Page 41 of How to Win the Wild Billionaire

“So why didn’t you change courses? Do something else?” Digby demanded, standing up again.

Ah, that. Bay winced, took a sip of her beer and rested her bare feet on the seat of the chair opposite her. After helping herself to a juicy black olive from the bowl next to her, she popped it into her mouth and slowly chewed. Damn, they tasted good, like the ones she had on Lesbos two years ago.

“The short answer to that is that I didn’t change courses because I’m damn stubborn, especially when it comes to anything to do with my parents.”

“What’s the long answer?”

Bay picked the paper label from her bottle. “My dad’s first choice for his three daughters was for them to leave school and marry. That’s what good girls did, what my oldest sister, Jane, did. And if they did want to get a qualification, then becoming a nurse, teacher or secretary was acceptable...just.”

“Does he know it’s the twenty-first century?” Digby demanded.

Bay smiled. “Anyway, what my dad didn’t bank on was that his two younger daughters would inherit his brains.”

Bay wrinkled her nose. “Not meaning to brag but school was easy for me, as it was for Layla. I got a full academic scholarship to Foresters and so did Layla, a year later.

“I skipped a year of school and graduated early. My father wanted me to teach—I thought I’d rather put my head in an oven. In a fit of pique, I decided to show him I could do what he does, so I applied to join the Faculty of Engineering. I was admitted and I thought he’d blow a gasket. What did women know about engineering? I wasn’t suited, I would drop out, I was wasting my time...”

“But you stuck it out.”

“Never been so bored in my life.” She didn’t bother to tell him that she’d graduated third in her class and briefly considered doing her MBA. “He was ridiculously angry that the firm he worked for offered for me to join the company when I finished my postgrad degree.”

“I bet.”

Digby whipped the burgers off the grill onto a plate and swiftly started to assemble them from the ingredients he’d prepared earlier. Lettuce, tomato, pickles, fried onions, what looked like spicy mayonnaise.

She placed a hand on her stomach, realizing how hungry she was.

“As soon as I graduated, I immediately enrolled in a course to do a diploma in interior design. When I got that, I rewarded myself with a holiday in Thailand. Then I went to Vietnam, then to Cambodia and basically, I kept traveling for six years. I was so damn happy to be away from Cape Town, from everyone but Layla.

“At some point during my travels, I realized I was wasting my energy on my father and that my anger was destroying me, not him. It was just so damn hard to stop being angry at him.” Bay stared out to sea, her thoughts a million miles away. “I saw him, you know. A day or two before I first met you.”

Digby frowned. “Really? What did he want?”

“He told me that he wanted Liv, that I would be forgiven if I just handed her over. That I could be part of the family again if I agreed.” Bay rubbed her fingertips across her forehead. “I was, sort of, tempted. I could give them Liv, I could go back to traveling and I’d have my family back...”

Bay darted a look in Digby’s direction but there was no judgment on his face. “So, why didn’t you?” he asked, his voice remaining even.

“Because I knew that he was using Liv to manipulate me, to get me to, finally, fall into line. My father doesn’t like being bested, especially by a woman.”

“How did you beat him, Bay?”

Bay picked a slice of gherkin and slowly chewed it as she pondered his question. “That’s difficult to explain. By being as stubborn as him, I guess.”

She hesitated before continuing. “I’ve told you that he was racist and misogynistic and I hated his views, but it went deeper than that. I mean, I loathed the fact that he had such antiquated views and we had screaming arguments about his inability to consider another point of view. But what really hurt me terribly was that he couldn’t love me if I didn’t have the same opinion as him.”

“What do you mean?” Digby asked, pushing a plated burger over to her.

“Before I left for Foresters, I was his favorite girl. I adored him and he adored me too. We spent so much time together—I loved being with him. And when he’s not being a jerk, he can be engaging and rather wonderful.”

Digby picked up his burger, took a bite, his eyes and all his attention on her.

“But after I started challenging him, he withdrew. We had a dozen vicious arguments and hundreds of minor ones but instead of trying to understand, he punished me by distancing himself from me.”

“I’m so sorry, baby,” Digby murmured.

Bay folded her arms across her chest, her need for food gone. She stared at the dark sea, listening to the waves crashing. Thinking about her parents and the upcoming custody battle made her throat close and her lungs feel like they were being squeezed in a vise.

She couldn’t lose Liv, she couldn’t...

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