Page 45 of Lost Petal

“Yes, she will,” he says. “That’s always been the plan. For her to continue the family’s business. Ain’t that right, darling?”

He locks his arm around her shoulder, pulling her too close for comfort while she throws me a pained smile.

I want to jump between them, to rip her apart from his overprotective arm. I want to see that untainted smile again, the one she wore before her father entered the room, before she was reminded of the sad existence she’s forced to lead at his side.

I can’t let this happen. I shouldn’t.

The shop door opens again, announcing another customer. But I can tell that it must be a familiar face even before turning around. Robert’s face lights up instantly, and there’s a flash of recognition on her face as well.

And sure enough, the person entering the shop is no stranger, not to me either.

“Christopher!” Robert exclaims, letting go of his daughter to welcome the intruder.

A tall and slender man comes to a halt right next to me, dressed in a trench coat and a dark flat cap that hides his blond hair. He’s almost as tall as me, but still has to look up just a tad when his light blue eyes meet mine with visible disdain.

“Good to see you, Robert,” he says, taking off his hat and shaking Robert’s hand before he turns back to me. “Jayson. What a surprise.”

“He was in the area.” She repeats my lie, stepping closer, as if she wants to protect me.

She has always been sensitive to the resentment that poisons the air between me and both of these men, especially the latter.

But it never stopped her from caring for all of us. Or so I want to believe.

I watch as Christopher hugs her just like I did, lifting her up on her toes while enclosing her in a tight grip that sends fiery stabs through my jealous heart.

It’s hard to read her in regard to him; it always has been. She neither seems to mind nor care for his embrace, and I can’t help but notice that her eyes wander right back to me after he lets go of her.

Maybe it started in that very moment. That moment when she looked at me with those troubled eyes, sending an unspoken plea of help that wouldn’t really find its voice until much later.

But it may have started right then and there.

Maybe that’s when she became my Petal.

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