DAD?!!

And with Mark Winters? Why?

I said to Tony softly, "I have to attend this. Please can you keep mum away till am gone??"

Tony had gone stiff on hearing dad's name. He got up from my shoulder looking fear stricken. However, he tucked his chin and raised his head in a nod and said quietly, "I'll see to it. Don't worry"

I smiled and gave him a quick kiss. Getting up, I asked Alice to take me to dad. She looked hesitant but nodded and led the way. What does dad want with mum? I thought all negotiation and talks are over. As long as he is not here to cause any trouble, it should be fine. I reached the parlor to see dad, seating on the couch looking absently at the drawing table and beside him.....who??

Dad was accompanied by a scrawny man with receding hairline and pointed features. He was dressed in a suit which looked bigger than his size and holding a handbag. On hearing me enter, Dad looked up. His expression remained unchanged. He looked me from top to bottom and said in a rough fading voice,

"Where's Ash?"

"What do you want with mum?" I asked trying my best to not sound accusatory

Dad face showed no change. He simply glanced at the scrawny man who quickly ruffled through some doc.u.ments in his hand bag, took out a sheet of doc.u.ments and handed me.

I cautiously took the doc.u.ment and for a second thought my eyes have stopped working. It was divorce paper. No wonder Mark Winters was not here, he was a defense lawyer, not family lawyer. So, this guy was dad's family lawyer? I looked up at dad, who had placed his chin on his interwined fingers. I thought dad would create a fuss over divorce and I would have to force him to it but he just simply gave in? Was there any scheme to it?

"Tell Ash I have signed it and I would like to settle it out of court. But if she wants to drag the matter into the court, I am fine with that" dad spoke dryly.

"Are you not gonna throw a fuss over it?" I asked blinking blankly

Dad raised his eyebrow, "Am not a kid to throw tantrum over minor issues!" he retorted

"Says the one who caused the entire drama of the kidnapping and blackmail over a mere issue of his son's love!!" I said, rolling my eyes

Dad glared at me which I returned. A heavy suffocating silence fell in the room. The scrawny man fidgeted, uncomfortably. I thought dad would argue back with that sharp tongue of his but he proved me wrong again. He only sighed and gestured the bony little man to leave. The man obliged and left us giving dad a slight bow.

"I haven't come over here to argue with you. Just give your mother the papers" he said, standing up and putting his hand behind his back

"I will. I hope there is no sche-"

"I didn't know it was wrong?" Dad said abruptly, interrupting me

"What?" I asked, blankly

"This is how I was raised. I gave up the one I loved to marry your mother as my parents wanted it. Dad always said that marriage was just a tool to continue the legacy. Emotions are for fools and that's what I believed" Dad said, not looking at me

I was not sure what to say. This was not the dad I knew. He was always strict, formal and distant. He never talked to me like a father but more like a Chairman of the Exquisite Hotels. But now it felt like he was for the first time talking to me like a father.

"Your mother told me once that you resemble her by face and me by character. That's not true. I didn't have the strength like you to fight for the one I loved" he said, his voice s.h.i.+vering slightly with emotion. I saw him ball his fist. He turned to me, his eyes back to being the steely eyes I was used to seeing. He spoke in the formal distant voice I was familiar with, "I will not ask for forgiveness from you or your Omega as I don't think what I did was wrong. But I do want to apologise to the kid, I never intended to involve him. He didn't deserve that"

He ended his talk and started walking out of the door. I was a little speechless at this sudden conversation that was so unlike dad. He had just reached the doorway, when I regained my speech. I turned to see his back to me and said in a tight crisp voice which stopped his quick steps,

"It didn't had to be like this dad, if you had only understood that business had nothing to do with marriage, then you could have very well been a part of our family. Marriage is union of two souls and business is a means of survival. You never got it and you never will. I can't forgive you for what you did to Tony. He too didn't deserve it and neither did you and Olsen deserved to walk away with it"

"Stephan" dad said in almost a whisper, "He denied bail"

My mouth fell open in shock, "WHAT?? That crooked old b.a.s.t.a.r.d chose jail over bail?"

Dad's face was hidden in the shadow of the door. He seemed a little weird. He spoke in an almost inaudible voice, "He told Sarah everything about her mother. Sarah was beyond furious over Stephan for keeping the truth till now. She told him that she will go to Germany to search for her mother's family and stay with them rather than staying with someone who cheated her all her life"

I never thought Sarah would take such a step but then again, she had alway been extremely stubborn. This rash decision of her, however, made me worried. She is neither in a great mental state, nor mature enough to go bouncing off to an unknown place. I can only hope she doesn't end up in trouble.

"Stephan....he laughed that it was bound to happen. So, now it's time for him to go back to the place which changed his life" Dad said and without looking back walked away.

I was left standing feeling more hollow and empty than I ever had. I had wanted Olsen punished so badly but now that he had denied bail, it somehow feels extremely unsatisfactory. It's like he is not punished because he deserved it but more like he chose to be punished at his own will. This doesn't feel like punishment anymore. This was not the ending I had wanted and I didn't know what to feel about it.