Page 30 of Wish I Didn't Want You Back

My back straightened. “Then stop treating me like I am a five-year-old having a temper tantrum. Does my happiness not matter to you at all?”

He didn’t even try to pretend to care about me. I expected him to be mad, but this was on a whole other level. One that I would never understand.

“This is business,” he said coldly. “There are worse people for you to marry than Baz Zimmerman. You have known him foryears. You are acting like I tried to marry you off to a stranger in a foreign country.”

“Dad, I don’t want to fight with you. I came here because I needed some space. My intention was to go to the lake house. But it’s flooded. I’d like to take some time and get the house repaired and figure out my next steps. I can work remotely once I get the rest of my things.”

He unbuttoned his suit jacket and placed his hands on his hips. “You won’t be working remotely, because you’re fired.”

I felt the floor tilt beneath my feet. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I worked my ass off for that job. I’ve spent years proving myself, fighting for every opportunity that was put in front of me.

“You are seriously going to fire your own daughter?”

He was punishing me. Plain and simple.

“I don’t want to fire you, but you’ve left me with no choice.”

Brooks scoffed because we both knew he wasn’t giving me a choice. He was giving me an ultimatum. “You’re a piece of work, you know that.”

He wanted me to cave. He was playing hardball, like I’d seen him do in the boardroom.

I shook my head, standing my ground. “I’m staying here in Marcellus Falls until the repairs are finished on the lake house.”

“No, you’re not,” he barked.

“Mom put that house in trust for me.”

His lips curled. “Which you only get if you are married, which you are not, may I remind you.”

I shifted on my feet, because damn it, he was right. That house was left to me by my mother. It had been in her family for decades, but there was a catch. I had to be married in order to inherit the property. Until that time, it would be held in a trust. At first, I thought it was messed up until I learned why she did it.

She was worried that my dad would try to hold the property over my head or sell the house from under me. However, if I were married and had someone to stand up for me, then it would make it harder for him.

I guess she knew him well.

“I am your daughter. Why are you trying to make things difficult for me?”

Why couldn’t he be a normal father and want what’s best for me? Why did he have to be such an asshole?

“Just because you’re my daughter doesn’t mean you’re entitled to that house.”

This was my punishment for going against him.

“You don’t want anything to do with that house.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Maybe I’ll sell it.”

It felt like I was going to puke. My mom inherited the lake house when my grandmother passed away. She wanted me to have a place where I could feel safe. Where I could breathe. It was my last connection to her, and I would not allow him to take it from me. “Mom did not want you to have that house. That’s why she set it up the way she did and had her lawyers handle everything.”

“Who do you think paid the taxes and handled the upkeep on that property when we were married? I did. Maybe this will be a good way to earn back some of my investment.”

Oh, my God. He was actually serious.

“That house is legally mine. You don’t have the authority to sell it.”

I would be calling Molly as soon as he left. There was no way he would get his hands on the only thing I have left of my mom. Because if anyone could find a loophole, it was him.

“I’ll tell you what? I’ll make a deal with you. Come home and marry Baz, and you can have the house today.”

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