Page 12 of Mask and the Magnolia

My father stares at me blankly for a few moments before he scoffs, “I know I didn’t hear you right.”

It’s now or never.“I turned down the internship at the hospital, and I have no intention of working there after I finish my graduate program.”

“And what, exactly, do you plan on doing when you’re finished if you won’t be employed by Reynolds Memorial?”

“I, uhm…” Flexing my fingers at my sides, I watch as my father stands, looming over his desk, and I have to fight the urge to back up. “I decided to take the open position at Blackhurst Ridge instead. It makes more sense with my degree, and?—“

“No.” He stands there glaring at me before he straightens up, tugs at his lapels, then buttons his suit coat as if what he says is final.

It’s not. Not anymore.

I shake my head. “You don’t get to say that to me anymore.”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t. I’m twenty seven years old, I’m an adult, and I’m perfectly capable of making decisions like this. I don’t want to intern at the hospital because I don’t want to be a medical doctor, which you would know if you actually talked to me, and not at me.”I have no idea where all of this is coming from but I need to run with it while I can.“I want to go into applied psychology, specifically criminal and forensic psychology, and I want to intern at Blackhurst because I think it’ll be a great place to get valuable experience in all of that.”

My father blinks at me, standing across the desk almost like he’s a statue, then he comes back to earth. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Shrugging one shoulder, I try to stay strong. “If it’s stupid, why maintain a centuries-old partnership with Carter Blackhurst? Isn’t that the entire point of what his family has been doing for the last few hundred years?”

“Leave Carter out of this.”

Which is code forour affair goes deeper than you know, his family is older than ours, and I’m not going to rock the boat even if I think his plans are ridiculous at best.

Sleeping with him or not, I know my father thinks Evie’s dad is crazy for doing what he does, and psychology, psychiatry, and rehabilitating the criminally insane are a total waste of time. Some days I think he doesn’t believe any of that is even real. So, his reaction is exactly what I expected so far, and I’m sure he won’t let me down as our conversation continues.

“I forbid it.”

I frown. “What?”

My father grabs his briefcase and tosses it on his desk. “I forbid it. I will not allow you to do work at Blackhurst, degree or not, and I’ll go right to the director myself if I have to.”

Considering Carter is the director, that was a stupid thing to say.

“Do you think Camden would want you working in a place like that?”

I flinch and immediately pull my left hand up into my sleeve. “I didn’t ask him.”

“Because you know he’d agree with me,” my father says smugly. “The only reason he allowed you to finish your degree was so the two of you could run Reynolds Memorial together when I retired. Only until you start having young, anyway.”

Gross.

Not only does the idea of sleeping with Camden Blackhurst make my skin crawl, having his babies because we actually bond has me wanting to vomit. I don’t care if he’s Evie’s brother, or the son of the guy who’s letting me intern where I want, Camden is disgusting, he’s an asshole, and I’d rather put a bullet between my eyes than mate him, contract or not.

Unfortunately, that’s the one thing I’m still working on because there doesn’t seem to be a loophole that gets me out of that bullshit. If I was an alpha, I wouldn’t have to worry about it, but I’m not, so I definitely have to worry.

“You forget,daughter, you have no say in how your final year is going to play out,” he says, his tone filled with an edge I don’t like. “I have you by your skinny little neck until you become Camden’s problem, and then your life belongs to him.”

Knowing this was coming, I pull my phone from my pocket, go to my files and pull up the part where the accidental loophole is written, take a screenshot and send it to my dad. “If you’ll readthe text I just sent, you’ll find that what you said is only true to an extent.”

His face falls as he scans his screen, but the look is quickly replaced by one of pure, unadulterated rage. “How did you find this?”

Hours and hours of trying to find a way out of my own personal hell.“I’m minoring in law. Something else you would have known had you taken an interest in more than my ability to keep the Blackhurst-Reynolds names unified.”

“I take it you’ve already put this in motion?”

I nod. “Like I said, I took the internship at the institution, which is not a breach of contract since it doesn’t statewhereI need to be a practicing doctor, as it also doesn’t state what kind of doctor I have to become as long as I become one.”

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