Chapter 4
Dad was still in his pajamas-clearly just rolled out of the hotel.
“This is a family matter. Sorry you had to make the trip.”
I looked at him, fury surging through me:
“Dad, she’s wearing Mom’s jewelry.”
But Dad didn’t even glance my way. Instead, he immediately spotted the wound on Quinn’s neck.
His pupils dilated as he rushed over to hold Quinn.
“Quinn, what happened to you?”
“Does it hurt? Do we need to get you to a hospital?”
Quinn said pitifully:
“Honey, this little bitch was picking on me. You have to stand up for me.”
Dad couldn’t meet my eyes and just kept comforting Quinn.
“It’s okay, baby. Let me bandage that up.”
Seeing that talking to Dad was useless, I went straight to the police for help.
“Officer, their assault on me was just livestreamed and recorded the evidence is solid! I need to pursue this through legal channels.”
Before the cops could respond, Dad exploded:
“Zara Rodriguez, haven’t you caused enough trouble?”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“She stole my earrings and attacked me, and you’re saying I’m causing trouble?”
Dad puffed up with false bravado, looking at his pretty young thing and suddenly feeling confident.
“If you hadn’t come to the office, how would an innocent, sweet girl like Quinn ever hit you? You brought this on yourself!”
“And now you have the nerve to call the cops and lie that Quinn bullied you? I don’t have such a shameless daughter.”
How could he say something like that with a straight face?!
He’s nothing but a gold digger who climbed to where he is by riding my family’s coattails.
These past few years with me overseas, he’d really grown some balls talking to me like this.
Blood kept flowing from my ear.
The officers exchanged looks, pieced together what happened, and said impatiently:
“Since this is family business, stop calling the police and wasting public resources.”
“Just apologize to your mom and we’ll call it even.”
I looked toward Dad through gritted teeth:
“She is NOT my mom.”
And never will be!
Quinn’s eyes filled with tears as she sobbed in Dad’s arms:
“Honey, I didn’t know she was your daughter, but she hit me-doesn’t that make her wrong too?”
The wound on her neck was still bleeding, making her look fragile and innocent.
Dad felt even more protective.
“Zara, come apologize to your stepmother. Quinn’s being generous by not holding this against you.”
My clothes were torn, my palms cut up by gemstone shards, bleeding drop by drop.
But I couldn’t feel the pain anymore.
My biological father was making me take the blame for something I didn’t do and apologize-all for his mistress.
My chest ached, but my mind grew clearer.
I walked up step by step and slapped both of these scumbags.
Then I snatched my earring back from the male coworker.
Quinn yelled at me angrily:
a
6
4
4 F
B
“So what if you’re my husband’s daughter?”
“I’m carrying your dad’s baby. All your family’s money will go to my child-you won’t get a damn penny, you little brat!”
I left the office without a word and called my driver.
Only after getting in the car did I pull out my phone and call Grandma.
“Grandma, I’m an adult now.”
“Those company shares you mentioned-I think it’s time I got them.”.
