Page 139 of Hoax and Kisses
Five. The people that I now call family.
Eight. How many times I’ve cried from sadness and rage over the past two weeks.
Twelve. The age I was when I understood my dad didn’t really care about me.
Fifteen. The number of days it took me to bring this company down.
Ding.
The doors open on the twentieth floor, and I walk straight into my father’s office, heart in my throat.
He watches me from his chair behind his desk, the Vancouver Harbour in the background.
“Finally back in the city, I see.” He doesn’t bother to stand and greet me. “I’m glad you came to your senses, princess.”
“I’m not staying long,” I say, holding his gaze.
He frowns, his mouth following the downward path I’m so familiar with. “Where are you going, then?”
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I drop the envelope on his desk. “This is my official resignation letter. Today is my last day. I quit.” I exhale sharply. “God, it feels good to say those fucking words to you.”
He stares at the envelope like I’ve just tossed a bag full of trash, then sighs. “You never went through a rebellious phase as a teenager, so I guess I should have expected an early midlife crisis.” He finally hauls himself out of his chair, then holds his hands out. “What do you want me to do, princess? Tell you I’m sorry I had to keep you in the dark with this project? I can’t, because I’m not. It had to be done this way. You know why?”
He takes a step toward me, but I don’t budge.
“It’s because I know that heart of yours. You’re tough on the outside but not so tough in here.” He pats his chest. “The second I saw you with that man, I knew I’d made the right call. The faster you get over it, the faster we can move on.”
His words glide over me like water on a pane of glass.
“In two minutes,” I say, my tone stronger than I feel, “the police will barge through those doors and seize every document in this building. An investigation into the hotel group will be triggered. You will be arrested for fraudulent operations involving hush money, multiple law violations, and abuse of power. And me? I’ll be cooperating with them in every way I can.”
I take my own step forward, my voice as cold as steel. “I’ll be the good little girl you taught me to be and burn your goddamn legacy to the ground.”
He’s too stunned to speak, his eyes full of horror and shock.
I don’t linger.
I turn around and press the elevator button. When the doors open, I’m met with half a dozen police officers.
“He’s over there,” I say, my throat working hard. This time, I let myself look. I take in the face of the man who betrayed and hurt me in so many ways. The man who, despite it all, is, down to his bones, still my father. And then I step into the elevator and let the doors close on my past.
Matt and Daphne are waiting for me on the porch, Daph holding out a bowl of half-melted ice cream.
“I told you we would be ready to welcome you back with ice cream.” Matt hits me with his trademark smile.
“We started the movie because I really wanted to watch it,” Daph says.
The sight of their beaming faces lights up my whole heart, and the weight of the past few months evaporates from my shoulders like smoke in the wind. For the first time in thirty-two years, it feels as though I have something to come home to.
The realization wells up in my chest too quickly, too big to hold in, and as I hit the top step, I burst into tears, my legs turning to jelly.
Matt catches me before I fall to the ground, worry clouding his features.
“Whoa, Zoé, honey. What’s wrong?” He cradles me in one arm, brushing away the hot tears rolling down my cheeks.
I bury my face in his chest, clinging to him.
“We can go back to the beginning of the movie,” Daphne says, her tone a little panicked. “You don’t have to be sad.”
