Sindy Kate — Chapter 24

True Intentions

WESTLEY

DAD SIGHED shakily. “I get it you hate me for turning my back on you, for hurting you, and for not believing in you.”

“That’s a strong word, don’t you think? But you don’t have any idea.” I shook my head and glared at him.

Dad remained calm, but I could sense he was struggling to admit his mistakes because he used to be right all the time. “That was years ago, Harry. I lost you once. Let me atone for all my mistakes. Give me another chance. This time, I won’t let you down.”

“Do you think it would be easy? I like my life in that small town. I’m going back there once Keene is done receiving his treatment. Thanks to your wife, we suffered for years.”

“I want you to come back home with me.” He seemed sincere, but he would hate me if he knew what I had been doing for these past years. He must have been so clueless with what I did for a living because if he knew who the new Harry Bloom and the character I created, he would never be asking right now.

“Trust me, you don’t want me to be here with you, to be near you, Dad. You don’t want to taint your clean reputation because I am not who I was before. I am a disgrace to Bloom, remember?” I threw his words back, and I felt it right.

“It doesn’t matter to me now. We all did terrible things and made terrible mistakes. We’re only human.”

Wow!

“I wish I heard that from you three years ago. It wouldn’t have come to this.”

“I’ve been lost, worked hard to the point that I’ve been blinded by the power in my hand, and with all those people around me who I thought genuinely cared about me, I didn’t even realize that I already lost my own daughter.” His voice became quieter. He must be referring to his ex-wife, his beloved step-daughter, and the bodyguard he entrusted his life to. “It wasn’t the true happiness I’d been looking for, Harry.”

He looked down and he seemed had lost in his own thoughts. “I thought you’re dead.”

“You thought, but you never came and searched for me!” Tears formed at the back of my lids as I glared at him. No matter how hard I tried not to be emotional before him, but I couldn’t help it.

“I did—” He reached out.

“But you never tried harder. And you hired the wrong people because you thought you could trust your bitch!”

“Language, Harry.”

“Oh, I’ve done terrible things to even care about my language anymore, Dad.” I wiped my tears with the back of my hand.

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“It does to me. Can’t you see it?”

“I just wanted my daughter back. Come home with me, please, daughter?” His voice cracked. His eyes turned red. I guessed I underestimated his emotions.

Dad held my hands for the first time, and it felt comforting. He had emotional turmoil as I had, and if we continued doing this, I might end up giving up and throwing myself into his arms, because honestly, I missed him, and he was still my father after all.

“You must have hit your head pretty bad. You never begged.” Snorting, I pulled my hands back.

“I am doing this for you, Harry. For us. I should have seen things before it turned me to be who I am today. I know our mistakes had made us different persons, but do you think it’s not a good thing? It made us better people.”

“How long have you known I’m still alive?” I wanted to know the truth. Everything.

“Weeks ago.”

“And yet you did not come to get me.”

“I have someone to look after you since then.” Of course.

“After how many years, why now? I bet you want someone to stand by your side during your upcoming campaign, am I right?”

He shook his head. “I am not running again, Harry. I’m done. I dropped my candidacy.”

“Wow!” My eyes widened in surprise and sarcasm. “You gave up just like that? Why? Is it all about your perfect wife and step-daughter?”

“No,” he said without hesitation. He walked toward his liquor rack, grabbed a bottled of Whiskey, and poured a shot.

“Early in the morning?” I glared at him.

He ignored me and drained the amber liquid in one gulp.

“Then tell me what is it all about? Are you sick? Dying? Bankrupt? Did you lose in gambling?” I was harsh, but I couldn’t forget what he did to me. Being here with him and couldn’t get the answers hurt me even more.

“I don’t gamble, you know that. I am not dying and business is doing great. I need peace of mind, a peaceful life before I die. I am not young anymore, Harry. I couldn’t see the point of having power without having a real-life out of the public eye.” He stepped closer and sat on his desk. He looked at me, and as if telling me to look through his eyes. I saw everything. He felt lost, vulnerable, in pain, and he wanted to be loved.

“What made you say that?”

“I thought I fulfilled something and had self-contentment that somehow I was able to help people. I could still help them in so many ways, but not in someone’s terms. I may have power but it wasn’t a real accomplishment. I was with those greedy bastards all these years, and they controlled everything. I couldn’t even suggest my strategies. So what was the point if all I did was to follow their own agenda? I wasted my time. I knew you didn’t like that kind of life, Harry,” Dad spoke with disdain.

“I thought that was what you wanted.”

“At first, yes. Then I had to pay the debts to those who funded my campaigns, and they didn’t want my money in return. They wanted the impossible. And I regretted it for stepping on to that life because it changed me.” His brows furrowed in frustrations. “I played dirty, Harry, but I don’t want to die telling myself that I did the best things in life when the truth is I did nothing. I was a puppet of those greedy businessmen. I was a corrupt politician, and I could not live in that life again.”

“Then weeks ago after the announcement, I felt I was missing something. Something that was supposed to be here in my heart,” he added.

My brow arched. “I didn’t expect you to feel that way after all these years.”

“It’s not too late to do the right thing. I hope it’s not too late to make it up to you as your father, Harry.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling offended. “Wow! You must have been hurt so bad that I could feel the desperation seeping through your veins.”

“This has nothing to do with them. Not the hurt from throwing them out of my life, believe me. But realizing what I've done, losing my only daughter, and for not being there—”

“Cut the crap, father!” If I returned the time, this wasn’t me. I was the black sheep, but I never yelled to my father. Right now, I was conflicted. “I don’t even know the reason why I came here in the first place. I don’t have reasons to come back anymore. I hated this place! Oh, maybe I wanted to see for myself that they’re gone for good!”

“They’re gone. As of this moment, my lawyers are processing the divorce, and they won’t get even a cent from me.”

“I don’t care even if you give them all your assets. But father, what do you want from me exactly?” I was vibrating with anger that all he wanted was me to return. Why couldn’t he just tell me the reasons why he was so desperate to have me back all of a sudden?

“I want nothing more than to have you back.” I could feel the anticipation rolling in waves inside him, in his eyes, but it wasn’t enough for me to prove he had changed.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then allow me to prove it to you.”

My brows furrowed, and I wanted to scream in frustrations. I shouldn’t have come over.

This is ridiculous! A waste of time.

At the back of my mind, I wanted the truth—I also wanted to hear that he cared about me, that he still loved me despite my bad reputation as his daughter. I didn’t know what was he up to this time because he didn’t want a black sheep in the family. Then what changed? I was sure this had nothing to do with him, dropping off his candidacy. He didn’t look sick either. Judging by the house and the guards he had, he was not closer to bankruptcy. If Trace was telling the truth that he transferred all his assets to my name, he could transfer them back, couldn’t he?

He wasn’t the father I knew after those bitches came to our lives. He changed, and so did I.

Then I realized I became entirely a different person—someone else. “If you can accept me that I let people pay me to show my naked body in front of the camera? then I will come back.”