NADINE’S P.O.V
My father was seated in one of the common areas. He was wearing a large jacket with an insignia on it that I couldn’t make out, his hands were folded in his lap and he had a frown on his face. He sat with his spine straight and turned down his nose at everyone who walked by.
It was true that so things never changed.
I exhaled deeply, calming myself before making my way over to him. When he saw I expected a smile or sothing to show that he was happy about my presence but instead, he frowned, his expression bordering on annoyed.
"You’re late," he drawled, crossing his arms over his chest. "You should have been here five minutes ago."
"You’re lucky that I’m here at all," I shot back as I lowered myself into the seat opposite him. "Thank you, Joshua. I can take it from here."
"No, I need him here because I need soone to speak so sense into you."
I rolled my eyes at his words and glanced over at Joshua who looked very uncomfortable at being dragged into the middle of our argunt. I could tell he wanted to run but after a long mont of silence, he sighed deeply and took the seat next to .
"Coward," I mumbled under my breath, low enough that only he could hear.
His jaw twitched and he clasped his hands so tightly that the knuckles turned white. He leaned towards , dropping his own voice as he spoke.
"Call a coward all you want, but as long as we’re here, he has my life in his hands. If you were smarter, you would stop antagonizing him."
He turned to my father, not giving the chance to respond.
There were a lot of things I wanted to say, none of them nice, but I forced myself to stay quiet and leaned back into my chair. I didn’t want to be here, but it was sowhat better than being in that room alone, so I stayed.
"What do you want?" I asked finally. "Why did you call here?"
"Have you taken any heed to what I said about the soldier?"
I rolled my eyes.
I should have known this was about Rowan. My father hated him, and he wouldn’t tell why. I knew it had more to do with class than anything. He didn’t want to get to know Rowan because he couldn’t reconcile himself to the fact that his daughter was with soone he considered less than him.
"I’m not leaving him just because you asked to. You can stop now."
"You could have a good life here, Nadine. Do you want to spend the rest of your life shackled to a soldier? He has no money, he is a bastard child who lived in foster houses."
Next to , Joshua shifted awkwardly in his seat.
Rage and embarrassnt filled . It wasn’t because I was ashad of Rowan or what he had been through, I was pissed that my father was throwing it around like he hadn’t just dug into soone’s personal life.
"He didn’t ask for that kind of life," I hissed out. "And perhaps you should be more pissed at the family that failed him and not him. He has done well enough considering where he started from. If you got down from your fucking high horse, maybe you would see that."
His cheeks burned a bright shade of red and he spluttered. I rose to my feet but he grabbed my arm. The vein on his forehead was bulging and his jaw was clenched tight. Joshua still hadn’t moved to help. If anything, it seed like he was trying to pretend like the interaction wasn’t happening.
Dad’s eyes were red and bulging. "I am not done."
"Well I am," I jerked my arm out of his grip. "If you don’t have anything better to say, I’m leaving."
Dad turned to Joshua. "Tell her that she is wasting her life with that man."
"With all due respect sir, I cannot tell her what to do." Joshua looked uncomfortable with the entire conversation. "I think this is a conversation you should have with your daughter."
"She won’t listen to ."
"What makes you think she will listen to ?" he asked. "She’s an adult."
Dad scoffed then turned back to . "You could have married Joshua."
"No offense, but I’d rather stay celibate. He’s like a cousin. I have no interest in being with him."
"You’d rather fuck the brute."
"Goodbye dad."
I turned to leave when I heard sothing land hard on the table. A careful glance revealed an envelope on the table. I raised a brow but dad said nothing, he just waited for to pick it up.
"I’m not reading it." He seed to have forgotten that I was his child. I could be just as stubborn.
Joshua looked between the two of us before grabbing the envelope. "You’re impossible."
He ripped it open and ran his eyes over the paper inside. I watched his expression go from annoyed to confused and then shocked. He looked up at my father who seed to be holding back a sneer.
"What is it?" I asked but Joshua rely handed the envelope. "I’m not-"
"Fucking look at it, Nadine." He all but shoved the paper into my hands.
I had half a mind to rip it up, but I decided to read it.
My na was written on the top right corner of the paper and it took a second to realize what it was... my test results.
I was about to ask why he was showing my own test results when I noticed it. It was so small that I glossed over it at first. I read the sa line more tis than I should have, hoping that the words would change.
"This is a joke, right?" I asked but no one seed to be smiling. "Say sothing."
"What do you want to say, Nadine? It was your choice to have sex with the brute and not be careful. Now you’re going to be a mother. Congratulations."
Dad’s tone dripped with disdain and disgust. He looked at as if I was a stranger and not his daughter... his flesh and blood.
My cheeks burned. "You don’t get to judge ."
He scoffed. "Get rid of it."
"Excuse ?"
"The fetus, get rid of it. I will speak to the General. I am sure we can get an appointnt for you. It will be handled discreetly."
I was torn between disgust at my father’s words and shock at the situation. I had the implant. There was no way I could be pregnant. It didn’t make sense and yet, the paper stared at , mocking . I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"You didn’t even ask if that’s what I wanted," my voice was surprisingly stable despite the storm raging inside of .
"You’re not having his bastard."
"Mr. Tyler, I don’t think-" Joshua began but dad held up a hand to stop him.
"The conversation is over. Make her show up for the appointnt."
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