I stared at the man I knew for my entire life.
My chest was heaving in and out as my heart raced and my mind tried to piece things together.
My dead father was standing in front of me.
He looked the same, just a little older. I noticed he had bright white rigid scar right above his eye, the skin puckering slightly around it.
"Ah, my sweet Juliana." He hummed as tears filled my eyes. "You're supposed to be dead." I whispered shakily, disbelief in my tone.
"Disappointed?" He asked as I stared at him in disbelief. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel.
I was sad for my siblings who thought they had lost their father years ago.
I felt shock, seeing him standing in front of me after thinking he had met his demise years ago.
I was angry that he had me here and that he ran a business like this.
It made me sick to my stomach.
"Don't look so scared, Jule. Come give me a hug." He said as I shook my head, taking a step back.
"How could you?" I whispered. "How could I what?" He asked nonchalantly, raising his brows and dropping his arms.
"You have daughters. How could you run a place like this?" I asked, my voice cracking. "I have two daughters that don't even know I still exist." He hummed.
"One may not even know I ever existed." He said with such little care that I wanted to scream at him.
Juniper and Jenna deserved better.
"And what about your third daughter?" I asked as he shook his head. "I only have two." He said as my heart broke.
I hated that it hurt me so badly to hear him say that. I've despised him for what he did to me all those years ago.
I mourned him when I thought he was dead.
I would cry from time to time, wishing he would come and give me a hug. I craved the feeling of love from anyone.
When I was a child, I felt the same way. Isolated and scared of my mother. I would crave just one moment where I felt unconditional love and comfort.
When dad would come home from work he would give me the love I had needed all day.
He'd scoop me up in his arms and say, "how is my sweet Jule today?" then would sit and talk to me as if I was the only person in the world.
Everything changed when I learned what he was doing for work.
He betrayed me but deep down I still loved him.
"Anyways. Your rate will be $600 a night. You'll wrack in at least a hundred thousand in the first month." He said and sat down, looking at the book on his table.
"You're really gonna do this?" I asked in disbelief. "Of course. Gotta pay the bills somehow." He said with a shrug and wrote down numbers in the book in front of him.
"We'll start you with six appointments a day, since you've got a pretty long list." He said as my eyes watered.
"Dad." I choked out, tears slipping down my cheeks.
"Don't, Juliana. If you know what's good for you don't speak out of turn again." He said then glance up at me again.
"And wipe that look off of your face. You made a choice when you chose to save a man you just met over your father." He said blandly.
"He loves me." I said as he chuckled. "Not for long." He said then pressed a button on his desk. "Oliver, come get her." He said as I shook my head.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked as hot tears trickled down my cheeks. "What did I say about speaking out of turn?!" He asked and bolted up, pulling a gun on me.
