Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

T he plane ride was awful. I felt sick the whole time. I sat next to a guy who wouldn't stop coughing and didn't cover his mouth, and another person who kept asking me to get up every five minutes so they could use the bathroom. That made it impossible to sleep.

Not that I could get any sleep, seeing as how my thoughts are plagued with the nightmares of all the shit that just happened.

Now, I'm finally off the plane. I'm tired, pissed, and just want to go home. Not to mention, I'm starving.

Unfortunately, none of that can happen until my damn bags show up on the baggage carousel.

I can hardly stand on my feet, my eyes growing heavy as I sway. After what feels like a lifetime, my bags slide down.

Tossing them onto a cart, I head out to the arrivals area and hail a cab.

Thankfully, the hotel isn't far from the airport, so I'm pulling up to the front doors in no time. "Thanks," I tell the cab driver as I pay.

Grabbing my bags from the trunk, I'm about to head inside when Gerald, the doorman, steps outside to greet me. "Miss Rylee. It's nice to have you back. We've missed you."

"Hey, Gerald." I give him a friendly smile. "Merry Christmas."

"You too, Miss Rylee."

I head into the lobby and give Sharron, the head receptionist, a smile and small wave. She returns it before I head down the hall toward the staff living quarters.

It's weird to be back, but I'm hit with a wave of nostalgia. I just want my mom. I want her to hold me, tell me everything's going to be okay, even if it feels like my world is falling apart.

I'm all cried out, or maybe I'm just too tired to produce any more tears.

When I get to the door of the room my mom and I stay in, I grab my wallet and pull out my key card.

"Mom!" I shout as I throw the door open, struggling to get in with all my bags. "You have no idea how shitty the past twenty-four hours have been," I huff, finally managing to get my bags in. The door closes behind me with a click.

When I look up, I'm taken by surprise. "Rylee, hunny! I thought your flight wasn't until tomorrow."

"Ahhh..." I blink in confusion. "Things changed. I got an earlier flight." I drop my bags to the ground.

Mr. Sanderson is here. That's very odd. I can't even remember the last time I saw him in this hotel. He's friends with my mom? He's known to be very nice with the staff, but why is he in my house?

"Rylee," the other man in the room says my name like he's in some sort of awe. Who the hell is this guy? What the fuck is going on?

He's tall with styled dark hair and a very expensive looking suit. "Do I know you?" My eyes dart over to my mother. She's standing there, tears in her eyes and a panicked look on her face.

"Mom, what the hell is going on? Are you sick?"

"No." She shakes her head. "Nothing like that. I'm fine, I promise."

Everything I've been through is put on pause while I try to figure out why my mom looks like she's ready to burst into tears. Is she in some sort of trouble?

"Mom."

"Rylee, baby, I know this isn't what you're going to want to hear, but I need you to listen. Please."

The hairs on the back of my neck stand as my body stiffens. "Mom. Speak. Now." A wave of panic fills me.

"Hi." The man steps forward, his eyes glossy as a dumb grin takes over his face. "This is. Wow. You're so beautiful. And grown up. This is crazy."

My eyes widen and I take a step back. "Back up, weirdo." I look at my mom. "I swear to God, Mom, if you're in some sort of money trouble, we can figure it out, but there's no way I'm letting you sell me to some old man."

"What?" My mom chokes, horror in her eyes. "No, Rylee. God, no, that's not at all what's happening."

Tall, dark, and creepy's face turns bright red, his eyes widened in the same look of horror as my mother. Mr. Sanderson just chuckles in the background.

"This isn't at all how it was supposed to go."

"How what was supposed to go?!" I shout. "If someone doesn't tell me what the fuck is going on, I'm going to lose my ever loving shit. And trust me, I'm already on the verge of a breakdown with the amount of bullshit I just went through. I will not hesitate to start swinging."

"Rylee, my name is James. I'm Mr. Sanderson's son. And I'm your father."

The word rattles around in my brain as I just blink at him like a deer caught in headlights.

Father . Did he really just tell me he's my father?

"Ha," I laugh out loud. "Funny joke." I look toward my mom. "But I'm really not in a joke-telling mood."

"It's not a joke, sweetie. It's true, James is your dad."

"What?" I choke out, gaping at her. "No. No!"

"Yes." My mom nods. "I'm so sorry, sweetie."

"I'm not." James turns to my mom. "I'm not sorry. What I am sorry about is that you didn't tell me I had a daughter!"

"We talked about that," my mom growls.

"And seeing her for real doesn't just make the pain go away!"

"You knew who my father was? You said he was just a guest passing through that you had a fling with. How long have you known it was him?" I ask my mom.

My heart pounds painfully in my chest. I feel like I'm going to be sick. My whole world, yet again, is crashing down around me. What the hell did I do in a past life to deserve all of these awful things that keep happening to me?

My mom is crying now, tears streaming down her face. "Since I found out I was pregnant with you."

Betrayal punches me in the gut, knocking the air right out of my lungs. "Nineteen years. You've known all this time and you didn't tell me!"

"I was young and scared. I knew he had a whole future planned out for himself, and we weren't a part of it."

"I was never given that choice!" James growls. "You, I could understand why you did it," he tells my mom, then turns to the man I guess is my grandfather. "But you… You knew. You knew I had a child, and instead of telling me, you chose to keep it a secret. You gave the mother of my child a job, a place to live, and never once told me about my daughter's existence."

"No." I shake my head. "Nope. Not happening."

"What do you mean not happening?" James looks at me.

"I'm not dealing with this right now. I can't. I just… I can't." I grab my bags and get the hell out of there.

"Rylee! Please. Come back and we can talk about this," my mom calls after me as I rush down the hall.

I'm trying really fucking hard not to cry again. This is the last fucking thing I need right now.

My mom. My best friend. The only person in my life that I thought I could depend on has lied to me my whole life.

I have a father. A really fucking rich father from the looks of it. Not that I know anything about this James guy. I want to feel for him, I do, but I can't find it in me to care about anyone else right now.

Getting to the front desk, I grab my credit card. "I need a room. As high up as you can get me." I need to be as far away from my mom right now.

"Put your card away, dear."

Spinning around, I find Mr. Sanderson standing behind me. "What?"

He looks to the receptionist. "Put her in the penthouse. This is Rylee, my granddaughter."

I gape at him, the receptionist sporting a very similar look. "So now we're just going to start tossing that out into the world? Now that your son knows I'm no longer a dirty little secret."

He chuckles. "Rylee, dear, I never once thought of you that way. I wanted to help as soon as I found out about you. But your mother, she's a prideful woman. She had a right to be weary about James. He was a party boy back then. He's a smart businessman, but he didn't know how to keep it in his pants.

"A child was the last thing he would have wanted. I wanted to be more involved, but your mother insisted we keep you out of this, to give you the best life she could. A normal life. I respected her wishes, as long as she let me help in some way." He gives me a smile that crushes my heart.

"I've watched you from afar though. Watched you grow up to be such a smart, amazing young lady. I'm proud of you, Rylee."

And now I'm crying like a baby in the middle of the hotel lobby, with my long-lost grandfather, who happens to be the owner of the hotel we've lived in my whole life. What the fuck even is my life anymore?

I've lost a lifetime with this man. This man who seems so damn nice. I could have had a grandfather growing up.

"I know this is a lot to take in. And I don't expect you to just jump on board with it all straight away. I'm just asking you not to cut me out of your life, to give me a chance to spend some time with you. I'm not getting any younger, you know." He chuckles. "I'd love to get to know my granddaughter."

More sobbing. I can't shut off the water works.

Unable to speak, I nod. He pats me on the arm and tells me to call him if I need anything, and that everything is on the hotel, before walking away.

I head up to the penthouse suite like my body is on audio pilot, crying the whole way there.

When I get into the room, I drop my bags and head for the bed. I collapse, my mind, body, and soul unable to take anymore.

I just lay there and cry until I pass out.

I'm alone. I have no one, and everything I thought I knew about my life is a lie. I'm on this crazy train and I'd really fucking like to get off now.

I'm really starting to hate my life.