought I was. He’ll grow to resent me and soon I’ll just be another woman who fades into the background of his life. I’ll leave my internship and return home to my misery. And what will I have gained? Nothing.

What will I have lost?

Everything.

I’m close to tears when I arrive home and get out of the car. I don’t have long before I need to be back at the office for my internship. I consider skipping it, but my dad would question why, and Wyatt will come looking for me, I can just tell. No, I have to face the day. I take a shower and change, heading downstairs for breakfast like I normally do.

My dad is waiting for me at the breakfast table, his eyes alight.

“There you are! I missed you last night. You need to tell me everything. What happened at the dinner? You must have learned so much, you were gone for hours.”

I shake my head wordlessly. If I try to speak right now, I might burst into tears.

Once again, my dad is oblivious to how his scheming is affecting me. If he wasn’t so wrapped up in all his hate for Wyatt, then maybe he’d realize how crushed I am. Maybe he’d see that I’m devastated at the sacrifices I’m making for him. It might be my own fault for falling for my dad’s rival, but I still have to give up the one thing that would make me truly happy.

Wyatt. The man I’ve fallen deeply in love with.

My dad continues trying to coax information out of me over breakfast, but I don’t say a word. I’m not ready to talk to him. He has no idea how I’m feeling right now. He has no idea that I’m putting everything I want aside just to please him. But then again, haven’t I been doing that my whole life? Maybe it’s not that my dad doesn’t realize what I do for him…it’s just that he takes it completely for granted.

“You’re so quiet. What’s up with you today?” he asks me with a frown. Then his face darkens. “He didn’t say something to upset you, did he? That bastard, I should have known that he’d hurt you somehow. What did he do? What did he say?”

“Nothing,” I say through gritted teeth. Doesn’t he get it? Wyatt isn’t the problem…it’s him. It’s always him. I can feel the tension inside me straining to my limits, feeling fit to burst, but I can’t let my anger take over me. I have to take a deep breath and calm down before I say something I shouldn’t. But dad keeps pushing me.