The Stranger's Wife | Rewritten

10 ⁓ Strange Desire

... Amelia ...

The sound of my phone vibrating on the white leather dresser cut through the quiet of the luxurious room, causing the makeup tutorial I had playing to pause in the background.

I wanted to look hot for my date with Hunter tonight, hence the tutorial. I could do spinal surgery, no problem, but beating my face and applying faux eyelashes was a bitch.

So, whoever was calling me better had a good reason.

I paused midway through my makeup session and glanced at the screen, my eyeshadow brush suspended in midair. An unfamiliar numbness settled over me when the phone kept ringing, showing the word 'Papa' on the display.

Why was he calling me? I wasn't ready to face him yet.

Oh, grow up, I scolded myself. He was my father and he was certainly worried sick about me. The least I could do was answer the goddamn phone.

And still, the phone rang and rang and I didn't pick it up.

How could he not tell me the truth? All those years I spent alone, an only child. I had a hard time making friends and it got worse when I turned into an adult. Mostly, I enjoyed my own company, but sometimes I got lonely and I'd think about Willem, about the stranger I married when I was seventeen.

At some point, the phone stopped ringing but then it started again, the ringtone seemingly louder this time around. Unable to ignore it any longer, I flexed my fingers before I picked it up and brought it to my ear.

My father's voice was gravelly and low and he sounded a lot older than I remembered. "Amy, my darling, why haven't you called? Is everything alright?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, holding back tears threatening to fall. "I'm fine, Papa. I'm so sorry. A lot has happened and I just needed some time to myself."

"Is Willem okay? You don't sound so well."

"We're getting a divorce, but he's fine. I think."

"That filthy son of a bitch! I knew it."

"Knew what?" Leaning forward, I brought the phone closer to my ear. My father wasn't one to curse.

"I never wanted this for you, Amelia. But your mother, she vouched for him. I told her, he wasn't ready, that he was too young, too rich." He paused and I imagined him squeezing his eyes shut behind his glasses. "His motives were ambitious but selfish."

That's when it clicked. What Willem had told me that night during dinner. "So you kept him from me all those years?"

"I was protecting you."

"From what exactly?"

"From yourself. You were seventeen, Amy. And your mother died the same day you met him and married him. People don't think straight when they're grieving."

I shook my head, feeling his betrayal deep in my core. "Yet you made a massive decision about my life while grieving without consulting me. If you thought I was old enough to marry him, then you should have told me the truth. I'm a smart girl. I'm sure I could have handled it."

"Maybe, but I saw the way you clung to him after your mother passed away. He spent two days there and you never left his side."

"He never left my side," I emphasized, messing up my afro updo with my hand, unable to keep my frustration at bay." You've got it twisted, Papa."

"You were using him as a replacement."

"What are you talking about? No one could replace Mom, no one." Tears spilled from my eyes just thinking about her. A drop landed on my exposed thigh and I wiped at it furiously.