Page 276 of Champagne Nights

“Just forget about it. I already have. I told you it doesn’t matter what they think.”

“I know, sweetheart.” I kissed her forehead. “But I think deep down it hurts you,” I signed.

“Then maybe you don’t know me as well as you think. This isn’t the first-time hearing people have rejected me, and it won’t be the last.”

“I don’t care. Nobody treats the woman I love that way and gets away with it.”

The next morning,I told Ellie I had to go into the office for a while, but I was really going to pay a visit to my parents. When I walked through the door, my mother came into the foyer.

“Henry, what are you doing here?”

“I want to speak to you about what you said to Ellie last night,” I spoke in a stern voice.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” She turned away and walked into the kitchen, where my father was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and scrolling on his phone.

“Son?” He glanced up at me.

“I want to make something very clear to both of you. Ellie isn’t going anywhere. I love that woman more than life, and I can’t grasp why you can’t accept that!”

“I’m not discussing this now,” my father spoke as he went to get up from his seat.

“SIT DOWN!” I demanded.

“How dare you talk to me that way, boy!”

“How dare the two of you treat Ellie the way you are. What is wrong with you people? And you.” I pointed to my mother. “How dare you offer her money to leave me.”

“Lillian, did you do that?” my father asked.

“Yes. Yes, I did. You would have done the same thing, Carlyle.”

“Do you not care about my happiness at all? I’m your son, for fuck’s sake. I’m your flesh and blood. I lived my life trying to please you. I want to hear you say it’s because she’s deaf.”

Both of them looked away from me.

“God only knows what Abigail is thinking about this right now.”

“Don’t you dare bring her up!” My father shouted. “You don’t understand, and you never will until you yourself have lost a child.”

“I lost her too!” I shouted. “She was my twin sister. When she died, a part of me died with her! She’s gone, and I’ve accepted that. It’s time the two of you did the same. I will protect Ellie at all costs. I plan on marrying her, and if you can’t accept that, you will lose another child. And don’t be surprised if Addison follows suit for the way you treat her. Then what will your country club friends think when all your children are gone from your life and the two of you are left all alone for the rest of your lives?”

“How dare you come into our home and threaten us,” my mother spoke through gritted teeth.

“It’s not a threat, Mother. It’s a promise.”

“Everyone calm down,” my father spoke. “Just calm down.”

“Carlyle!”

“Shut up, Lillian. I’ve heard enough out of you. Henry, just go.”

“Trust me, I am.” I stormed out of their home.

I needed to cool off before I went home because I didn’t want Ellie to see me this way. So, I stopped at the florist, picked up a bouquet of flowers, and took them to Abigail’s grave. As I was sitting there, I looked up and saw my father walking towards me with a pink rose in his hand.

“I didn’t know you’d be here,” he spoke as he bent down and placed the rose across Abigail’s grave.

“I come here all the time. Especially when I need to think,” I said.

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