Chapter 6 - The Explosion
“Go ahead, Richard,” I said softly. “Read it.”
With trembling fingers, Richard opened the envelope. He pulled out the DNA test results. The room was so quiet I could hear the expensive chandelier humming above us.
Richard read the words 0.00% Probability. He read them again. Then, he looked up at Brianna. The betrayal in his eyes was almost pitiful, if he hadn't been such a monster himself.
“He’s not mine,” Richard whispered, his voice cracking. “Leo isn’t mine.”
Brianna backed away from the table, her face completely drained of blood. “Richard, wait. I can explain. The tests are wrong! She faked it!”
“You whore!” Richard screamed, lunging across the table. He grabbed the front of her dress, sending silverware clattering to the floor. “You tricked me! You made me pay for another man’s bastard for five years! I loved him!”
“You didn’t love him!” Brianna shrieked, pushing him away and scrambling toward the door. “You just loved that I made you feel young! You pathetic, broke old loser! You have nothing!”
“I have nothing because of you!” Richard bellowed, his face purple with rage.
The door to the private room burst open. The restaurant manager and two massive security guards stepped in, looking horrified by the shouting and broken glass.
“Is there a problem here, Ms. Calloway?” the manager asked me, clearly recognizing me as the one holding the credit card.
“Yes, these two were just leaving,” I said smoothly, standing up and smoothing down my skirt. “Please escort them out. Separately. They tend to bite.”
“Maya, please!” Richard suddenly turned to me, falling to his knees. The arrogance was completely gone, replaced by the pathetic desperation of a drowning man. “You have to help me! She ruined me! I’m your father! You have to pay my debts, just this once, please! I’ll do anything!”
I looked down at him. The man I had cried over for twenty-six years. The man whose validation I had craved my entire life. Seeing him on his knees, begging for my money, I realized I didn't feel angry anymore. I didn't feel sad.
I felt absolutely nothing.
“You are not my father, Richard,” I said, my voice eerily calm. “You were just a biological accident. And as for you, Brianna...” I looked at the woman who was currently being restrained by a security guard. “If you ever come near me, my home, or my family again, I won’t just expose you. I will destroy you.”
May you like
My mother and I walked out of the restaurant together, leaving them screaming at each other as they were dragged out into the alleyway.
The cool night air hit my face, and for the first time in my life, the ghost of my father’s absence was completely gone. I was finally, truly free.
