Page 37 of Loved

"Mr. Taylor, the scholarship isn't an issue," I said. "I can pay the difference. I'd like to pay the difference."

"So you're going to start a thriving tech company and pay for my daughter's education? Do you have the necessaryfundsfor all that? What, do you have a wealthy family to fall back on?”

It felt like he’d slapped me. My whole life people had assumed I was handed everything. They had no fucking idea how hard I worked. I didn’t take a cent from my parents. I didn’t even want to ever fucking see my parents again. And I didn’t need to be reminded of a past that Penny’s father knew nothing about.

I pictured standing in the kitchen of my childhood home, asking my mother if I could play football with Mattand Mason. How unkind she’d been. How judgmental. This conversation today wasn’t the first time I’d been made to feel like I was nothing. Like I had no future. Like I was the scum of the earth. Like I couldn’t have what I wanted. But I was no longer a kid wanting my mom’s approval. I got what I fucking wanted now. And I wanted Penny.

Penny’s dad glared at me. “Are you just some rich, entitled kid that never grew up? That goes around screwing students because you think there are never any consequences? Well, we don't want your money. We don't want anything from you. Haven't you done enough?! Get the hell out of my house!"

"Dad!" Penny stood up beside me. She looked truly horrified by her father’s words.

I knew being defensive was the wrong move. But something inside of me snapped. It wasn’t just Mr. Taylor’s words to me. It was how they were affecting Penny. I hated seeing her upset. Penny was the love of my life and I was the one taking care of her now. Not him.

"Mr. Taylor, you don't know anything about me. And it does not appear that you want to. Yes, I was your daughter's professor. Yes, I got divorced yesterday. Yes, I am not ready to get married today or tomorrow. But I have every intention of marrying your daughter. And I will provide for her. I want to provide for her. You don't have anything to worry about. Her future is secure. That is all you need to know."

Every word out of my mouth made Mr. Taylor’s face even redder.

I was done with this conversation. I needed to get out of this house. But it wasn’t as simple as that. Because Penny had to come with me. And I didn’t know if she would walk away from her parents.

"How could it possibly be secure?" her dad pressed. "You just ruined her education. And you ruined your own career. This is a scandal. No one's ever going to want to hire you or her."

For Christ’s sake."I don't need anyone to hire me. I told you, I'm starting my own company."

"You have no tech background. You're a communications professor."

"Working at the University of New Castle was not my career. I wanted to give back. It was never a permanent situation. I just needed a break. I needed to start over. I was doing a good thing there."

"A good thing?" her dad scoffed.

You pompous ass."Yes, a good thing," I said firmly. "I founded my first tech company when I was 22 years old. Right after I graduated with honors from Harvard University. Blive Tech International. Maybe you've heard of it? It's a publicly traded Fortune 500 company. Well, I sold it last year for 2.8 billion dollars. I don't need to work another day in my life. Your daughter, our future children, and our grandchildren won't need to work a day in their lives if they don't want to."I can’t breathe.I pushed my chair back under the table and looked down at Penny.Please can we leave?I couldn’t be here anymore. I felt like it was my mother sitting across the table from me seething.I can’t breathe.

Penny grabbed my hand and the air filled my lungs again. She nodded at me. "I think we should probably go."

She was choosing me. She was the only person in my life who’d ever chosen me. I’d always felt…abandoned. And a piece of me hadn’t expected her to do it. A part of me still had trouble trusting anyone. But now? I didn’t have a single doubt in my mind. Penny meant everything to me. And I’d do my best to be everything for her.

"Wait," her mom said, breaking her silence. "A break from what, James? Why did you need to start over?"

Because I wanted to kill myself.I took another deep breath. I didn’t think adding suicidal thoughts to my list of qualities was a good idea right now. "I felt empty in New York. I needed a fresh start. Teaching helped with that. I wish that the circumstances had been different. But Penny is my fresh start. She made me feel whole again."

"I do understand," her mom said. She looked at her husband. "Penny was right. We were her age when we fell in love. I'd like to think that if the circumstances were different for us, we'd still be together. Please don't go, Penny." She gave her husband a pleading look. "Peter, say something."

"So that means your last name is Hunter?" her dad asked.

So he did know about me? "Yes."

He sighed and sat down. "James Hunter, the founder of Blive Tech International. I didn't realize you had taken a sudden career change into teaching."

"I needed the change."

"You know, I actually own stock in your company."

"You do?" I remembered him talking about stocks the first time we’d met. He’d called Tesla Tesller. I wondered how he was going to start butchering the name of Blive Tech…

Her father nodded. He put his hands together on the table and looked down at them for a second. "I'm sorry. It's just...Penny's our baby." He didn't look angry anymore. He just seemed…sad.

"I know," I said. "I understand that you're just trying to protect her. And I truly am sorry about how this happened."

"You can't really understand until you've had children of your own."

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