Page 103 of Reckless Hate

The dean left, and this time the door to the dean’s office shut, offering privacy.

There was a long tense silence.

“How are you, Sam?”

Anger and hurt hit her hard listening to her father’s words for the first time since he had abandoned her.

“Why are you here?” she gritted out.

There was brief silence before he replied. “I came to see you.”

He didn’t even pretend to use the excuse of being a tennis consultant for the university. She clenched her fists. “I will graduate from Simha University as per your terms.”

“I didn’t come here to remind you of the terms, Sam. I know you’ll not only graduate, you’ll be at the top of your class.”

She hated the small sliver of happiness she felt at his words. She reminded herself that she had loved him and hero-worshiped him during her childhood, only for him to dump her like she meant nothing.

Sudden anger spiked inside her, making her lash out.

“I don’t need your approval or your money,” she said. “I joined Simha University because of those conditions you put for gaining my trust fund. I’ll still stay here at the university, but I don’t want your money anymore.”

She knew it was her anger talking and making her reckless. But she felt humiliated that she would have to use her father’s money to secure a decent future for Sohan and her.

Even though she was confident about the patent and success that the fabric she and Rishi were working on together would bring, it would take some time for the business plans to materialize.

She didn’t care. If needed, she would take up a job right after she graduated to make extra money than relying on her father’s trust fund.

Her father sighed. “I only wanted you to have the best, Sam. Simha University will help you with your dreams. I put the condition of graduating from Simha to inherit your Trust Fund because I knew you wouldn’t leave Paris otherwise.”

She clenched her jaw, knowing her father was right. Simha University was the best and would help with her dreams. But she had stayed back in Paris because of Sohan.

“It nearly killed me to leave you behind, Sam,” her father said softly.

She whipped her head towards him. “But you did leave me. Even when I begged you to take me with you.”

She still recalled how she clung to his legs, begging him not to leave her.

There was a look of pain on her father’s face. “I agree that was one of the worst decisions of my life,” he said. “But I thought I was doing it for your sake.”

She looked at him in disbelief and scoffed.

“Please hear me out, Sam,” her father pleaded.

She clenched her jaw and remained silent.

“You were growing up fast. I could see that you would no longer remain my little girl anymore. When your mother and I were getting divorced, everyone, especially your mother, said a girl needed her mother more than a father. And that with my tennis career, I’d have to travel a lot, which would disrupt your life. It nearly killed me, but I wanted you to have a stable, happy life.”

Her eyes prickled with unshed tears. She had a far from a happy, stable life. Dragged to a strange country, she was left alone in a house while missing her father and best friend. And her mother always blamed her for the divorce and said she ruined her life.

“I missed you so much, Sam. I called several times, but your mother never let me speak to you even though I begged her. She said I would only make you confused and not adjust to your new life. But I still kept calling. She gave me updates and told me you were adjusting well and were happy. And when she got married again, she told me you loved your new stepfather. It broke my heart, but I believed her and stayed away from your life.”

She was shocked that her father had called her many times to talk to her. She looked at her father’s face. There was regret and hurt written on it.

“I didn’t know,” she whispered.

“Please believe me, Sam. You became my entire world the moment you were born. I made a promise to myself to protect you and keep you happy with everything I had.”

Tears filled her eyes listening to her father. The memories of her childhood always had him as a doting father who listened to her patiently, taught her to do things and joined her in laughter and fun. When he left her after the divorce, it broke her heart.

---