Trapped By The Wicked Billionaire

Chapter 13: The Father He Is

3rd Person POV:

Ethaniel looked up towards the window where he left Riva and his mother. It was a bold move, but he thought this was a chance he could take. Riva would find out more about him from a direct source. But said source couldn’t reveal too much. His mother didn’t know him at all.

“Daddy? Why are you always mad at Grandma?” Snow wondered out loud, worried.

The question took him by surprise. He didn’t realize that his little girl could pick up on details so well. It appeared he would have to learn to pretend better. No, pretending wouldn’t work with Snow. She was far too perceptive and in tune with him to be fooled.

“We have an old grudge, I would say. And we are both too proud to bury it.”

“A bulge?” she asked, scrunching his nose in confusion.

“No, sweetie. A grudge is a… misunderstanding. Your Grandma and I don’t see the world the same way.”

Snow blinked. “Like you and Mommy?”

It was his turn to be concerned. How much of her first few years did Snow remember? It was hard to say with her. In the beginning, she was a quiet baby. And then as time passed, she didn’t speak of it, at all.

“Not really… Your Mommy had to leave us. It is not the same thing, sweetie.”

Snow was quiet. “Do you miss her?” she asked finally.

Ethaniel fidgeted. How could he explain the situation without confusing her further?

“I don’t think about it much. I… I am happy to have you as my daughter.” He smiled warmly. “Do you miss Mommy, Snow?”

“Sometimes.”

Of course she did. She was a little girl who saw other kids being taken around by their mothers.

“But you like Riva? And Tilly is treating you well?”

That sparked some joy in the girl. “I really like Ree. It’s just that… she goes far away sometimes… in her head. Like she wants to leave.”

Ethaniel balled his hands into fists.

“Well, let’s make sure she feels welcome so she stays with us, okay? And sweetie, no matter what, we will always have each other.” He crouched down to hug Snow.

It took him a moment to notice Riva standing in the background, waiting for them patiently. There was a look of confusion on her face that put him on edge.

‘How much did she hear?’

“I need to go. Sorry, Snow.” She turned to him. “Ethaniel, would it be possible for me to return ahead of time?” Riva asked hesitantly.

Ethaniel had rarely seen her so troubled. Even the day he took her from the police station and started their arrangement. What did his mother tell her?

“I’ll accompany you back,” he said promptly. He shot up to his feet, ready to return with her, but she shook her head.

“No, you should stay longer and spend some time with your family,” she insisted.

She was shutting him down.

Snow didn’t say anything but looked at Ethaniel with a knowing look.

‘See? This is what I mean!’ her look screamed. ‘She goes far away!’

In the end, Riva returned home by herself. She took out the birthday card Snow and she had made for Drew and wrote ‘I love you, Dad’ on it before mailing it.

She laid down on the comfortable bed, trying to imagine her father. The way he always struggled to raise her well. The way he always struggled to be on the same page as her. As a teen, she was shy, but when she grew out of it, she turned into quite the troublemaker. And yet, he stood by her till the end. Not even her mother had done that. Opting to dump her the moment she turned into a rebellious teenager.

Now, she tried to picture Ethaniel. The bad boy she met the first night at the club. The serious man he had seemed to be when going to work each day. Snow’s father.

She tried to put these disjoint images together until the picture was complete, but her head was spinning. She tried to lock into her mind the image of him and Snow hugging in the garden outside his mother’s house. She had heard most of their conversation, and it made her sad. And scared.

What were the expectations they had of her?

Suddenly, she got out of her bed and looked for her laptop. It had been so long since she had written anything more than typing out the contents of someone’s tab. When she started studying English Literature, she was a dreamer who was in love with the idea of love. By the time she finished, it was just so she could have a degree under her belt.

But she had lost all inspiration. All the dreams she previously imagined on paper had vanished. Now, for the first time in a long time, she wanted to start a story and finish it. She started writing a story about a father and a daughter.

She had been locked in her room for hours but Ethaniel didn’t dare interrupt. When she emerged, she was sleepy and tired. Still, she looked happy. Ethaniel didn’t ask what made her feel that way.

“I hope my mother was not too intrusive. I know she can be rude at times,” he started.

Riva looked at him as if she just noticed him. “Don’t worry. Rudeness and brutal honesty don’t bother me.”

He didn’t believe that. “You looked a bit shaken when you left.”

There, he had caught her.

“Something caught me off guard, really. But it was a memory, not anything your mom said. No need to worry. I didn’t tell her anything about our arrangement either.”

She sensed he was worried about what was spoken amongst the two women and reassured him.

He smiled gratefully. “I don’t think it would bother her too much. But it is for Snow’s sake. I don’t want her to catch on and be upset. My mom doesn’t really know how to handle a kid.”

‘Or a proper conversation,’ Riva wanted to add.

“You know a lot about your mom, considering you haven’t lived together.”

“Touche. I like the way you’re practically jumping to defend her now. But you’re right. I judge her too harshly sometimes.” He could reflect on himself, too. He wasn’t beyond saving.

Riva expected him to elaborate but he didn’t comment further. They stood in silence for a minute until Riva started to speak shyly, “I was wondering… I don’t have a shift. What do you think about spending time with Snow? At the zoo or something. I don’t even know what a kid her age does these days.”

‘So, she had heard my conversation with Snow,’ Ethaniel thought.

He accepted the olive branch kindly. He had to snatch the opportunity before she changed her mind.

“Oh, and Ethaniel?”

“Yes?”

She hesitated. “Nothing. I’ll have an early night. Good night!”

She left quickly before she could make a fool of herself. For a moment, she wanted to tell him about the book she had started writing. About the inspiration. But it felt wrong. He wasn’t her friend.

She was his captive. Lines had shifted after today, and she didn’t like it at all.

Ethaniel smiled to himself as he stood in the living room alone. Finally, the ice was beginning to c***k.

He remembered the look on her face. The moment the mask went down. He had known her physically, but it was never this raw. It was the first sign that his experiment was going well.

He didn’t enjoy the afternoon he had spent at his mother’s. Although he was trying to ease the strained relationship he had with her, he still felt uncomfortable in her presence. However, if this was the price he had to pay to get a reaction out of Riva, it didn’t seem like too much.

He took his phone and checked the missed calls.

He had three from Enzo, who had probably heard of the engagement from the news. He deleted them.

He couldn’t deal with the man today.

Enzo couldn’t find out about the arrangement. At least, not yet. He would not understand the way Ethaniel was thinking or approve of it.

Good old strict Enzo. Always dependable, but far too set in his ways.

He was barely getting over the disappointment Ethaniel had been to him. He couldn’t take him back to that place, especially in the middle of all of this.

Ethaniel just put these thoughts aside and decided to plan for the upcoming activity with his girls.