Chapter Nine: Ex boyfriend’s daddy
1280 Words
Emily’s POV
The echo of Austin’s words still rang loudly in my ears as the guards dragged him out.
The word ‘father’ echoed inside my head all over again, and with it came a sickening clarity I wasn’t ready for.
I didn’t remember leaving the room. One moment, his voice was thundering, the next I was wrapped up in a kiss and the next, I was running.. my flip flops hit hard against the marble, my chest heaved like I had sprinted miles.
I reached the bedroom and closed the door shut with trembling hands.
I pressed my back against the wood, and clutched my chest. My pulse was erratic, my breath came out in shallow puffs.
And all I could taste was him.
Dario.
The kiss still burned on my lips like fire.
I lifted my fingers to my mouth, brushing the tender flesh, but the memory still clung to me. It wasn’t the kiss itself that terrified me.. it was that I didn’t hate it.
A sob made its way up my throat and I staggered forward, nearly tripping over the carpet, until my gaze met with the mirror across the room.
The girl staring back at me wasn’t me..
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes looked wide and frantic..
“This isn’t me,” I whispered as my fists clenched until my nails carved half-moons into my palms. “What’s happening to me?”
I tore my eyes from the mirror and paced the room. It was as if my body wouldn’t still, as if my bones had become restless, desperate for an escape.
“It’s been less than forty-eight hours since I met him,” I muttered under my breath, voice trembling. “And to make matters worse…” I swallowed the bitter bile rising in my throat. “He’s Austin’s father.”
The truth scorched my tongue.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I needed.. God, I needed someone.
My phone lay on the nightstand. My lifeline. I snatched it up with shaking hands, scrolling frantically until I found Sophia’s name. My thumb slammed hard on the call button.
The ringing nearly drove me mad.
Once.. Twice..
Finally.. “Emily..”
Her voice was thick with sleep but sharpened instantly at my silence. “What’s going on? Are you crying? It’s six in the morning..”
“Sophia.” Relief cracked through me, and I nearly collapsed onto the bed as the tears I had been holding back fell on my cheeks hot and fast. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“That bad huh?.. Start anyway.. probably from why I wasn’t invited to your wedding.”
“Austin,” I choked. “He.. God, Soph, he cheated on me. With her. My best friend. And today, he stood there and accused me, saying I wasn’t enough, like it was my fault he destroyed everything.”
I heard the hiss of her breath, sharp and furious. “That bastard. Then what happened? Is that why you’re crying? Tell me it’s not why you’re crying..”
I closed my eyes, pressing a shaking hand against my lips. “And then.. Dario…”
“The man you married?” She slowly asked
“Yes”
Her silence was heavier than any word.
“He defended me,” I whispered. “He stood in front of me like I mattered. Like I was his to protect.”
“Like you were his,” she said flatly.
The words hit me like a blade.
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Wasn’t it?”
My throat closed. I bit my lip until it bled. “I kissed him, Sophia.” The confession tumbled out in a rush. “In front of Austin. I wanted Austin to see it, to choke on it, to know I’ve moved on.”
Silence.. Long enough for my heart to stutter.
And then Sophia’s voice, low and unyielding: “Or maybe you wanted to see what it felt like to taste him when you weren’t drunk.”
“That’s not..”
“Don’t lie to me, Em.” Her tone was cold and merciless. “You wouldn’t have done it if there wasn’t a part of you that wanted it.”
Heat flooded my face. I shot to my feet again, pacing. My grip on the phone ached. “You don’t understand! Austin said it.. Dario knew who I was before he married me. He knew. And he still went through with it. He didn’t even deny it.” My voice cracked. “He knew.”
“ He knew what?” Sophia quizzically asked with a hint of confusion latched on her voice
“Dario is Austin’s Father” I slowly answered
Sophia’s tone softened slightly, but her steel never wavered. “Then you need to wake up. Men like him don’t save you, Emily. They don’t protect you. They consume you. And when they’re done, they leave you in ashes.”
My hand flew to my mouth, muffling a sob. “I don’t know who I am anymore,” I whispered, unraveling.
Her response was fierce, a lifeline through the storm: “Then don’t let him tell you who you are. Remember who you were before him..”
Her words broke something in me.
And then.. like lightning through fog.. I remembered.
“The necklace.”
“What?”
“Your swan necklace,” I repeated, voice shaking. “I saw it here, in this house. I held it. I thought maybe it was yours, that you lost it..”
Sophia’s voice cut sharp. “Emily, I don’t understand.. my necklace is with me. I still have it. It’s not missing.”
The world tilted beneath me.
My knees gave way, and I finally collapsed onto the bed, clutching the phone like it was the only anchor I had left. Goosebumps spread across my skin.
“No,” I whispered. “No, … I saw it. Here. In this house.”
“Oh really then I’m guessing your ex boyfriend daddy has a lot of explaining to do..,” Sophia said grimly. “ I mean if he is Austin’s daddy he must be hot enough to handle other females.. one of them might have dropped hers or something”
The silence between us hummed with unspoken truth.
I opened my mouth to respond, but static hissed suddenly in my ear. Sophia’s voice warped, breaking apart.
“Sophia? Hello?” Panic surged. “Sophia, can you hear me?”
The line went dead.
“No. No, no, no.” I redialed, my trembling fingers slipping on the screen.
Once. Twice. Nothing.
When I looked at the signal bar.. No service.
“He controls even this,” I whispered, fury and fear knotting inside me.
The phone slipped from my hands and hit the floor with a dull thud.
I curled as I sat on the edge of the bed, hugging a pillow tight to my chest, rocking slightly as if I could soothe the storm inside. Tears slid hot down my cheeks, soaking the fabric.
But beneath the grief, beneath the fear, something darker pulsed.
My lips still burned. My body still remembered.
Closing my eyes, I saw it again.. the first night.. our first encounter, the elevator, his gaze pinning me like prey. The spark I had pretended not to feel. The warning I ignored.
“I don’t want him,” I whispered into the silence, voice shaking.
My eyes opened, locking on the door across the room. Half of me prayed it would stay closed. The other half prayed it would open.
But holy hell I really did
- Writer
