Chapter 105

105 Jack Fuller’s Compromise Scarlett’s POV His men haste up their steps and surround us, all in straight faces with their eyes hiding behind cold. sunglasses, “...Adrian...?”

My voice is shaking.

“Take the tickets,” Adrian puts them in my hand, standing in front of me, “You will be okay. Nobody can touch you today, so long as I’m here.”

“Mr. Dunn,” Jack Fuller nods at Adrian with a smile, “Fancy seeing you here.”

“I guess I can say the same to you,” Adrian blocks me with his body, “Where are you traveling to, Mr. Fuller, if I may ask?”

Jack Fuller curves his lips scornfully, but then he answers tamely: “North Dakota.”

My stomach drops. He is here for me, and he knows what I’m up to. I knew he was crafty with a black heart, and I just watched how he tamed Ava. But still. Never have I been more frightened by this man l once called Dad than at this moment.

I feel like I could never get out of his grasp.

“Scarlett, come home with me,” Jack Fuller took a side step, looking at me right in my eyes, “This is for your own good, trust me.”

I won’t, never again.

I’m actually surprised that when it comes to it, we can have such a calm conversation about it: “Ava is all but cured. Please, you don’t need me anymore.”

For a moment there, I thought I saw some emotion in his eyes, something soft and gentle: “Scarlett, I’m not doing this just for Ava. What you are looking for is not in North Dakota.”

“You found me there, I know!” I insist. I normally don’t believe Ava, but if Jack Fuller rememb her slip of the tongue for so many years, then it definitely means something.

Jack Fuller signs, and the next moment, all the warmth in his eyes is gone.

“What you are looking for does not exist,” He says, his voice cold as ice.

What does that even mean?! I’m looking for my real parents who would love me. I’m looking for a home that shelters me because of me, not for my blood or sweat or any value I might provide. Even such a request does not exist? What does not exist? Only Ava deserves love, and I don’t?!

My brain sounds the alarm but I refuse to listen. Adrian shoots me a worried look, and I dart my eyes away.

I’m looking for a fresh start,” I don’t believe him, not even a word, and there is no point arguing with him, If you really care about my welfare as you said, then you should let me be.”

Jack Fuller grits his teeth, so hard that his face twists. Normally this means he is really, really angry. I used to shiver at that look when I was little, but I’m not the little orphan girl that he could bully with the title of “father” anymore! He is NOT my father! I want MY father, a father who would really care about me!

+25 BONUS 105 Jack Fuller’s Compromise Trying to intimidate me for a long, Jack Fuller realizes his magic is not working today. He lets out a sigh and asks: “Do you really have to do it this hastily? You don’t even know where to look. How about you come home, and make a sound plan first?”

I hesitate. Is he, Jack Fuller, the dominant patriarch in the family really making a compromise to me? If budge, could I really keep up a harmonious surface in the “family” and live my life in peace?

“If I make a plan first, then you would let me go?” I ask him with an uncertain tone.

“Yes, I–” Jack Fuller nods, but Adrian suddenly cuts in-

“What a huge difference does it make if she stays in the city for a few days longer?”

I flinch at Adrian’s cold tone, scared by the indication in his words. Yeah, if Jack Fuller really is okay with letting me go, then what can a few days do? Ava won’t be needing me anytime soon, not in a few days. There is no special occasion happening in a few days. And it’s not like he loves me so much that he just needs a few more father–daughter days.

I don’t want to think in the darkest direction, but what could he do in a few days...

...but to wipe clean all the faint traces after twenty years of the family I’m looking for? The one that he just claimed to not exist?

I swallow hard, feeling my limbs cold and my heart pumping fast when I realize the dark truth. If not for Adrian, then I would have fallen for his trick, again!