Page 32 of The Pucking Grump

Thinking of his luxurious house, my stomach brims with indignation. The overpriced home, like every one of his properties, was bought by the salary he paid himself for managing me. I’m newly aware of the fact that I’ve let my father control every aspect of my career, so much so that no one else on our team has even thought to come out against him.

Finally, he says, “Expected to hear from you much sooner.”

I’ve been silent for almost a week, and there’s no joy in his voice now that he knows I’m alright. In fact, he’s exuding less emotion than a reporter would if I turned up in front of their office.

“I didn’t know you wanted to hear from me. Especially since you’ve been having so much fun running various stories by the press.”

There’s a sharp intake of breath on his end, and I understand why. I have never spoken to him this way before. For the most part, I rarely talk to him at all, except to agree to his orders.

Guess that explains why my life is in such disarray now.

“I did what I had to do as your manager.” He recovers quite nicely from his shock, voice stoic again.

“The right thing to do would have been to tell the truth.” My fingers are trembling on the phone, and I have to pause and take a deep breath. I have seen my father win countless arguments with staff all because he managed to rile them up into hysteria while he maintained a cool head. I can’t give him the same satisfaction.

“The truth, Faye, is that you’re going to marry Ben. When you eventually return from wherever you are hiding, you’re going to realize you’ve got no other choice. Your fans know that, even if it sounds like you haven’t accepted it.”

“You’d rather I marry a cheating asshole than be happy?”

Another sharp intake of breath. “That’s the difficult call I’ve got to make as your manager.”

“As my manager, you should realize that I hired you, not the other way around. You should wait for me to give you directions and not do whatever you think is best. This is my career, not yours.”

It feels like I have been waiting all my life to say that. When those words finally burst out of me, my shoulders sag with relief. For the first time, I’m standing up to him.

He remains speechless for a good minute. And then he finally says, with a sneer in his voice, “That’s one way to be an ungrateful brat. I tried everything to make you happy. Got your lazy ass fiancé to organize a romantic proposal. Got your stepmother to?—”

“And you wanted me to marry him even after you found out he was cheating.”

I’ve gotten over the fact that Blake thinks my romantic dreams are foolish but hearing that my dad feels the same way comes with a different kind of hurt. Especially since he used this knowledge to manipulate me into staying in a fruitless relationship.

“That’s the tough call I had to make if you were going to be successful. Like organizing that silly wedding. You think I liked running around checking for flowers and whatever else? But those are the tough decisions I had to make, and it gave you this career. You wouldn’t be half as successful at belting out cringey love songs if it weren’t for me.”

I’ve heard a variation of that statement on repeat ever since I became famous. This time, I have an answer ready. “Well, I guess now’s as good a time as ever to find out if that’s true.”

“What do you mean by that?” He sounds almost apprehensive.

“You’re fired.” Damn, that felt good.

Another few seconds of silence. And then, he says, “No, I’m not.”

“That’s not your call to make. And if you liked your job so much, you should have thought of that before announcing to the world that I’m mentally ill.”

“I did it for you,” he spits through gritted teeth.

“Is that what you tell yourself?” Even though I resist it, my hurt at his behavior is breaking through, causing me to raise my voice. “You shoved me into this industry and since then, you’ve used me to make yourself wealthy. I’m sick of you ruining my life.”

“I’ve made you wealthy. And famous,” he spits. “Every single thing you enjoy is because I took your career seriously from the time you were seventeen. It became my career, too. And if you think you’re going to get rid of me that easily, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Trepidation spills down my gut. He’s lying, I tell myself now. There’s absolutely nothing he can do to remain as my manager if I don’t want him to.

He seems to be reading my thoughts. “I take it you’re considering going online to share your own side of the story? About how Ben is nothing but a horrible cheat.”

“The true side of the story.”

“Well, let me explain why that’ll be a bad idea.” I can almost see his leer. “When you disappeared and failed to reach out, I knew that I had a blank check. I could paint any picture I liked. I could have told them pitiful things about you, things that would be valid reasons to call off the wedding. But I had a feeling you were going to do this, so . . .”

Dread settles in me. Of course. I don’t even need to hear the rest of his explanation to know what he is driving at.

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