Exiting the room, I was stunned.
Parked outside was a Rolls-Royce with the license plate number 8888; if my memory served me correctly, it belonged to my father.
Ten minutes later, Nathaniel ushered my father into the inner room for tea.
"Felicity, come here," my father called out to me, sitting across the table.
I glanced at Nathaniel, who stared back, seemingly unwilling to let me go to him.
I obediently stayed put. My father wasn't flustered, seemingly prepared. He gestured, and a bodyguard behind him produced a case, placing it on the table.
Then, my father reached out, pushing the case towards Nathaniel.
"One million, give me back my daughter."
Nathaniel didn't speak but glanced at me, eventually taking the case and gave it a cursory glance.
"Money isn't necessary actually," he casually remarked.
"What? Not enough? Don't push it!" My father's temper flared.
"Dad…" I whispered to him. "Felicity, don't be afraid of him. Come here," my father urged, attempting to pull me towards him. "Come, it's a society ruled by law now, what can he do?"
Nathaniel watched me, his lips curving upward. Leaning back leisurely against the sofa, he became a spectator.
"Dad, I still owe him some money. I... I can't go back with you." I whispered.
"How much?" "Let me calculate, about two thousand."
"I have made a comeback, what's that compared to this?"
My father then took out three thick bundles of cash, slamming them down in front of Nathaniel.
"Is that enough now?" Nathaniel looked at the money, spreading his hands.
"I have no problem about.You ask her. If she said yes,you can leave with her."
Then everyone's gaze landed on me. "
Felicity, what's that red mark on your neck?" My father asked with a frown.
"Nathaniel, did you dare hit my daughter?" I was mortified, not knowing how to react.
Nathaniel just smirked. "Is your daughter that easy to handle with? I have no less on my neck," he said, undoing the buttons of his shirt to reveal his collarbone, innocently awaiting my father's judgment.
I remembered last night, clinging to him, him stopping me. "Don't bite," he covered my mouth. "How will I show up at the garage tomorrow?"
"But, novels say guys like it when girls do this. Uncle, do you not like me?"
"Not that I don't love you, you're so naive," he sighed. "Come on, Don't bite in such a conspicuous place.Lower a bit, or I ll be laughed at for another year when someone see it."
So, I indulged, leaving a string of marks on his collarbone, forming a heart. Now looking at it, it was all purple. A purple heart.
"Felicity, did you hit him too?" My father asked.
I didn't reply. "It's a good hit, he deserved it. Who dared to tie up my daughter, Malcolm's daughter, had to pay the price."
Nathaniel couldn't help but chuckle. Just then, Uncle Fat rushed in. "Boss, what tea does your father-in-law want?"
Me: ! Nathaniel: ! My father's expression changed, muttering, "Father-in-law?"
Uncle Fat was confused. "Yes, father-in-law."
"Whose father-in-law, make it clear." My father was getting angry.
"It's just that,Felicity and our boss are together…" Uncle Fat was startled, turning to Nathaniel. "Boss, he doesn't know that?"
Nathaniel took a deep breath. "Scram."
"Okay." Uncle Fat retreated. "Nathaniel!"
My father slammed the table.
"Please speak," he sat straight, calmly listening to my father.
"What did you do to my daughter?"
Dad... Seeing a fight about to break out, I pulled my father. "We're together,"
Nathaniel admitted openly.
"You!" My father was furious, almost speechless. "Brat! You're lawless. I just owe you money, yet you lay your hands on my daughter. Are you human?"
"Felicity, did he bully you? Dad's got your back, I'll send him to jail." I panicked, confessing honestly, "Dad, I liked him first..."
Smack! My father slapped me in anger. "Do you know what you're saying?"
"Why did you hit her!" Nathaniel rushed over, pulling me into his arms.
"What's it to you if I hit my daughter? Get it straight, I have the recording of you threatening me. One call and you will be taken to the prison."
"If you send him to prison, I won't live." I cried.
"I'm really disappointed!" My father was enraged again.
Nathaniel shielded me, blocking his hand.
"Send me in if you wish, I don't care. But if you touch her again, regardless of who you are, I'll fight you to the death."
The situation escalated awkwardly. I hid in Nathaniel's arms, trembling with tears. I wasn't a fool, I knew what the blackmail recording meant.
I didn't want Nathaniel to go to jail. I was terrified.
"Felicity, I'm your father, I'm your family. He is a halfway bandit, you're cheated by him." My father sat shaking with anger.
"When you did the DNA test, did you consider me your daughter?" I cried to him.
"I was bullied at home, humiliated, you turned a blind eye, did you consider me your daughter then?"
"I was kidnapped, you hung up hearing my voice, it was you who said to give me to him, to pay the debt. Did you consider me your daughter then?"
"Saying this now, don't you feel ashamed?"
My father's face darkened. "Felicity, listen to me. That report was tampered with by your stepmother, using someone else's hair. Later, I used hair from your comb, the result show that you are my daughter."
"It's all her fault, separating us for over a year. Dad's here for you now."
"All her fault? Did you mean that you had no part?" I laughed through my tears. "You decided to come because of the new report?"
"You didn't care about me for a year, do you know how I lived?"
"He raised me, protected me, funded my studies, taught me how to live a decent life. Everyone here treats me better than family, I can't tell who is my real family.
"Your daughter,Felicity, died a year ago. I won't go back with you."
"You!" Nathaniel ignored my father, holding me, grabbing tissues, gently wiping my tears.
"Okay, no more crying."
"Aren't you afraid he'll send you in? I'm worried…"
"I can't bear to see you cry so much.I am sad and I want to hit someone. I can't consider the consequence." He sighed. "Knowing that you worry about me makes all the effort of raising you this long worthwhile. You're concerned for me now."
My father watched us, fuming.
After a while, a middle-aged man walked in. "Who's sending my son to jail?"
Nathaniel pulled me behind him. "Dad." Dad?
"President Kent, why are you here?" My father hurriedly stood.
"If I didn't come, wasn't someone threatening to send my son to jail?"
Nathaniel's father approached, eyeing my father. My father pointed at Nathaniel, his face turning pale.
Wiping sweat, he asked, "He is your son?"
"Why, I'm surnamed Kent, my son can't be?"
"No, it's a misunderstanding." My father softened.
"I heard you owe my son a million, I lent you ten million to get back on your feet, you turn to send my son in now?"
"Misunderstanding, it is really misunderstanding." My father was scared, sweating. "Actually, we're discussing marriage."
Marriage? My dad's ability to think on his feet is remarkable.
The face of Nathaniel's father brightened. "Son, your mom said you had a girlfriend, is this her?"
"She tells you everything I told her," Nathaniel was a bit helpless.
"I'm your father, you got a girlfriend, shouldn't her tell me?"
"My girlfriend is none of your business. You are annoying." Nathaniel tried to leave with me.
"Don't rush, let me take a look." He curiously approached, pushing Nathaniel aside to see me.
Seeing me, he was stunned, pulling Nathaniel aside, whispering, "How could you bring yourself to do it, considering how young they are?"
"Nice to meet you,Mr. Kent." I was a bit scared, unsure if I should greet him.
"Hey, little girl." He smiled widely at me.
"Why are you crying? You're Malcolm's little daughter?"
"Yes." He stepped back.
"Malcolm, you bullied my son and my future daughter-in-law. You will pay for it!"
"No, Mr. Kent, I didn't."
This drama left my head buzzing all day.
My father kept apologizing.
Nathaniel's father treated me as his daughter-in-law, trying to talk to me.
"Ask me, don't bother her." Nathaniel refused, pulling me back to our rental house.
I later learned Nathaniel had a strained relationship with his parents.
"when I was young, my parents divorced because they were both strong-willed and won't yield to each other.
After divorce, my mom sent my dad to jail for years. My ad came out, then sent mom for years. "
"Later they aged, started fighting over me. "Why should I live with them?
So after college, I didn't join their companies. I worked as a foreman on a construction site, but after your father owed us for the construction work, I joined your fat uncle and the others back to his hometown, where we opened a car repair shop.
"During the first 31 years of my life, I was lost, aimless. Until you came, relied on me, trusted me, needed me… I realized I could live differently."
That night, he told me much, we fell asleep in embrace.
On my birthday, we stayed together. He was gentle, restrained, considerate of my feelings, buthis physical intimacy still drain me of my energy.
He held me to sleep.
In the middle of the night, he softly asked, "Did you know, I often had this dream, with you in it. Every morning, I dared not face you. I felt guilty when I looking into your eye…"
I didn't dare tell him I had the same dream.
He kissed my forehead. "Goodnight, kid."
I turned, hugging his neck. "Goodnight, Uncle."
