Page 66 of Pucking Secret

The games, the Ice skating recitals, the bedtime stories. All the little things that make up a childhood — things I’ll never get back. I wasn’t there to hug her after a bad day or tell her she’s brave when she’s scared.

I rub my hands over my face, trying to block out the images, but they keep coming. Millie’s laughter, her tears, her milestones—all of it, lived without me.

Shaking my head, I force these thoughts aside. It’s all too gut-wrenching to consider right now.

I need to confront Stacey, but I’m not mentally prepared for that yet, so the next best thing is to try and determine how Gerald will react to all this. He wouldn’t go so far as to arrange for any physical harm to come to Stacey or Millie — I’m pretty sure — but there are other ways he’d try to ruin their lives. Emotional manipulation, financial attacks… anything to keep my “bastard” child from ruining the pristine Weston image.

My phone suddenly buzzes again, startling me, and I scramble to pick it up from where it’s lying on the floor. For a moment, I think it has to be Stacey, and my heart races with a mix of dread and excitement. The excitement quickly vanishes, when it’s Gerald’s name flashing across the screen and not hers.

What the fuck? It’s like I’ve somehow managed to conjure him just by thinking about him too much. I don’t want to answer, but I think about Elise and how upset she was when she called this morning, and I release a long groan and accept the call.

“Gerald,” I say in a tight voice. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” he snaps, sounding pissed. Not that I was expecting anything else. “After blowing off my calls for weeks, all you have to say is ‘what’s up?’”

“I’ve been busy with the team,” I say, knowing he won’t believe me.

“Don’t bullshit me, Owen,” he scoffs. “When I agreed to let you go to the States, the expectation was that you continue to fulfill your duties to this family. Just because you aren’t here doesn’t mean you can avoid them.”

I grit my teeth, irritation flooding through me. God damn it, I really can’t deal with this right now. There are more important things I need to be focusing on than this asshole. Unfortunately, I’m not naive enough to really believe ignoring him will make him go away and leave me alone.

Still, I’m too on edge as it is and my temper gets the best of me. If I’m going to unleash my anger on someone, why not Gerald? Honestly, all I’ve wanted to do over the years is lay into him about how he’s totally fucked up my life, so this is going to feel really good.

“I’m not even a Weston,” I hiss. “Your family’s drama shouldn’t be my problem.”

“Enough of that!” he barks. “Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, you are part of this family… legally, if not biologically.”

“I didn’t ask for that! If you’d tried adopting me in the States, I’d have been considered an adult and you wouldn’t have been able to without my consent. It’s total bullshit that I’m forced to be part of your family just because eighteen is still considered underage up there. It’s a fucking technicality, nothing more!”

“A technicality is all I needed.” His voice goes cold and I feel a shiver travel up my spine. “You can refuse to go by the Weston name, and you can try to run away to the States, but you can’t escape your obligations to this family, Owen. To me! I pulled you and your mother out of a life that would’ve been spent scraping by, paycheck-to-paycheck. I’m the reason for every opportunity available to you. Do you really think you’d be where you are with your career if not for me? Not a chance! You owe me everything you have, Owen.”

“I don’t owe you shit!” I shout, squeezing my phone so hard in my fury I’m surprised it doesn’t crack. How dare he! Throwing his money in my face and acting like he’s my goddamn savior. Asshole! “I’m where I am because I’ve worked hard and have the talent. Maybe you made it easier for me to get noticed early, but I’d have made it here, with or without you and your fucking money.”

“You ungrateful little prick.” Gerald’s voice is getting louder. Angrier. Just like mine. “You’re going to do what’s expected of you and marry Elise. That’s it. If you continue to fight me on this, you will regret it.”

It’s always the same. If he doesn’t get his way with me, he starts to make threats. They’re never specific, but I can read between his words: Fall in line, or he’ll toss my mom to the curb. He’s enough of a bastard that I believe he’ll do it, too.

I’ve spent so long doing everything I can to protect my mom’s happiness and uphold my promise to my dad…but now I’m realizing that I’ve neglected to uphold the second part of that promise. Dad wanted me to be happy too, but I wasn’t happy. Not until Stacey came back into my life and realized how much I still felt for her.

I sacrificed my own happiness to keep Gerald from breaking my mother’s heart.

Who the fuck cares anymore, though? I’ve more than enough money to take care of Mom if Gerald leaves her. Yes, she’ll be devastated, but once she finds out she has a granddaughter…

“Gerald, you can go fuck yourself. I’m done with you and your bullshit.”

“You son of a bitch…”

A sudden knock on my door steals my attention.

Without thinking, I hang up on Gerald and toss my phone on the couch. There will be repercussions for that later, I’m sure, and I cringe thinking of what those will be, but I’ll worry about it later. I’m done with our conversation.

I cross to the door and look out the peephole. My heart stops when I find Stacey standing out in the hall.

I immediately grab the doorknob and yank it open, sweat breaking out along my brow. Stacey’s eyes go wide as she stares up at me, almost like she’s surprised I answered the door. She looks exhausted. She has dark circles under her eyes and her face is even paler than usual. She’s dressed in yoga pants and a black sweatshirt, and her hair is hastily pulled back into a messy ponytail that’s already halfway fallen out.

“Oh, hey,” she says sofly, her fingers fidgeting with the sleeves of her sweatshirt.

For a moment, I just stare at her. I’m so worked up from my conversation with Gerald — and still so confused andheartbroken about being kept from Millie — that I’m not sure what to say to her.

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