Page 23 of Loyal
“You have a man here?” he asks, making my heart skip a beat.
“No, I don’t, but if I did, it wouldn’t be your business.”
He stares down at me with hate in his eyes. “That’s where you’re wrong, Samantha. Everything you do is my business, and if I find out that you are allowing that lowlife from next door into our home, into our bed, and around our daughter, I’m going to take you back to court.”
“My love life is none of your business, Billy, but if you want to go back to court, that’s fine. I’ll be more than happy to let the judge know that you are behind on child support and when you do pay, it’s never on time.”
“So you aren’t denying it. That you are dating that scum,” he scoffs.
“Leave, Billy.”
He steps back and shakes his head. “You’re going to regret this.”
Once he steps outside, I shut the door and flip the lock behind him. I close my eyes and rest my forehead on the door, trying to even my breathing.
When will interacting with him get easier?
After I’ve finally pulled myself together, I go and look for Farrah. She’s standing at the window with her arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face.
“How was school?”
“You want to skip right over what just happened?” she scoffs, shaking her head.
“What do you want me to say, Farrah?” I sigh, suddenly feeling exhausted.
“I want you to tell me that Dad is wrong and that you aren’t dating that trash from next door.”
“First off, you know better than to judge a book by its cover. I didn’t raise you to judge people based off of their appearance. And second, I can’t do that,” I tell her quietly.
“Unbelievable. Tell me, did you leave Dad for him? Is this some sort of midlife crisis and he’s the reason you broke up our family?” she yells.
I drop onto the couch and glare at my daughter. “Watch your tone, Farrah Grace. You don’t get to talk to me like that. As for the reason I left your father, it has nothing to do with Loyal and everything to do with how our marriage was.”
Farrah tosses up her hands. “Your marriage was fine until you decided it wasn’t!”
“That’s not true, baby. I left because I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t getting what I wanted out of a marriage, so I did us both a favor and left.”
“So what you’re saying is you were selfish and only cared about what you wanted. What about what I wanted, Mom?”
I swear she hits me right in the heart with that last jab.
“Wanting to be loved is not selfish.”
Farrah rolls her eyes. “And what, the guy next door who’s practically my age makes you feel loved?”
“He makes me feel,” I say, not bothering to tell her the truth.
She shakes her head and looks at me with disgust. “I’m telling you right now, Mom, if you don’t break up with him and end this shit now, I’m going to tell a judge that I want to live with Dad full-time. It’s clear that you are having a midlife crisis, and I shouldn’t be around to watch.”
Those aren’t her words. They are the venom Billy has been feeding her. I know that, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.
I shut my eyes to will away the tears, and my heart breaks.
“That’s hurtful, Farrah,” I choke out.
“Yeah, well maybe it will make you wake up and come back to Dad and me. Maybe you need to hear the truth,” she sneers.
I look at her through watery eyes. “I’m sorry, baby, but I will never get back with your dad. Even if I wasn’t dating Loyal. You don’t know how things really were between us, and it’s not your place to understand. I just need you to believe me when I say this is for the best.”
