Dad pushed back from the table. “Enough.”
“You want to know what I can’t handle?’ I leaned forward. “I can’t handle that you’re too much of a coward to remember her properly. You’re so scared of your own guilt that you’d rather erase her completely.
Dead silence fell over the dining room.
Victoria’s face went white. Daisy pressed closer to her, sensing the danger in the air.
Dad’s jaw worked like he was trying to find words that wouldn’t come.
“You’re a coward,” I said quietly. “A coward who betrayed the woman who loved him.”
The slap cracked across my cheek like a gunshot.
My head snapped to the side. Stars exploded behind my eyes. The copper taste of blood filled my mouth where my teeth had cut against my lip.
Victoria gasped. “Rodrigo!”
Daisy screamed. “Daddy, no!”
I touched my burning cheek. My fingers came away wet
– not with blood, but with tears I hadn’t realized were falling.
The dining room spun slightly. I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself.
Dad stared at his hand like he couldn’t believe what he’d done. “Sable, I-‘
“Don’t.”
I pushed away from the table. My legs felt unsteady, but I managed to stay upright.
Daisy broke free from Victoria’s protective embrace. She rushed toward me, small arms wrapping around my waist.
“Sableate, don’t cry!” Her voice cracked with distress. “Please don’t cry!”
She looked over her shoulder at Dad, brown eyes blazing with fury.
“You’re mean! You hit my sister! You’ll make her go away again!”
Her grip tightened around me. “Sableate is the best sister in the whole world. She brings me presents and reads me stories and-“
“Daisy.” I gently extracted myself from her arms. “It’s okay.”
‘But you’re sad!”
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. When I looked at Dad, something cold had settled in my chest.
‘I’m moving out today.”
The words came out steady. Final.
Dad took a step toward me. “Sable, wait-
‘Don’t.” I backed toward the doorway. “Just… don’t.”
I turned and walked upstairs to my room, closing the door behind me. My hands shook as I turned the lock.
The confrontation replayed in my mind as I moved through the familiar routine of washing my face and brushing my teeth. Dad’s hand striking my cheek. The shocked silence that followed.
There’s no coming back from this.
I pulled my suitcases from the closet and began folding clothes.
A gentle knock interrupted my packing.
“Sable? Mary’s voice carried through the door. “Child, may I come in?”
I unlocked the door. Mary entered with a tea tray, her face etched with concern.
“You don’t have to leave. She set the tray on my dresser. “This is your home.”
“No, it’s not.” I continued folding shirts. “It stopped being home a long time ago.”
Mary sat on the edge of my bed, watching me pack. “Your father… he’s carrying so much guilt. About your mother, about the choices he made.”
“That’s not my burden to carry anymore.”
“But running away won’t heal these wounds-
‘I’m not running away. I faced her directly. “I’m choosing to live somewhere I’m wanted.”
Mary’s eyes filled with tears, but she nodded slowly. “What can I do to help?”
‘Wait until they leave. All of them. Then help me get my things to the car.”
I listened from my window as car doors slammed in the driveway below.
The SUV’s engine started. Gravel crunched under tires as they pulled away.
Only then did I open my door.
Mary waited in the hallway, her face resigned but determined.
‘Let me help you with those bags.”
We carried my suitcases downstairs in silence. At the front door, Mary pressed a wrapped package into my hands.
“Your mother’s china set. I kept it safe all these years.”
Tears threatened, but I blinked them back. “Thank you.”
Mary helped load everything into my car. When the last bag was secured in the trunk, she pulled me into a fierce embrace.
“You call me,’ she whispered. “Every week. I need to know you’re safe.”
‘I will. And Mary?” I pulled back to meet her eyes. “I’ll come back to see you. This isn’t goodbye forever.”
She nodded, unable to speak.
I drove away without looking back.
A few hours later, I sat cross-legged on the living room floor of my new apartment. I’d managed to unpack the essentials – clothes, toiletries, Mom’s china carefully wrapped in tissue paper.
My phone rang, Scarlett’s name lighting up the screen.
She asked me out for a drink. I agreed before she even finished the sentence.
Perfect. That’s exactly what I need right now.
The Crimson Rose sat tucked between an antique bookstore and a flower shop on Blackwood’s main street. Red velvet curtains framed tall windows, and jazz music drifted onto the sidewalk through the open door.
I found Scarlett at a corner table, two martinis already waiting.
“You look like you need this.” She pushed one of the glasses toward me.
The gin burned pleasantly as it went down. “Long day.”
“Want to talk about it?”
I told her about the fight with Dad, about moving out, about the revelations from Mary. Scarlett listened without interruption, occasionally refilling our glasses from the pitcher she’d ordered.
“So your father’s been carrying guilt all these years, she mused when I finished. “No wonder he couldn’t stand to look at you. You reminded him of what he’d lost.
PAPER
“And what he’d betrayed.”
“Even with your mother’s blessing, he still feels guilty.” Scarlett swirled her olive thoughtfully. “That kind of guilt makes people do stupid things.”
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply