Page 68 of The Enemy

That was just the tip of the iceberg because my little stunt was about to clean house. With the impending police investigations, someone was about to go to jail for bribing deans and school chairs.

Revenge wasn’t as sweet as I thought it would be, if I was being honest. It was a hollow feeling that left me drained.

Part of it was that I knew my mami would not have been impressed by me. She didn’t like political games, nor did she believe that you got ahead by sabotaging others.

At the end of the day, wasn’t that growing up? Reconciling the fact that we were our own persons, and our paths didn’t have to follow what our parents wanted?

Some moments, I felt bad for my father, but I still had so much anger in me, and I had been carrying a grudge toward him that I felt like he deserved it.

Emotions were draining.

After imploding my life into chaos, I returned to my apartment. I loved my friends, but I just needed to be alone and breathe. I felt like I had been running since returning from my business trip.

All I wanted was some comfort, and since there was no person in my life to give me that, being surrounded by my things might help. It wasn’t like Neo would be coming anytime soon, not after what I did. I was the last person he would want to see.

Good. He’s the last person I want to see, too.

I thought I would feel better if I lied to myself, but it didn’t work. Feelings could be fickle, or they could be set in stone, and I just hoped that my feelings were somewhere in between because feeling like I had been stabbed in the heart every time I breathed sucked.

So, for the last week, I stayed at home. I was always good at keeping things low-key, but after the blind item, my social media accounts were filled with DMs. People might not have cared about me, but they did about Neo. They wanted to be him; they thought he was hot, and as a woman involved in a scandal with him, I was instantly vilified.

I underestimated people’s empathy for women.

For now, my best bet was to stay quiet. Hopefully, people would move on to the next rumor by next week.

The only thing that gave me satisfaction was that the deal with the Parks fell through due to a morality clause. I destroyed my legacy, but I still didn’t want Tatum Park anywhere near it.

As I sipped my hibiscus tea on the balcony and looked down at the city, I wondered for how much longer I would enjoy the view. I had some money, but if I were to start from zero it would be better not to spend it so frivolously. The thought made me jump out of my seat to run to get my laptop.

I opened the website for my lease so I could change the banking information from Neo’s account to mine because it no longer felt right to use his money, but when I logged into my account, there was nothing left to pay off.

What the fuck?

The thing was paid off before the trip.

Mierda.

Before I could ponder on it any longer, there was a knock on the door. My stomach dropped, and I looked at it as if it were about to explode.

They banged the door again, and I slowly approached it. I left my phone on the balcony so I couldn’t even look at the app to see who was outside.

“Lourdes, open the door, now!”

Dread coursed through me upon hearing my father’s voice.

Slowly, I reached for the doorknob, and before turning it, I took a deep breath.You got this.I knew this was coming. It’s not like I would never speak to my family, and they wouldn’t be letting this go before doling out my punishment.

When I opened the door, I didn’t know what to say to him. The distance between us seemed wider than ever. My lower lip trembled, and now, more than ever, I missed being my dad’s little girl.

“May I come in?” He broke the tension between us. His voice was a lot softer than it had been earlier.

Stepping aside, I motioned for him to come in. What was I supposed to say in this moment?Sorry, Papi?Now, that seemed insensitive.

My father looked around my place. How sad was it that I had been living here for three years, and this was the first time he had ever been here?

He looked around my living room, his eyes landing on the photographs on my shelves. It was us—back when we hadbeen a family. All the family photos stopped after my mami’s death. After my quinceañera there were only three photos of me with my dad. That had been for my high school and college graduations. Everything else was me with my friends.

“What happened to us, Lulu?”

---