Page 72 of Celebrity

“Yes.” She lifted her chin. “You would hurt my babies, destroy everything they’ve worked for as a way to control them. I can’t stand by any longer. To my regret, I kept quiet when you threw our daughter out of our home. I should have said something long ago, especially after Devin begged you to be part of their lives. My baby married without me because of you. It ends now. I will not watch her have children from a distance. Devin is a better man than you’ll ever be.”

“How is he better? He kept her a secret. He went out with other women. She went out with other men. He lived with her like a kept woman. Do you think others didn’t know he was ashamed of her? If he loved her so much and was so much better than me, why did he hide her from his parents? She was his Indian whore, nothing more.”

My heart sank, and all the pain I’d worked to try and push back resurfaced. Papa was right. Devin had done everything he said. But what Papa couldn’t understand was that I was just as responsible for accepting the relationship I was in.

God, I wanted my mom to leave my father, and I’d stayed in just as shitty a marriage.

My eyes filled and tears spilled down my cheeks.

Devin squeezed my waist and then whispered into my hair, “I’m so sorry, baby. Forgive me.”

Then before I could respond to him, he turned and walked out the door. I wanted to follow him, to demand why he left.

“See, I’m right. That boy can’t face the truth. That’s why he ran away. Samina, you will forget this boy, forget this election, and come home.”

I clenched my fists. Papa was not going to win. He’d ruled so much of my life, even after I’d married and moved to Seattle.

“No. I’ll never return. Washington is my home. No matter what happens with my marriage, I will continue to live there.”

I scanned the faces of my mom, Ashur, Veer, Carol, Tyler, and Jacinta. They were my family. They truly loved and cared for me without conditions.

I tilted my chin up. “I love him. And no matter what you say, I will fight for my marriage until there is no hope.”

“What hope? Did you not hear a word of what I said?” Papa shook his head like I was some stupid girl.

“She heard you.” Richard came to stand by me and put his hand on my shoulder. “We all did. Samina deserves better. From all of us, especially you. What kind of father says and does the things you’ve done?”

“Don’t give me your sanctimonious bullshit.”

“Stop it now.” Carol rose, cocking a hand on her hip and pointing to the door. “It is time you left. And remember this, if you cause anyone in my family trouble, I will make sure you regret it. You’re not the only one with money or connections.”

Until that moment, I’d forgotten Carol was an heir to an oil fortune. She probably had more weight to her requests than Papa could ever dream of possessing.

“Are you threatening me?” Papa challenged.

“Yes,” Mommy answered, coming to my other side and slipping her hand into mine. “My money started your empire. I’m still majority stockholder. Don’t act so surprised. I know everything that goes on in the company. You hurt either of my children, I will fire you from the company you love more than your family.”

Okay, what was happening? Mommy and Carol were standing up to Papa without fear of repercussion.

God, I loved these women.

I had to stop this from getting worse. We all had enough to handle with the press outside.

“Papa, please.”

He ignored me and moved to the door. “You’ve made your choices.”

Without another word, he opened the door and walked out of the room.

Chapter Nineteen

“Shorty,let’s finish this so I can head home and get some sleep,” Veer said as he pulled me into the library to work on my announcement.

It had taken over an hour to handle the aftermath of my father’s departure. I was on the verge of collapse and shaking from exhaustion.

I hadn’t seen any sign of Devin since he left in the middle of the argument, and when I’d asked about him, Ashur informed me that Devin was handling media outlets who were contacting everyone we knew.

I guess it was a good thing I hadn’t seen him. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say when we had a moment alone.

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