Forever Mine (ROYAL RIDERS SERIES BOOK #2)

28| Hate

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Hate

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Chapter 28: Hate (Michael's POV)

Amelia and I heated up and served dinner but it didn't look like any one of us would be eating tonight. We've been sitting here for at least fifteen minutes and the food Callum brought is still untouched. 

He's hardly acknowledging me and I know what I did was wrong and I understand why he hates me so much but it still hurts to see it. It hurts to see a man- who I thought of as my dad- hate me and suddenly treat me like nothing. 

Sometimes, I thought Callum was closer to my dad than uncle Mason ever was. Uncle Mason has raised me, provided for me, and done everything, but it was always in the back of my head that he's just my uncle. At times, I would think he's only taking care of me because he has to. My custody went straight to him because there was no other family that we had. I had no grandparents in New York, no other aunts or uncles, nothing. He never made me feel unwanted and he did treat me like a son too. But I knew it was by default. 

I don't love him any less because of that, or respect him any less either. It's just something I know and can't ignore. 

But with Amelia's dad... He had no reason to take me under his wing the way he did. After that first Christmas I spent with them, every single holiday was spent there. Spring break? With her family. Thanksgiving? With her family. Christmas? Also with her family. And summer break? During summer break we went on vacation with her family. Sure, they didn't stay the whole time, it was more of a holiday for Lia and me, and they joined us. Callum is the closest I've come to having a real dad anymore. I used to call him 'Dad' too. Now, I can't even call him by his name. 

"What are you doing, Amelia?" he finally asked, looking at her. 

She looked up from the counter and met his eyes. 

Callum shook his head softly. "Why are you doing this to yourself? You're going back to the same guy that broke your heart. Beyond repair, at one point." 

She nodded softly. "At one point, yes. But we didn't communicate, Dad. There were things and reasons that he didn't know and things and reasons that I didn't know. And now, for the first time, everything poured out." 

"I don't care, Amelia. I don't care what he should have told you then but he's only telling you now. I don't want to see my daughter getting hurt again. I don't want you to see him. And you know I'm not telling you what to do. You're an adult and I trust you with your decisions, but as your father, it's my job to suggest what I think is right and wrong, to help guide you. That's all I'm doing." 

"I know that, but... I can't do what you think I should, Dad. I love him." 

"Even now?" 

"Yes, even now. Even after years of being apart, even after everything he did that hurt me, yeah. I still love him all the same." 

He sighed, turning to me. "And you? Don't you feel even a little guilty? Don't you think you should just let her be for once instead of toying with her heart?"