Lured into Love (Blossom in Winter #2) - Melanie Martins Page 0,103
I tell him. He doesn’t say a word; instead, he just shakes his head. “I’ll say it’s a gift,” I add. “Not an engagement ring.”
“Whatever you tell them…” He turns back to look at me. “I don’t want any improper behavior at the dinner. Are we clear?”
“What does that even mean?” I ask, my tone defiant. “I know how to behave.”
I see Dad hesitating, before finally blurting out, “Your godfather will be there.”
My heart freezes, and I have to close my eyes for a second.
Those words. Those five little words. They have the power to crack and shatter me into a thousand pieces. After a month without seeing him, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say to him. That I hate him? Love him? Beg him to stay? Tell him to be happy in Singapore? No, I can’t tell him that. I want him to be happy, yes, but not in Singapore, or, at least, not without me there. I know it sounds selfish, but I can’t accept this fate, I can’t accept this outcome. Oh jeez, I just want to throw up.
“So he is really attending…” I mumble feebly, still trying to figure out what I should say or do once I see him. “I didn’t know he was in New York.”
“He just came back for this event,” Dad replies casually. “He’ll make an official announcement about his departure and announce the new CEO.”
A steep pain scorches my stomach, and I take a deep breath, taming the eminent desire to cry at the reality I’m destined to live. I cannot accept it. I can’t. I have to do something. My mind keeps ruminating about how to persuade Alex to run away with me and leave it all behind. This is my only chance before he goes miles away once and for all. Then I remember Latifa, the Emirati princess who tried to escape from her family and run away from Dubai. But her father ultimately caught her, and we have never heard about her again. Looking at my dad, I know he won’t hurt me, but I know if I try to run away, he’ll find me and bring me back to New York. And Alex knows that too. I might not be the daughter of a sheikh, but I feel exactly the same—trapped.
This is the real world, after all, where princesses are caught and brought back to their golden prisons to live some sort of happily ever after they didn’t choose.
Damn, how unfair life can be. Some people might not have money, power, status, or connections, but they have the freedom to be with whomever they want. Meanwhile, others have all the resources in the world, but don’t have such privilege.
“Here we are.” Dad’s voice shuts down my thoughts, and, after blinking twice, my attention goes to his face. As I observe the wrinkles well-settled around his tired eyes, his short gray hair, and his tux, I feel nothing but pity—pity because his obsession for reputation and glory makes him the perfect victim to those who know how to exploit it. As Matthew would say, “We are all products and victims of the society we live in.”
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I give him a side smile and just say, “You look great.”
Then I stare through the car window at the entrance of Gotham Hall.
I can’t believe he chose this venue again. How ironic, I think, shaking my head.
As the car stops, a valet opens the door and greets my dad. “Good evening, Mr. Van Gatt.”
Dad gets out of the car first, then offers a hand to help me out.
“Ms. Van Gatt,” the valet greets as I look instinctively around the entrance, already anxious and apprehensive.
Dad puts a hand on my back, gesturing the way to the front steps and door. “Shall we?”
Not surprisingly, as soon as we reach the ballroom, a thousand eyes alight upon us. But none of them are the ones I want. Dad smiles, and the crowd does the same in return. He shakes hands, and I’m introduced to a few people, from longtime clients to partners of other funds. I try to remember names and faces, but as I glance around and listen to the jazzy music, all I can think about is how Gotham Hall is the place where I saw Alex again for the first time and how, in a few hours, it will be the last.
Between the laughter and champagne, it feels like the end of a chapter—a chapter