Page 75 of Once Upon a Beast

“Why don’t you start and we can go from there.” I squeezed his hand as he knocked on the door.

“Well, hello there. This is a pleasant surprise,” my father said as he opened the door.

“We need to talk,” I said and stormed past my father. I heard Nic mutter something about taking the lead, but I didn’t pay him any mind. Once I saw my father, all the hate, all the hurt, all the confusion came to the surface. I wasn’t going to make small talk with him. I came there to get answers and that was what I was going to get.

“What happened? Or is it good news? Are you two getting married?” My father asked, a huge smile on his face as he looked at Nic and then me.

I almost blurted out ‘yes.’ Nic had all but proposed to me the night before. It was both the best proposal because it showed me how much Nic loved and cared about me and how he was going to stand by me no matter what. But it was also the worst as it couldn’t have happened at a more inopportune time. I knew in my heart that Nic and I were going to get married. But my father didn’t get to know that. He didn’t get to ask the questions. I did.

“That isn’t why we’re here. Nic went and visited his father the other day and they had quite the discussion.”

“You decided to go and see your father. Good for you. Was it good to see him? How is he doing? Is he adjusting to his time behind bars?”

My father sounded all concerned but the words rang false to my ears. I could hear the disingenuousness to his tone. When I looked into his eyes, he tried to show sincerity but it didn’t come through. I felt like I was seeing my father for the first time, the man who was really my father and it made my stomach curl.

I looked over at Nic and said, “Why don’t you tell him what you and your father discussed and what you found.”

“Do you want me to?” Nic asked cautiously.

Considering how I had come barging in the door, I could understand Nic’s hesitation. I gave him a reassuring smile. “It might be best if you tell him rather than me.”

“Fair enough. You taught me to be brief, to get to the point, and say it like it is. There’s still a part of me that respects you and so I’ll give you that courtesy. It has come to my attention that Charity and my father were having an affair before she died. They were in love and she was going to leave you. When you found out you were devastated but not because of losing Charity but because you were in love with my father.”

“Really? What other lies did you hear?” My father asked. He crossed his arms and smiled at Nic as if he was amused by the story. But I could see how his shoulder tensed up and he leaned away from Nic and me.

Nic continued. “He was able to gather proof that shows you were the one who embezzled the money, not my father and you did it so you could frame him. My father spent the last ten years of his life in prison for a crime you committed, all because you were jealous.” Nic pointed his fingers at my father.

My father shook his head and I could almost see his mind working as he came up with his latest lie. “Nic, oh Nic. I’m so sorry to hear that your father is so far gone that he would start spouting such nonsense. I had hoped that he would have seen the error of his waves and you two could find a way to have a relationship. By what you are telling me, he has lost his mind and that is so unfortunate.”

“It’s so easy for you to dismiss him, to just say he’s insane. Believe me, when I first heard it, I thought the same thing. But I talked to a man who didn’t think it was crazy and investigated the allegation. It was amazing what he could find and how easy it was. It was like you didn’t think you were going to get caught so you didn’t cover your tracks. We have proof that you did it. There is no point in trying to deny it,” Nic said.

I looked at my father to see his reaction. He didn’t say anything but looked at Nic. I could tell the moment that he knew he had lost and that there was no getting out of it. I held my breath as I waited to hear what he was going to say.

My father pointed his finger at Nic and smiled. “There was a part of me that thought you were never going to find out. There is a part of me that is almost happy you did. I loved your father, and for a few glorious months, I thought he loved me too. I thought we could be happy, and have the life I’d always dreamed of. But it was all a lie. The man never loved me. He was only using me. Because of that I hated him.”

There was such venom in his voice as he spoke. I started to see that he could have done this. As if a damn had broken, he started walking around the room and I stood transfixed as he did.

“I wanted to make him hurt as much as he hurt me,” My father said. “I wanted to take away all his hopes and dreams just like he took mine. So, I did. I took his livelihood, I took his freedom, and I took what mattered most to him, his son.”

“He never hurt you. He was your friend. He might have fallen in love with the wrong person but that didn’t mean you needed to send him to prison,” Nic said.

“Yes, that was exactly what I needed to do. It was better than he deserved. I don’t regret what I did. I’m glad he suffered and I’m glad he found out. I wondered if he ever would. I hope he sat in jail for years trying to understand how it happened and even longer wondering if he could prove it. I never thought he would. He was in jail, who was going to believe him. I should have realized the man is a charmer, he charmed me.”

“He was innocent. You ruined his life. You ruined mine. How can you be so calm about it all?” Nic asked.

“What about me, Father? Did you ever think about me? Did you ever think about how this would affect me?” I stepped in front of Nic as I asked.

My father looked at me with just a hint of sadness. It was the first moment I thought that he might regret what he did. “Layla, you’re all I thought about. You’re the only bright light in all of this. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, for you to have everything you could ever want. By taking out Atticus, I was able to do that. I gave you the life you deserved.”

“What life? Are you talking about all the money you made with Nic? I don’t care about the money. I never wanted it. You were the one who did.”

My father continued as if he hadn't heard me. “It was all for you. I wanted to give you a good future, a nest egg so you could go and be whoever you wanted to me. And you have. You are so good at your job and you can do that because I’ve been able to support you.”

“The money you have for me, I never used it. I’m doing fine on my own. It might be hard but I was never going to beholden to you or anyone. I didn’t want that. You might have that trust fund for me, but I never planned on using it. I’m certainly not now.”

“Layla, you have to. The money is for you. For your future,” my father implored.

“You’re crazy if you think I would have anything to do with you or your money now.” It hurt to say those words aloud. It hurt even more to know I meant it. I had held out hope that maybe we got this wrong and someone had framed my father too but it wasn’t. The man that I thought was my father no longer existed.