But apparently your name is the first one popping in my mind after two bottles of whiskey and too many cigarettes to count.
How is the Ivy League, smart girl? Is it everything you dreamed of or more?
Hopefully it’s the former; otherwise, it sucks to be you stuck with a scholarship and all.
You always sent me letters when you wanted to share something profound with me, and why not return the favor? Although in my case, it’s a hideous truth that I’ve finally had to face.
Without disclosing my real name—you really don’t need this kind of trouble in your world, darling—my father just announced to me he gave shares of our company to his three adopted children. As in made them shareholders.
Can you fucking imagine it?
He built the company on my mother’s money, and now he makes the kids of his mistress—never for a second will I believe he wasn’t screwing her while Mom was sick—have almost the same say in it as me!
The stepmother dearest has two daughters and one son, each one of them now eligible to run for CEO.
This company is my legacy, my mother’s legacy, and Dad thinks it’s fucking okay to give them a chance with it?
Fuck him and his new family. Never liked his wife before, and now she is permanently on my shit list.
It also means I’ll have to work my ass off even more to get my rightful place and prove to my dad I can double our profits before he gives it to his stepson, Charlie, who will bankrupt it in a year. He wouldn’t know what a good deal was even if it hit him.
But that’s not what makes me so furious, not really.
It’s the fact that all these actions, him putting his new family above me and Mom, prove to me that what he said his entire life is bullshit.
He told me that love happens once in a lifetime, that my mom was a gift from heaven to him and he cherished it so much.
“Live a good life so that God will grant you a good woman who loves you unconditionally, son.”
This coming from a man who married another woman in less than a year after my mom died.
Everything he ever told me is a lie, down to the fact that he loved me. For who destroys his child like that after he sent him abroad, because his wife couldn’t deal with my hostility anymore?
You know what, P?
Someday, I’m going to take away his company and rule it like the heartless dick that I am.
And you know why?
Because my dad ripped my heart to shreds.
I thought only death could take away your parents; I was wrong.
I lost my dad the minute he forgot about his family and accepted someone else’s.
Best,
Zach
P.S.: I might sound like I have daddy issues, and shouldn’t I snap out of it by this age?
But the fact is, I don’t have them.
I accept my father’s choice and don’t long for the connection. I’m not a lost ten-year-old boy anymore.
But he crossed the line when he touched my mom’s legacy.
24 hours later
To: Zach
From: P
I know I’m supposed to say something, but I don’t really know what.
Or maybe I do?
Let me start with the fact that I was really surprised to see an email from you. Truthfully, I thought our conversations ended with the letter. And also… thank you for your gift.
Still wearing it, although it’s super flashy, but I’m afraid to leave it alone. Someone might steal it. Attached is the photo of it on my neck (in case you think I’m lying).
College is great, and I’m having the time of my life here—like a fish in water, so to speak. And people are so nice. Well, they are nice, because I found my tribe. I even got a job at the university library plus tutor kids three times a week. So I’m not starving, have clothes to wear, and my school is paid for.
And for your information, choosing a medical profession was one of my best decisions. I always sit in classes with my mouth hanging open.
Let’s go back to the topic at hand though.
I’m not going to get into the whole family dynamic and what your father did with sharing your legacy with his other kids (Like it or not, he is their father now. So he is trying to protect them the way he does you. Which sucks for you, because you think you are his only child. But the truth is… you are not.)
But I have something to say about your comment about love.
Do you have proof of your father dating someone else while your mother was still alive? I bet you don’t.
Could your father be wrong when he told you that a man loves a woman only once?
I think it’s a very limited way of thinking, don’t you? That we only love once in this life, as if we are incapable of feeling the emotions twice or three times, only because we promised to love someone forever.
I’ve never loved anyone (even my current boyfriend, who is great, but I don’t think he is the one or anything) so I’m not an expert on the subject.
What I do know though… is that we are capable of more things than we expect. We are capable of falling in love again even if we lost our first love.
Your dad loved your mom, but she died, Zach. He met someone else and fell in love. Sometimes, people have no control over that, even if the voice of reason tells them it’s wrong (like him not waiting even a year to marry her, for example.)
Why are you punishing him for it? Is it a sin to fall in love again, even if you think it’s impossible?
Shouldn’t you be happy he has someone to share this life with and not be… I dunno… sad?
All of us have certain beliefs and prejudices. We think we know how everyone is supposed to live, because we have our set of rules and laws that we religiously abide by.
But the funny thing about life and fate? It likes to prove us wrong.
What we think now might change in the blink of an eye tomorrow.
As for him choosing the other family… your father loves his wife and must love every part of her; her kids are part of her. For him, they are his kids.
Maybe if you talked to your dad about your feelings (I’m not sure guys do that, but who knows?), you might discover some unexpected truths.
Bottom line is…
Life is so unpredictable, short, and beautiful that it’s a crime to put limits on emotions.
I know this is probably not the answer you were hoping for (My friends never complain to me about parents, so I’m not sure what you wanted anyway. Maybe support like “hell yeah, your dad is an ass”?), although I think you should really talk to your dad.
Don’t do anything you might regret in the future.
Best,
P
P.S.: That being said, I don’t know your family. So maybe you are right, and they are all a bunch of assholes who don’t deserve shit from you.
P.P.S.: If you want to conquer the world, stop drinking into oblivion too. I mean… you wrote to me. You must have been really far gone. Think about that!
Phoenix
I startle awake when someone grips my arm gently. My hackles rise and I tense inwardly, my hands slipping under the pillow where I hid a kitchen knife in case shit like this happens, only to…
Slide it along leather?
My eyes open wide and I sit up straight, blinking in confusion at the spacious expensive car with its engine running loudly and heat blazing at me from every corner, not letting an inch of my body get cold.
The driver sends me a smile through the rearview mirror while the man next to me removes a lock of hair from my face, hooking it behind my ear. His thumb slides to my chin as he lifts it up a little, asking me with his husky voice that snaps away any sleep I have left, “Are you all right?”