‘’That’s correct’’ I replied, steadying my eyes on his with a calm gaze that he mirrored to perfection.
‘’As the boyfriend, I take it you know then that my daughter ran away from home some years back’’ he said shifting his weight from one foot to the other, but his eyes remained fixed on mine as mine were on him.
‘’I’ve been informed, yes’’ I said gritting my teeth with nerves of steel, trying my utmost best to remain calm before the man I know maliciously hurt my love.
‘’Then you understand as her father tha-‘’
‘’Step-father’’ I corrected him.
He smiled darkly, before manually correcting his words with another sneered smirk across at me ‘’excuse me, Stepfather. And as her Stepfather, I’m sure you can imagine the ongoing worry I’ve been going through to find her aga-’’
‘’I’m going to stop you right there Mr. Wainwright, because I’ve dealt with enough bullshit these past few weeks to reserve what little of the patience I do have left, on the likes of you’’ I said looking bitterly stern at him.
‘’I encourage you to watch your tongue when you address me boy’’ he said instantly stepping toe to toe with me, displaying zero fear or defeat in his eyes of backing down, and it was a dark glimpse into the monster Taylor described he was. The kind I could already feel my fists balling in raged anger towards.
‘’I don’t think so. You don’t get to come waltzing back into her life trying to play daddy, when you and I both know all you did when you were responsible for her, was torment and abuse an innocent little girl who was already going through so much with the loss of her mother’’
‘’Are you trying to judge me?!’’
‘’I’m not trying jackass!’’
And we both stood looking venomously at each other, realizing the other wasn’t going to back down anytime soon. But someone had to walk away from this spaded, and it damn sure wasn’t going to be me.
‘’What exactly is it that you want Mr. Wainwright? Because it sure as hell isn’t the well-being of your daughter’’
He just smiled.
‘’I listened to your speech just now, the one you gave to the press. It was rather touching’’ he said ‘’I guess I’m just a proud Stepfather knowing my estranged daughter has managed to find herself a man that can look after her the rest of her life’’
‘’That’s right, I am. Now what’s it got to do with you?!’’
‘’Nothing I imagine. But I’ve got a mouthpiece too, and something tells me I could earn quite a bit selling my side of the story…a story of an adolescent troublesome teen who ran away from home because she refused to have anyone parent her. Sounds rather good doesn’t it?’’ he grinned with a sneer ‘’I may even get more by going on camera as the concerned parent in tears, over how a man I don’t even know forcefully took advantage of my daughter's innocence’’
‘’You’re sick’’ I said looking at him in revolt ‘’you’re a selfish sick bastard who needs to burn the fuck in hell!!’’ I growled at him!
‘’Bring it on. I’ll just add ‘battery’ to the mix, where I’ll break with heavy emotion over how I don’t want what happened to me, to happen to my beautiful daughter’’ he smiled wickedly ‘’and in light of recent events, you may find yourself faced Mr. Avery under a rather irrefutable time again with the press’’
The more he spoke, the more all the missing pieces of the puzzle began slowly slotting themselves into place…
‘’Okay Mr. Wainwright, I see what this is’’ I said calmly removing my wallet from the inside of my suit jacket ‘’…name your price’’
‘’How preposterous! You think I came here for money?!’’ he gruffed at me.
‘’Oh I know you did. You see, when Taylor opened up to me and told me the indelible truth of her childhood, and what one so young went through at the wicked hands of her evil Stepfather and sisters, I decided to do a little digging…’’ and I could see his eyes instantly narrow into a darkened slit at me, along with a sneered snarl that bared his teeth at one corner of his mouth like a rabid dog ‘’…turns out the man trusted and financially supported by the state to look after her, was also collecting widow money from his deceased wife’s life insurance -which according to state law, pays out instantly if death is ruled as natural causes, or is illness related’’
‘’I don’t like your tone of voice young man’’ he snarled coldly at me.
‘’Your opinion Mr. Wainwright is as irrelevant to me as your daughter's cries for help were to you’’
He just snorted again rudely and stood looking at me.
‘’It’s all run out now, hasn’t it? And there’s no more Taylor around for you to abuse and scavenge money out of, even if it was your sole responsibility to raise all three children after the tragic passing of their mother, and raise them right. Instead, you saw a weak opportunity to corrupt her older sisters, and have them join you in your sick twisted act of child abuse’’ and his face soured into a very bitter scowl at me, not at all enjoying the harsh words said to him ‘’Taylor was only a minor when her mother passed, a fucking minor! An innocent YOU forced into child labor, rather than showing her love and care at an already difficult time in her life, rather than doing the right thing and allowing her to finish out her school education, which as you damn well know every child must have. And it was under your brutish teachings that you had your stepdaughter worked to death inside her own damn home, where she was abused and ridiculed by her own flesh and blood sisters’’
He said nothing.
‘’You’ve no remorse have you?’’ I sneered coldly at him, and he just stood staring at me with his nostrils flared.
‘’I’ll proudly have you know Mr. Wainwright that your stepdaughter did well for herself. And if I may –even despite the horrible living conditions her escape from you forced her into- indeed turned out to be quite the intelligent young lady’’ I told him, and he looked to the ground, before eventually raising his shamed eyes back at me.