He looked over his shoulder at Gladys, who was pretending to check her phone. “She told me you were being discharged because you couldn’t handle the duties.”
“And you chose to believe her instead of asking me for the truth,” I pointed out.
He flinched as if I had hit him, and for a moment, we stood in a silence that felt heavier than the rumors. “I am so sorry,” he whispered. “I let her voice become louder than my own daughter’s.”
Gladys walked over, her face twisted with anger. “Are we going to stand in the dark all night? We have guests coming over for the after-party.”
“Go home, Gladys,” my father said without looking at her.
“What did you just say to me?” she asked, sounding shocked by his sudden backbone.
“I said go home. I am going to stay here and talk to my daughter,” he replied firmly.
She looked at me with pure hatred, but for the first time, her words had no power over me. She turned and walked to the car, slamming the door so hard it shook the frame.
My father turned back to me, his eyes wet with regret. “I want to make this right, Andrea.”
“It starts with listening to the people who actually love you,” I told him.
He nodded and reached out to pull me into a hug that felt like the first real embrace we had shared in years. I drove away from Oak Haven later that night, watching the town lights fade in my rearview mirror.
I hadn’t come for revenge, but I left with something much better. I left with the truth, and I left knowing that my silence had finally spoken louder than any lie Gladys could ever tell.
THE END.
