A TWIST OF FATE || Rewriting

Ch. 46 || Father & Daughter

Zaria 🌹

I nervously knock on the door of my father's bedroom. Turning my head slightly to the left, I take a final glance at Damien who is standing at the end of the corridor.

"I'm right here." He mouths. I nod in response and exhaled a deep breath, hoping this would go according to our plan. Him being here helps but my nerves still exist.

I hope he gets what he is looking for in my father's study room while I distract him with chit chat, mainly pretending to be on my father's side.

Within a minute, he opens the door with a confused look on his face. I don't usually meet him often ever since I've moved out. Actually, I only come here when I am called. We barely even talk on the call, so my sudden appearance has caught him off guard. After the dinner, he probably believed we left the house.

Let's just pray he is willing to talk to his youngest daughter for a while.

My anxiety threatens to rise but I take a step inside the room without him giving me permission.

"Why are you here?" He asks immediately, shutting the door behind us.

"Well, I'll get straight to the point." I take the armchair near the window and sit down, showing confidence and braveness. On the inside, I am anything but.

"I know what you did to my mother." My voice comes out stern, for which I am grateful. I am not good at confrontations that involve the man in front of me, but this question has plagued since the moment I got to know the truth.

His facial expression falls before he collects himself and fakes a smile. "The only thing I did to her is love her."

Rage starts to burn little flames on my skin but I don't flinch or even bat an eyelash. This man killed my mother and now is lying straight to my face.

"Lies." I huff and roll my eyes.

His eyes fall and he sits on the edge of the bed. His expression turns to dread and the signs of aging on his face becomes more profound.

At the mention of my mother, he looks like the father I thought I knew years ago. But I don't let this falter me. I lost my dad the day I lost my mother. This man is just a shadow of that past. I am not allowed to believe him.

"No, Zaria. It's not a lie. I really did love your mother. I know Lex told you his side of the story, but do you want to hear my side?" Surprisingly, his tone was gentle and regretful.

I don't know what he is about to say. I was so little when that incident happened, Thia used to tell me about how my dad was before we lost our mom. She told me that my father was genuinely a nice person, he loved us, cared for us and did not treat us less than a princess.

He has been a monster since the day he lost his wife. I remember those days very faintly, as much a 6 year olds' memory goes, which isn't much.

I always had a hard time believing that because I only ever saw the evil in him. Not a father who cared for me.

Not waiting for my response, he continues, "When she went outside to find Zayn, she didn't come back. But I still waited for her and when I finally lost my patience, I went to look after her. I saw she was holding Lex and I rushed towards her but suddenly, a wolf attacked her. To save her, I fired the gun on the animal but it hit my wife's heart. The animal ran away, so did my little boy and I was left with your mother's... her lifeless body in my arms."

His words come out forced, as if it really hurts him to remember that day let alone speak of it.

I swallowed the sob that was threatening to break free. I shut my eyes briefly to prevent from shedding a tear. I'm done feeling helpless. Life is not fair to me, so I'll not be fair in return.