Page 35 of Coerced

“I moved,” I told him.

“But where? You need to come home.”

“I’m not coming back. I told you.”

“We need you here. We can’t do this without you. We’re going to lose everything, more than you could ever imagine.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head, feeling so much disappointment. I couldn’t believe this was what our lives had become. I couldn’t believe my dad had taken things as far as he had.

“I’m sorry, Dad, but I can’t.”

“You have to. Are you okay with us being left with nothing?”

I hated how he always tried to make me feel like it was my responsibility to fix this mess. Years ago, when my mom had gotten the cancer diagnosis, there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make sure we got through it. And I did everything I could.

I understood the desperation my dad felt then. It was such a scary time for all of us. In the heat of the moment, I could understand why he’d done what he’d done, even if I didn’t agree with it.

But after Mom made it through, after I’d learned the truth, he didn’t stop.

“It’s not me that’s okay with it, Dad. It’s you. And it’s Mom. And Jazzy. What’s stopping all of you from working, from making an honest living?”

“It’s not easy. You know what your mother’s been through.”

“Yeah, I do. I also know that even if you believe she shouldn’t work, you’re still capable. And Jasmine needs to grow up and stop depending on everyone else to take care of her. I’m not doing it anymore.”

“But you left just like that,” he argued.

White-hot rage moved through me. He knew that was a lie. “Are you kidding me? I didn’t just leave. I continued to do something I hated, something I despised, for anentireyear to give you the time to get out. You chose to not take me seriously. That’s not my fault.”

He let out a frustrated sigh. “I told you that wasn’t possible.”

“And I was pulled into something I didn’t have a choice in,” I noted. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

“Just tell me where you are,” he begged. “Please, tell me. I’ll come there, and we can talk about all of this.”

“It’s not happening.”

“Aria, I don’t think you understand how serious this is. I tried to buy some time. I told them you took an unexpected trip, but I can’t hold this off much longer. You have to come home.”

I sat there in silence, wondering how a father could ever ask his daughter to do what mine was asking of me. It was heartbreaking.

Unsure of where it came from, I blurted, “Have you told Mom the truth? Does Jasmine know what you did?”

“No.”

“Maybe you should talk to them. Maybe since Jazzy is so upset that I took off, she’ll be willing to do something for you. I’m done with this, and I’m not coming back there ever again.”

I didn’t know where this level of strength was coming from. I’d never spoken to my father like this before. Part of me hated it—we’d been so close for so long. Despair had turned him into a man I didn’t recognize, and it ledme to doing things I never would have agreed to under normal circumstances.

More and more, it was clear just how necessary it had been for me to move myself here to Steel Ridge. I’d been estranged from my family for two months, and I was already at a point where I felt I could stand up and say exactly how I felt.

Sure, I’d made the decision a year ago that I wouldn’t stick around longer than that, but even then, there had been a part of me that wondered if I’d follow through.

This felt like progress to me. Maybe I really had gotten more of a fresh start than I had imagined I would.

“I can’t tell them, Aria.”

“Why not? I know the truth. Why is it okay for me to know and not them?”