Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 64

NADINE’S P.O.V

My father was seated in one of the common areas. He was wearing a large jacket with an insignia on it that I couldn’t make out, his hands were folded in his lap and he had a frown on his face. He sat with his spine straight and turned down his nose at everyone who walked by.

It was true that some things never changed.

I exhaled deeply, calming myself before making my way over to him. When he saw me I expected a smile or something to show that he was happy about my presence but instead, he frowned, his expression bordering on annoyed.

"You’re late," he drawled, crossing his arms over his chest. "You should have been here five minutes ago."

"You’re lucky that I’m here at all," I shot back as I lowered myself into the seat opposite him. "Thank you, Joshua. I can take it from here."

"No, I need him here because I need someone to speak some sense into you."

I rolled my eyes at his words and glanced over at Joshua who looked very uncomfortable at being dragged into the middle of our argument. I could tell he wanted to run but after a long moment of silence, he sighed deeply and took the seat next to me.

"Coward," I mumbled under my breath, low enough that only he could hear.

His jaw twitched and he clasped his hands so tightly that the knuckles turned white. He leaned towards me, dropping his own voice as he spoke.

"Call me a coward all you want, but as long as we’re here, he has my life in his hands. If you were smarter, you would stop antagonizing him." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

He turned to my father, not giving me the chance to respond.

There were a lot of things I wanted to say, none of them nice, but I forced myself to stay quiet and leaned back into my chair. I didn’t want to be here, but it was somewhat better than being in that room alone, so I stayed.

"What do you want?" I asked finally. "Why did you call me here?"

"Have you taken any heed to what I said about the soldier?"

I rolled my eyes.

I should have known this was about Rowan. My father hated him, and he wouldn’t tell me why. I knew it had more to do with class than anything. He didn’t want to get to know Rowan because he couldn’t reconcile himself to the fact that his daughter was with someone he considered less than him.

"I’m not leaving him just because you asked me to. You can stop now."

"You could have a good life here, Nadine. Do you want to spend the rest of your life shackled to a soldier? He has no money, he is a bastard child who lived in foster houses."

Next to me, Joshua shifted awkwardly in his seat.

Rage and embarrassment filled me. It wasn’t because I was ashamed of Rowan or what he had been through, I was pissed that my father was throwing it around like he hadn’t just dug into someone’s personal life.

"He didn’t ask for that kind of life," I hissed out. "And perhaps you should be more pissed at the family that failed him and not him. He has done well enough considering where he started from. If you got down from your fucking high horse, maybe you would see that."

His cheeks burned a bright shade of red and he spluttered. I rose to my feet but he grabbed my arm. The vein on his forehead was bulging and his jaw was clenched tight. Joshua still hadn’t moved to help. If anything, it seemed like he was trying to pretend like the interaction wasn’t happening.

Dad’s eyes were red and bulging. "I am not done."

"Well I am," I jerked my arm out of his grip. "If you don’t have anything better to say, I’m leaving."

Dad turned to Joshua. "Tell her that she is wasting her life with that man."

"With all due respect sir, I cannot tell her what to do." Joshua looked uncomfortable with the entire conversation. "I think this is a conversation you should have with your daughter."

"She won’t listen to me."

"What makes you think she will listen to me?" he asked. "She’s an adult."

Dad scoffed then turned back to me. "You could have married Joshua."

"No offense, but I’d rather stay celibate. He’s like a cousin. I have no interest in being with him."

"You’d rather fuck the brute."

"Goodbye dad."

I turned to leave when I heard something land hard on the table. A careful glance revealed an envelope on the table. I raised a brow but dad said nothing, he just waited for me to pick it up.

"I’m not reading it." He seemed to have forgotten that I was his child. I could be just as stubborn.

Joshua looked between the two of us before grabbing the envelope. "You’re impossible."

He ripped it open and ran his eyes over the paper inside. I watched his expression go from annoyed to confused and then shocked. He looked up at my father who seemed to be holding back a sneer.

"What is it?" I asked but Joshua merely handed me the envelope. "I’m not-"

"Fucking look at it, Nadine." He all but shoved the paper into my hands.

I had half a mind to rip it up, but I decided to read it.

My name was written on the top right corner of the paper and it took me a second to realize what it was... my test results.

I was about to ask why he was showing me my own test results when I noticed it. It was so small that I glossed over it at first. I read the same line more times than I should have, hoping that the words would change.

"This is a joke, right?" I asked but no one seemed to be smiling. "Say something."

"What do you want me to say, Nadine? It was your choice to have sex with the brute and not be careful. Now you’re going to be a mother. Congratulations."

Dad’s tone dripped with disdain and disgust. He looked at me as if I was a stranger and not his daughter... his flesh and blood.

My cheeks burned. "You don’t get to judge me."

He scoffed. "Get rid of it."

"Excuse me?"

"The fetus, get rid of it. I will speak to the General. I am sure we can get an appointment for you. It will be handled discreetly."

I was torn between disgust at my father’s words and shock at the situation. I had the implant. There was no way I could be pregnant. It didn’t make sense and yet, the paper stared at me, mocking me. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"You didn’t even ask if that’s what I wanted," my voice was surprisingly stable despite the storm raging inside of me.

"You’re not having his bastard."

"Mr. Tyler, I don’t think-" Joshua began but dad held up a hand to stop him.

"The conversation is over. Make her show up for the appointment."