“Really? That’s hard to believe since she wasn’t even cold in the grave before you announced to everyone that you’re getting married to Barbra and you made her my caregiver. Did you even know that because of your mistake and reckless decisions, I’ve had to pay the price of Barbra’s wrath and schemes all my life. But you probably don’t care” I confessed coldly even though everything I said tore me apart.
“I care… Everything I did, I did for your sake. Sabrina coerced me into getting remarried and giving you a caregiver. I never wanted to, but Barbra presented herself as a friend of your mom’s and promised she would take good care of you. Your mother didn’t want you to mourn her death, so she asked me to create a distraction and keep you off track. Honestly, I think she also didn’t want me to be too sad about her death that’s why she wanted me to bring someone else in before she passed on. I could never understand her reasons for doing most things, but she would always say something like ‘my absence should remind everyone of my presence’. I would never cheat on your mother even after her death- I loved her and you were the most important thing in our lives.” He professed sadly.
How could he say I was the most important thing to him when he treated me like no less than just an asset to keep his company.
“It makes me wonder what your definition of importance is when you couldn’t even fight for what you said is important to you. Your wife kidnapped me from Minnesota all the way to North Dakota. I was missing for 4days straight and you didn’t even noticed, but I’m important to you? Of course, I’m as important to you as Castlehill, I’m as important as the feud you’ve had with uncle Tion that you tried to include Daniel and I into. I’m probably as important as a salad dressing on your dinner table which you order for but never seem to touch.” I disputed angrily.
“I’m so sorry that you were a victim in Barbra’s plot to insert herself and offspring into the Castlehill lineage. After I told her I won’t give her kids, she went frantic and started making mistakes- doing things that she’s not supposed to. I should have said something sooner, but I didn’t think you’ld notice that she was behind your abduction. I even made her swear to me after that she would never lay a finger on you ever again, unless she would have nothing of the Winfrey’s to her name.” My father stated firmly.
He was being honest for the first time since my mother’s illness started and it was strange. If ever he was sad about my mother’s death, he never showed it and neither did I.
It like we both have a twisted sense of grief management that turns us into cold unfeeling beings and eventually destroys our peace and happiness.
“So, you’re here for a restitution?… Dad, it would take more than these right here to restore our strained relationship.” I replied obnoxiously.
It’s been too long and I felt like the cement of reconciliation is long dried now.
“So what can I do to restore our relationship? I- I want to try. Sabrina keeps asking me to reach out to you- I know it’s crazy but it’s true. And even though I try to protect you in my own way- silently, it just seems like it’s driving us further apart from each. I… just want my son back, so tell me what I can do?”
“You can start by giving me answers to few questions that have been hunting me for a while now… Why did you have to send Daniel away? Why did you refuse to have kids with Barbra which by the way started everything I’ve suffered till date? And why do you hate the Luthel’s so much?” I ask insatiably wanting answers that my father have always managed to ignore all these years.
And suddenly he became tensed and somewhat nervous. I couldn’t understand why my questions threw him out of balance but I was ready for the truth.
“Ok… ok. Sabrina, Oscar, Judy, Tion and I were all friends when we were younger. Then I was dating Judy and so was your uncle but neither of us knew. Oscar was a big shot even before we entered junior high- being a member of the Verc, we were never short cash and ran Minneapolis like it was ours. Things started going down hill when Tion found out about me and Judy, so out of spite he started making passes at your mother. But Sabrina had feelings for me but I didn’t know that- not until about few years later. Things between Judy and I continued for months even after you uncle found out, and that made things between us even more grievous…” He started calmly.
“… and when your grandfather was on his death bed and shared his empire, Tion’s hatred for me grew even more. So, after high school I called your uncle in an attempt to make peace, and we made a pact not to date the same girl ever again. The plan was if we both like the same girl, we just have to let her go and not ask her out. But your uncle went behind my back and continued to see Judy in secret and she said nothing about it- she just went alone with seeing us both at same time. I shouldn’t have been so mad since Judy had this charm that draws people in, and no matter how hard I tried to stay away even after everything I knew, I just couldn’t. At some point I couldn’t blame Tion any longer, because he might just be as weak as I was. I knew Judy stuck around us because she wanted a piece of Castlehill and S. Group, so Tion promised her both and that’s where his obsession to get Castlehill from me started…” he continued and I just stood there frozen as my father narrated his past.
“… the fights and arguments got even crazier, so crazy we couldn’t see eye to eye on even little matters anymore, and slowly our group started growing apart. So I approached Oscar as the last resort, and asked him for a favor which was for him to man up and tell Judy that he liked her. I knew since junior high that Oscar had a secret crush on my girlfriend but never showed it, because he didn’t want to offend me. And I knew the only way to stop the madness between Tion and I was just to give Judy what she wanted with Oscar, so I pleaded with Oscar and he came through. Judy and Oscar didn’t hit it off immediately, in fact it got worse when she found out I had asked Oscar to ask her out. I had never seen her that upset and mad before, but that was when I realized it hadn’t been just her fault all along but Tion’s. She even transferred to another college after that, but still your uncle’s hatred towards me didn’t end especially since your mother decided to make her move on me. At first, all I wanted was to get over Judy and I told Sabrina about it but she still wanted me, so I reluctantly agreed to go on one date with her. Little did I know that one date would change my life and the way I viewed her…” he said dreamingly.
“… when Tion saw that I had started dating Sabrina, he came to me to remind me of the pact we made about liking the same girl, and I should end things with her since he approached her first. I was infuriated and abashed by his nerve, so I punched him on the nose and that sealed the deal. After that, Tion fought me every minute, tried to sabotage Castlehill and dragging me down with it even after he got married to someone else, and I married your mother. So many years later, Judy returned to Minneapolis and surprised us with the news of her engagement with Oscar, and they got married and had her twin girls. But she never really forgave me for asking Oscar to step in, and I knew these after Castlehill suffered great loss 2years ago and I had to ask her for help. Eventually, I started to fight back and that’s why I always tried to keep you and Daniel apart so Tion won’t have any leverage over you, but you two stuck to each other like glue. So, I asked Daniel to leave if he really loved you because his father would some day turn him against you, and by then you’ll be vulnerable because you trusted him. Even though Judy and Sabrina were best friends and she ended up marrying Oscar, I just always thought that things between your uncle and I wouldn’t have gotten so sour if she had just ended it with one of us. So, when you got married to Sophia and she started cheating on you, it just brought back the insecurities and anger I thought I had buried so deep. And about Barbra… I went for a vasectomy procedure after I noticed just how conniving and dangerous she was. The only way to keep you safe was to make her your legal guardian because if anything happens to you, she won’t get a dime from the family business or the family name since she has no child with me.
I’m so sorry I had to put you in that position, but I feared if she had you kidnapped who is to say she might not attempt to kill you if I didn’t do anything?” My father added as I just stood there in awe.
I had goosebumps all over at his cringe worthy story. I couldn’t believe the kind of secrets they had, so twisted and dark. But I knew one thing- I don’t want my story with Livy to be like that of our parents. I didn’t want any secrets between us that’s so twisted.
“Livy is not Judy, neither is she Sophia. Trust me, I’ve made the mistake of comparing them both and she is in every bit different. And she loves me regardless of how she might act- you wouldn’t understand. All I ask is that you be nice to her from now on… Daniel and I are not like you and uncle Tion, so please don’t hassle him anymore” I pleaded earnestly as I turned to leave.
It was nice that he finally opened up to me in an attempt to try and patch things up with me. So, as I took two steps passed him, I turned to him and asked with a charming smile,
“Hey dad? Maybe when I return from New York, do you think we could have dinner at the mansion like a family?”