Page 93 of Surprise! I'm Engaged To My Boss
She looked at me with pure hatred in her eyes, but visibly understanding the message. I held out my arms once more and, even though she was reluctant, she handed my daughter to me.
I walked with her in my arms and Camila by my side towards the cable car. The woman, however, followed us at some distance, making it clear that she would be in a separate car.
“Thank you...” Camila said. “For defending me like that.”
“I'm fed up with this nanny thing. I don't know if I'll want one when I finally have custody of Alice.”
Beside me, Camila laughed.
“Believe me, you will. As much as you want to be a super dad, you will have your commitments to the office and someone will have to take care of her.”
“But it will be different. I'm the one who willraisemy daughter. I know the Harrises don't pay any attention to her. They just pay nannies to do all the work.”
“And yet they still don't want her to be with you...”
“The issue is much more about revenge than about love for their granddaughter.”
Camila seemed confused by what I said, but she waited until we entered the cabin, and the cable car started to go up, before asking, “Why revenge?”
I sighed. It wasn't a story I was proud of.
“Leah was not at all what they, with their frivolity, would consider a 'golden girl'. She was as crazy and irresponsible as I was, so much so that we always ran into each other at parties.”
“Did you two ever start dating seriously?”
'Dating seriously' wasn't something I was used to doing.
“No. Neither she nor I were into that. But we had a few relationships, without any commitment. On one of those occasions, she ended up getting pregnant, but she didn't tell me anything. After all, I didn't see her at any events anymore. I only heard from her a year later, when she sent me an email telling me about Alice.”
Camila nodded and didn't ask any more questions, but I could tell she still seemed curious about it.
We stood in silence, looking through the glass of the cabin at the houses and people that already seemed tiny below. Alice laughed, clapping her hands together, seeming to enjoy the feeling of seeing things from that height.
After a few moments, I spoke again, “Leah told me a few things in her email. Apparently, her parents didn’t handle her pregnancy well. They thought it ruined the promising future their daughter had and blamed me for it. At the same time, they made her life a living hell. They didn’t want her to tell me about ourbaby, and when they found out she had contacted me, they made a fuss and threw her out of the house.”
“What a horrible thing...” Camila seemed truly horrified.
“Leah actually texted me as she was leaving her parents’ house, briefly explaining what had happened and saying she was going to a friend’s house. I remember telling her not to do anything rash, but I don’t know if she read my reply. She was on her way to her friend’s house when she had the accident. Alice was with her.”
“Oh my God...” Camila brought her hand to her mouth, and her eyes shifted to Alice, with concern.
“Luckily, Alice was in a safety seat. But Leah didn't have the same concern for herself. She wasn't wearing a seatbelt and ended up not surviving.”
“And they accuse you of destroying their daughter's promising future?Theydestroyed her chance of havinganyfuture at all.”
“Yeah, I agree with that.”
“They themselves threw Alice, along with her mother, out of their house. Why don't they let her stay with you now?”
“Because they are two sons of bitches.”
“Michael!” Camila scolded me, using both hands to cover Alice's ears. That made me laugh. “Don't say bad words in front of her!”
“I think I still have a lot to learn about being a father. Including controlling my vocabulary in her presence. I don't want my daughter repeating 'bad words'.”
“Then don't say them in front of her, come on.”
Alice laughed, as if she understood the discussion. Camila and I laughed together and I commented, “I think she likes to see you scolding me, what a thing...”
