Page 59 of Game of Revenge

“I am not sure,” he admitted, “but in the past few weeks, he has not really acted as you’d expect a father would when it comes to you.”

“He is not my father,” I hastily corrected.

“Yes, and I get that now. We've tried to negotiate your ransom…but he hasn’t budged…”

“Because he is not my father!” I screamed.

My stomach felt like it was twisting into knots. The truth was that I was hurt. Richard wasn’t my father, but he was the closest to one I had ever had. The fact that he didn’t care that I had been held captive for so long wasn’t necessarily surprising, but it was still hurtful. To go from that to thinking he would actively participate in harming me was too much, even for him.

“I know, Amelia, but you can’t expect that I would have known…”

“What? Known that he doesn’t care about me, that he never did? That he treats me like his charity case, refuses to let me learn anything about my mother or her country? That he is a fucking asshole who used me to look good to his social network?”

“Amelia…” he reached out to me.

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, stepping backward.

My breathing was heavy, and I got dizzy, but I didn’t care. I was livid, mad at Richard for rejecting me as a daughter, mad at Alejandro for wanting to use me against him so stupidly, making my palpable loneliness, my lack of a family undeniable, opening wounds I had repressed a long time ago. Mad at myself for allowing those men to hurt me like this.

“Richard CANNOT stand me. He NEVER loved me, NEVER wanted me. He kept me around out of pity…or obligation. He was never there for me, and you…you think he will part with something he considers valuable, for me?!”

I broke into a resentful laugh. Alejandro looked angry and concerned with no idea how to calm me down.

“You are JUST like him! All of you! You selfish bastards! I am sick and tired of being used, of feeling worthless because of you!”

He closed the distance between us in a second to grab me before I fell. I was blinded by pain, snapping because all the emotions I had kept bottled up for years were coming out in strong, destructive currents. I was fighting him, punching him, pushing him away from me.

“Amelia, calm down!” he ordered, shaking me. “Please! I don’t like seeing you like this. Let me explain!”

“There is nothing you can say!” I yelled in tears. “Nothing!”

“I did not use you! This was never meant to happen!”

I couldn’t see straight anymore. My knees were weak. I lost all my strength, shaking, feeling like my blood was leaving my body.

“You need to lie down,” said Alejandro, grabbing my waist, forcing me to lean on his chest as he took me to the bed.

I wanted to protest, but there was no energy left in me. I was drained. Alejandro laid me on the bed. He got up and brought me a shot of tequila.

“No,” I complained, pushing his hand away.

“You are drinking it,” he ordered, bringing the glass to my lips.

The smell teased my nostrils. I didn’t want it, but he forced me to drink it anyway. My face cringed as the strong liquid went down my throat, immediately waking my body up. Alejandro poured me a second one.

“Again.”

I chugged it, my eyes shooting sparks at him.

I agreed to lie down, closing my eyes. Shame took over a bit. My outburst wasn’t a proud moment, but I was rightfully troubled. How could Richard try to have me killed? Why would he do such a thing?

”I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his voice full of emotion.

His words shook the gaping hole in my chest and caused tears to continue rolling down my face. I turned away from him to avoid his gaze. Alejandro got up and went to sit down on the patio to give me some space. I took a third and then a fourth shot of that tequila, straight from the bottle Alejandro had left on the bedside table next to me, desperate to numb the pain and to stop feeling. Before long, my eyes were closing, my brain needing to shut down to process all of this.

PART 2

Chapter 25