Chapter 50

The phone buzzed once, twice, before I picked it up. Isadora's name flashed on the screen, and I smiled, missing her already too.

"Hello," I answered. "I was hoping you'd call."

"Graham, we need to talk."

"What's up?" I asked, sitting up on my couch. "You sound serious. I'm guessing you don't want to talk about grabbing breakfast tomorrow?"

"No, it's a little more serious than that. It would be better if it was in person."

My heart plummeted into my stomach. Something was definitely wrong. "Is Sloane okay?"

"She's fine."

"Do you want to talk now or tomorrow at work?" I asked, not sure I totally understood the situation.

"Now."

I had just taken off my shoes and was about to make myself a drink and watch football highlights, but clearly this was more important. "I'll be right over."

I put my shoes back on and grabbed my keys. What was going on? My first thought was Sloane. Had I upset her again? I thought the Toddster and I hit it off well. He wasn't as bad as I'd thought he was.

I replayed the day and tried to think of what I might have said or done to upset any of them. Nothing came to mind. I thought we had a great day.

When I got to her building, I went right up to their apartment and knocked.

"Come in," she said. "We can talk in my room."

I grinned. "Talk, huh? Why didn't you say so in the first place? I've been dying to talk to you all day."

When she turned to look at me, I was quickly set straight. She was pissed.

"Dora, what's going on?" I asked with genuine concern.

She gestured for me to sit while she closed her bedroom door.

"My father just paid me a visit," she said, her voice very controlled but I could hear the stress.

"I suppose he told you to get as far from me as possible." I sighed. "Or did he cut you off?"

"He had a lot to say," she said without sitting down.

I got up and reached for her but she shrugged me off.

"Isadora, what's going on? I know you didn't call me back over here because you're upset about your dad. You know he hates me."

"He said to ask you why you left last time?" she said, her words hanging between us. "Like he knew something I didn't. Does he? Why would he tell me to ask you what your price was?"

Guilt tore up my insides. Her eyes searched mine for answers I didn't want to give. The truth was a heavy burden, one that I had carried with me for far too long. I had planned on taking the secret to my grave, but now that she was asking me about it directly, I wouldn't lie to her.

I should have known her father would tell her when I didn't back off. The man hated me and would do anything to keep me from his daughter. It was bound to be used as a sword against our happiness, slashing us apart again.

"Your father didn't want me anywhere near you," I said. "He warned me away from you several times, but I never listened. I just assumed he was being a protective father, like I was with Todd. I never took him seriously and then one day he cornered me. It was a day after you and I had been out late."

"It was our last night together," she said, nodding.

"He told me if I didn't leave you, he would fire my dad," I confessed, the admission tasting bitter on my tongue. "We needed the money, Isadora. My dad was older. He wasn't going to find another job like that. He deserved to retire. I couldn't take that from him."

I saw the hurt and betrayal flash in Isadora's eyes, her face falling as the full extent of my deception sank in. I couldn't look her in the eyes.

"How much money did you take?" she asked, her words like a dagger to my heart.

I cringed inwardly, the shame of my actions threatening to overwhelm me. I had never wanted her to know about the money, to know the depths to which I had sunk to protect my family. But now, I knew that I could no longer keep the truth hidden. I could tell her, or her father would, and he would make it sound so much worse than it was.

"Twenty thousand dollars," I admitted, each word heavy with regret.

I watched as her expression hardened, her eyes filled with anger and pain. I had lost her trust, perhaps forever.

"I can't believe you would do something like that," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the pounding of my heart.

I deserved her anger, her disappointment. I had betrayed her in the worst possible way, and now, all I could do was face the consequences of my actions. I knew what it sounded like but there were extenuating circumstances. At least I found them to be extenuating. She might not.

"I'm sorry, Isadora," I said, my voice thick with emotion. "I never wanted to hurt you, but I didn't know what else to do. Please, forgive me."

I looked at the expression on her face and knew that forgiveness would not come easily, if at all.

"I didn't know what else to do," I began again, hoping I could explain my side of things. "My family would have been ruined. I was just a kid, struggling to make ends meet while I finished school. My parents couldn't help me, and I didn't want them to know what was going on. I knew my dad would have quit on principle."

"So, I'm worth twenty grand," she said with a shake of her head. "I don't know if I'm offended or impressed."

"I felt like I couldn't win no matter what I chose," I continued, my voice filled with remorse. "But that doesn't excuse what I did. I should have been honest with you from the beginning. I should have trusted that you would understand. This is no excuse either, but I didn't know what we were doing. I didn't know how serious you were about me. You were going to be going to college. I thought you would be better off with someone else like your dad said. He had made it clear he wouldn't allow us to have a future together."

Even as the words tumbled from my lips, I knew they offered little comfort to Isadora. I had betrayed her trust in the worst possible way, and now I had to face the consequences of my actions. I had dodged the bullet all these years and now it was catching up to me.

"Better off?" she spat. "Better off raising a baby on my own."

"I didn't know."

"No, and why would you?" she sneered. "You were long gone spending your twenty grand."

"I'm sorry, Isadora," I said, the words feeling inadequate in the face of her pain. "I never wanted to hurt you. Please, forgive me."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" she asked, her voice trembling with emotion. "We've talked about our pasts, Graham. I thought I knew it all. But I didn't. My father sent you away knowing about Sloane. He made sure I was a single mother. He didn't allow Sloane to know her father."

She had every right to feel betrayed, both by me and by her own father.

"I didn't know how to tell you," I stammered. "I was scared of losing you, of losing everything we had gotten back after being torn apart. I thought we could move on without digging all of that out of the past. I didn't want you to hate me, or your father for that matter. He's a garbage human being but he's still your dad."

"You had plenty of time over the last few weeks to tell me why you left," she shot back, her voice filled with anger and hurt. "But you didn't. You kept this from me, Graham. You lied to me. All this time I thought I was to blame for keeping Sloane from you, but now I realize you could have looked for me."

"I know," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "I'm sorry, Isadora. I should have told you sooner. I should have trusted you with the truth. I didn't look for you because I didn't want to know you married another man and were happy. I walked away and didn't look back because I was a coward."

Her icy silence was worse than any words she could've hurled at me. Isadora stood there, her eyes not quite meeting mine, her expression unreadable. I could see her mind working, processing everything I had said.

"I can't believe you kept this from me," she said. "You should have told me back then. You should have told me the other night when we were in bed."

"You're the master secret keeper around here, not me," I shot back, unable to hide my bitterness.

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me," I said, getting up from the bed. "You knew exactly where to find me as well. You kept my daughter from me for fourteen years!"

Her face twisted in shock and anger. "Don't you dare."

"You're the one still hiding our relationship from our daughter. Am I still not good enough for you? Looks like you're daddy's girl after all."

Pain flashed across Isadora's face, her eyes brimming with tears. But she didn't back down, didn't yield an inch.

"This is the exact reason I didn't want to tell Sloane," she said, her voice trembling with emotion. "Now she doesn't have to know her father would be willing to walk away from her for twenty thousand dollars. It wouldn't matter if it was a million dollars. It's the same thing. It'll hurt no matter the dollar amount."

Her words struck me like a blow to the chest, and for a moment, I was at a loss for words. Was that what she truly believed? That hiding the truth from Sloane was protecting her? Was she interviewing me to be a father to my own daughter? I realized she didn't want Sloane to know because she expected me to walk away. I was ready to go all in and she had kept one foot out the door.

"Just leave, Graham. Leave and don't come back."

I stared at her, trying to see a way through this tangled mess. Rational thought was difficult when my heart was shattering in my chest. I realized there was nothing I could say to fix this situation. She had chosen to believe the worst of me.

Without a word, I turned and walked out the door. I couldn't bear to look back, couldn't face the look in Isadora's eyes any longer.

My mind was a whirlwind. Anger, guilt, and regret all swirled around in my head, each one tearing me apart from the inside out.

I stepped into the elevator just as Isadora stepped into the foyer. I reached out to stop the doors from closing. I thought maybe she was going to stop me.

"By the way, I quit," she said before turning around and walking back inside, slamming the door behind her.

It was the final blow to our fragile relationship. Things had officially blown up. All I could do was walk away.

I watched the numbers descend on the elevator panel. My spirits sank with the passing of each floor.

Isadora's words echoed in my head, bouncing around until they were all I could hear. The thought of losing her and Sloane again twisted my heart. Nothing felt real. There was one person I blamed for this chaos—her father.

"Damn him."