I scoffed. "You're the one who set me up. She's the one who made sure everyone was there to watch. And you both walked out and left me behind. But somehow I'm the one who should be embarrassed?"
He had nothing to say to that. After a long pause, his voice softened. "About what happened earlier. Julie and I want to take you to dinner to make it up to you. Tomorrow—"
"No need." I cut him off and turned to leave, but his hand clamped down on my shoulder.
Piers was clearly losing patience with my attitude. He forced his temper down, barely. "I know you're upset. But Julie is young. I can't just abandon her. If it really bothers you, I'll keep my distance from her after this one dinner. All right?"
"No need. It doesn't bother me." My voice was flat.
"It doesn't bother you?" Whatever patience he had left snapped. "Stop throwing tantrums! Julie is pregnant. Don't go upsetting her. You're coming to dinner tomorrow, and that's final. Are we clear?"
I said nothing. My hand drifted to my own stomach.
I was pregnant too.
But in his eyes, only Julie's feelings mattered. Mine weren't even worth considering.
Cold fury churned deep inside me, wave after wave. But then I thought of my agreement with Joseph, and I swallowed it down.
It was just one dinner.
I'd think of it as their last supper.
The next evening, Piers drove me to the restaurant himself.
When I pushed open the door to the private dining room, I found my father sitting beside Julie.
He was gently adjusting a hair clip for her, his expression soft with a tenderness I hadn't seen directed at me in years.
The moment he noticed me, the smile vanished. All that remained in his eyes was disgust.
I was long accustomed to that look.
There was a time when I'd been his little princess too.
That ended when my mother caught him cheating. Julie's mother and her daughter staged a dramatic exit, faking a car accident to make my father believe my mother's confrontation had nearly killed them.
From that day on, he despised my mother. And his love shifted entirely.
He skipped my graduation but drove Julie to and from school without fail, rain or shine. He forgot my birthday every year but could recite everything she'd eaten on any given day. He never had a kind word for me, yet he showered praise on every single one of her social media posts.
Now, I couldn't feel even a trace of fatherly love from him. Not a trace.