Lured into Love (Blossom in Winter #2) - Melanie Martins Page 0,163

somehow. After all, Dad was the first person to tolerate our relationship. He was even the one who came with me to the Van Dierens’ and gave Alex a chance. I’ll never forget that. I guess most parents would’ve behaved just like my mom. The truth is, without his initial support, I have no idea what would’ve happened to Alex and me.

“Does anyone know you still visit him?” I ask.

“No one, except Sebastian.” Throwing a smile at me, Alex then adds, “And that’s a secret, Miss Van Gatt.”

“Mr. Van Dieren?” We follow the male voice coming from our left, and see Jason, the butler, approaching in our direction. And I’ve never been happier that Alex stopped me from going down on him a few minutes ago. Once Jason gets close enough, he says, “My sincere apologies for the intrusion, but, um, your dad would like to talk to you two. He’s at the main terrace. And it sounds like it’s urgent.”

“That serious?” Alex presses on.

“It seems so.”

I squint my eyes, perplexed and already quite curious. “Alright, let’s go, then.” After standing up, I check to see if my shorts are dry enough to wear them, but since they are still pretty damp, I leave them on the mattress to dry, and just take my iPhone with me. We follow Jason back to the main terrace, and as we enter, we find Hendrik sitting at the table with two other men I don’t recognize.

“Ryan?” Alex asks in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

I lean toward my fiancé and ask, “Who’s he?”

“My attorney,” he replies.

“Alex,” he greets in such a serious tone that it makes me shiver. What a contrast between them in suits and us in swim attire.

“Ryan came as fast as he could,” Hendrik notes.

Alex seems confused, just as I do. “But why?”

The two men exchange a stare, before Ryan announces, “Roy is accusing you of kidnapping his daughter. It’s in The New York Times.”

“What?!” we both shout at the same time.

“Yep, so I figured you might need some help.” Ryan hands me today’s newspaper, and my jaw drops as I read the headline, “Wall Street Titan, Alexander Van Dieren, Kidnaps Young Girl and Leaves the Country.”

“Kidnaps?” I snap, out of breath as I see our pictures printed next to such a ridiculous headline.

“Eric Bradford is leading the case,” Ryan tells us. Oh my God! Emma told me he was going to do something. But I never thought his revenge would be against me! “And they have his entire office looking for you both.”

“Fuck,” I hear Alex mumble as he starts looking at the article more closely.

I also read a few lines, enough for me to ask, “How can I be abducted by the man I love? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, according to the story, he abducted you to isolate you from your family and to prevent you from recovering from your OLD and depression.”

“I’m an adult,” I remind them. “I can be with whomever I want. This OLD is bullshit.”

“It might be, but they will use your current illness to claim you couldn’t consent and most likely to become your legal guardians.”

I freeze at the word guardian. “How can they do that? What kind of guardianship is that?”

“Most likely guardianship of an incapacitated adult under the Mental Hygiene Law,” another man sitting beside Ryan says.

I chuckle at the absurdity. “That is not possible, right?”

“I’m afraid it is,” Ryan replies back. “Under New York law, if the court decides you are mentally ill based on enough evidence, the judge can appoint a legal guardian to prevent you from doing anything that they consider, um, well, harmful.”

Evidence. Oh my God! I went on a hunger strike and confessed my suicidal thoughts to Dr. Nel. Could that be enough?

It feels like a nightmare, or in this case, a loophole for possessive families to keep controlling their kids when they reach adulthood. Trying to strip my freedom away as soon as I make one damn decision on my own? Breathing becomes harder as I look again at the headline, but I try to keep my composure. I hold myself up against the back of the first chair my hands land on, and focus on inhaling and exhaling.

“Are you okay?” Alex asks.

But I focus on my breathing as I feel my blood pressure slowly coming down.

Closing my eyes, I nod, but I don’t have the strength to talk. The palpitations in my heart are jumping off the chart at the idea that a