Page 66 of Broken Princess

"Sure. I'll be here," he says, watching me closely as I head toward the stairs.

I have an excuse to get away whenever I want, considering I'm pregnant enough that the baby pushing on my bladder means I have to run to the bathroom constantly, anyway.

Upstairs, I see the light on in my father's study, and when I approach it, the door is already open. Dad is standing there by his desk, perfectly still as he looks down at the letter in his hand.

I don't know what's in it, but I can already tell from the look on his face that it has changed everything.

CHAPTER 31

AMELIA

"Dad?" I call softly.

He looks up and snaps out of whatever trance he's been in, folding the letter in his hand. "Amelia. Why aren't you downstairs enjoying the party?"

"I just wanted to check on you," I admit, walking into the room. "Is everything okay?"

He doesn't answer immediately, so I know something is wrong. I look back at the letter and reach for it hesitantly, surprised when he actually gives it to me.

The letter itself is short, but man, does it pack a punch. I run my eyes over the neat script in Natalie's handwriting a few times, just to be sure I'm seeing it right.

Dear Miceli,

Our marriage began as a lie, and it's been nothing but unspoken truths and thinly veiled deceptions ever since. You asked me the other night if I was angry, and yes. I am. I'm angry for my daughter, but more than anything, I'm angry that I didn't make the same choice twenty-two years ago. I'm leaving with Alfonso, and I'm taking Kayleigh with me. She isn't yours, but you already knew that, didn't you? Your actions lately have made that clear. One of those hidden truths we were both happy to overlook for so many years, just like you pining away for your dead love and me for Alfonso.

Well, I'm finished wondering what might have been. I'm finished living a lie, and for your sake, I hope you are, too. We've both wasted enough time already.

Sincerely,

Natalie

Once I'm sure I accurately read the letter, I look up at Dad, understanding now why he's so shellshocked. "Dad, I... I amsosorry,"I say, tears of guilt stinging my eyes. "This is because of me."

"No," he says quietly, reaching out to cup my face in his palm. "No, it isn't. You having the courage to stand up for what you knew in your heart was meant to be might have been the catalyst, but it just highlighted the fractures that were already there. This is because of me, and it's been a long time coming."

"So Kayleigh isn't..." I trail off. "You knew?"

He nods solemnly. "It didn't matter. She's right. It was all based on a lie anyway, for convenience. I tried to be a good father to her, but it's clear I failed in that regard, too. I failed you both."

Tears slip down my cheeks as I feel my father's pain and realize the walls that have always been so high around him have finally crumbled. I go to him and hug him tightly, relieved that in his own way, he's finally letting me in.

"You did the best you could," I tell him, because if there's one thing I've come to realize now that I'm having a baby of my own and I feel like I've done everything wrong along the way even though the kid hasn't even arrived yet, it's that. "You and Mom both."

"I'm so sorry, Amelia," he whispers, his voice shaking. "So sorry."

"It's okay," I tell him, because it finally feels like it is. "It's all going to be okay."

He holds me for a while as tears course down my cheeks, and when he finally pulls away, I see a hint of moisture in his eyes for the first time since Mom's death. We might not be able to repair the damage that's been done, but at least there's a chance for us now. A chance for healing.

"I love you, Daddy," I say, relieved when he finally smiles faintly.

"I love you too, Amelia." He brushes a few stray tears off my cheek with his thumb. "Thank you."

"For what?" I ask, staring up at him in confusion.

"For giving me another chance to be the father you should have always had," he says quietly. "For showing me there's another way."

His words make my heart ache in a bittersweet way, and my lips quiver as I smile, feeling the threat of tears falling all over again. "It's not too late, Dad. For any of us. We can't change the past, but we have a whole future ahead of us. To be a family, the way it should have always been."

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