Chapter 6
Iris:
“Daddy,” I said, smiling at the man as I entered the hospital room that he was staying at. This was one of the few times that I was allowed to actually see him being sick. The man, being my hero, and knowing that he was despite all the conflicts, rarely ever allowed me to see him being in a weak state.
He was laying on his bed with an oxygen mask over his face. Oh, how much I hated seeing him in this state, I couldn’t even describe it, but I knew that I had to be strong for his sake. If I weakened in front of him, what would he end up doing?
The man, who was as strong as a rock, and as hard as stone, lay in front of me, dealing with whatever pain that he was forced to endure, without even letting me know about it. Had mom not told me about it, I knew that he wasn’t going to tell me that his disease was eating him alive, and that was something that broke me more than ever. If anything, the last thing that I ever wanted was to see him in this much pain.
“Princess,” he said, extending his hand to me. The fact that he chose to give up on himself was something that I couldn’t bring myself to accept. He has been struggling with this for years now, I knew that, but I knew that we could somehow manage to get out of it, him giving up was not the option.
I took his hand in both of mine, my ch*st aching as I saw how weak he became. It was a state that I never saw him reach, not even in his worst days. Mom, who was also inside the room, didn’t bother looking at me. I wasn’t
surprised though, this has been the state of our relationship for years now. She rarely ever looked at me since I got my divorce and has often claimed that a woman’s home was her husband’s.
In her eyes, I was a disgraceful single mother who could end up doing what went against whatever morals she believed she had. In mine, I knew my own morals, and at times, they didn’t have to match hers. It was what started
the conflict.
The two of us got into countless arguments when I chose to move and live alone, and though she was forced to quiet down because of dad, I knew that she didn’t like it, or me to begin with. My one hero in this was the man who lay on the hospital bed. I knew that my life would turn upside down if anything happened to him, and just the idea of that scared the life out of me. I didn’t want to imagine my life without knowing that he would be there for me no matter the distance. It was a thought that scared me that I could end up living through a situation where I knew that he wasn’t there, and considering the fact that I knew that my family didn’t want me, I was alone.
“How are you, little one?” He asked, using the same nickname that he has used on me since I was a child. I wasn’t their first child, my older brother was. But the man chose to leave the second he turned eighteen, and has been missing for the past eleven years. Tomorrow would mark the eleventh. I was sixteen at the time, and waking up in
the morning to not know where he was scared the life out of the whole family.
We tried to find him, tried the cops, tried to search, but the man left. He left us a note informing us that he was okay and that he was leaving. On my twenty–first birthday, I got a letter from him, it was a birthday one, as well as him telling me to go and live my life. It was one that mom found before I did, and that was when they decided to wed me to Dean. The family didn’t want me to go the way my brother went.
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Little did they know that our five year marriage was nothing but hell to me. They didn’t care though, it was something that I knew for fact. At least, my mother didn’t. For a long while, dad never asked how my marriage was. He knew that I was against it to begin with; therefore, for him to ask did not make sense. It just killed me that he never saw my pain through my eyes, and even if he did, he never did mention it. He just saw it as the normal thing that happened, and that was something that broke my heart.
However, he e was quick to mend my scars when he chose to make it up to me by standing by my side when the issues happened. When I came to them after accepting the divorce, it was to inform them, and that was something that mom fought me about. I was given the choice by my mother to live with no money and out on the street alone, or fight till the end to get out of this divorce.
I chose to go on with the divorce, and that was when my father supported me for the first time in years. I didn’t even know how I managed, but I didn’t live with them, I chose to find my own house with the money that I had. And thankfully, day after day, my investments grew. And one day, I found out that I was pregnant.
I
“Daddy, it is me who is supposed to ask how are you?” I asked, trying to hide the pain from my voice. The last thing I wanted was for him to think that I was weakening. But I was determined to have him accept going back to his
treatments.
“I am fine, my little one. I am a little tired, I guess…”
“A little?” Mom asked, stopping him. I had to fight back, turning to glare at her as a tear fell from my left eye before I could stop it. Catching sight of it, dad cupped my cheek and wiped the tear before pulling me to his chest. Mom was often the cold hearted rational person who rarely ever thought with her heart, and though it sickened me that she was the way that she acted, I knew that it was a form of her coping with her own pain.
She had her limits too, but she was usually an expert at masking whatever she was feeling, and it was for known reasons. The last thing that she ever wanted was to be called weak or to be treated like a weak person, it was something that she hated, and that was something that we all knew about her.
However, to see that she was not being supportive or was being as stronger than my father was something that I didn’t like or understand, but now, the last thing that I wanted to do was question or argue with her.
“Daddy, why did you stop?” I asked, looking up at him. I tried to hold in my tears which were escaping my eyes. before I could stop them, and I knew that regardless of whether I did manage to do so or not, that my dad could see through my pain very clearly. “I know you better than that, you are not a man to give up like this. So, why? Why this time? What happened to make you weaken this much? And you know for fact that I won’t fall for an excuse that doesn’t make sense to my brain.”
If anyone knew how much I didn’t like not understanding what was going on, it was my father. I was one who didn’t mind being lashed out on, or getting yelled at, but I was not one who accepted being taken for a fool, and therefore, I knew that my father wouldn’t bother trying.
“Sweetheart, I am no longer the young man that I used to be. You know that for fact. I had…”
“Daddy, please don’t say that. You and I both know that you can still fight, you have a lot in you to do so.” I said,
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shaking my head as I pulled away to look him in the eye. He smiled and ran his finger over my cheek. “Please, daddy, please go back to your treatments. I know you are tired, but…”
“Iris, this is not why I called you here.” He said, stopping me. “I will make this fast, and I know that it might hurt you. But considering the fact that Stefan chose to leave, you are the one that I have…”
“Dad?” I asked, frowning in confusion, stopping him from what he was saying. Just the fact that he brought up my brother’s name, a name which he and mother chose not to say for years now, I knew that this was serious. However, for him to be talking about this as if he was going to lose his life, now that was something that I couldn’t find myself accepting.
“Iris, I want you to be the one to take care of the businesses from now on. I know that you had your own shares, and I know that you took care of a huge part, but you know exactly what I mean in this one. I want you to be in charge of the companies and where they would be going, and how we would be managing things. Everything would be transferred to your name, and from now on, you would be the one dealing with everything.”
“Dad, but that means that I would have to…..”
“It has been years, Iris.” He said, stopping me. My ch*st ached and I couldn’t help but feel small, smaller than I already felt at that moment. I looked at mom, silently asking her to stand up for me, if only this once, but of course, she didn’t bother sparing me a second glance. “I know that you might not want to do this, but it is time for you to get over what happened. And for the family’s business to run, I would need you to take care of things.”
I stayed quiet as I debated, my heart aching at the fact that I would be seeing the man that I dreaded most. “I know
that you might not…”
“I have one condition.” I said, stopping him. If he was going to be doing this the harder way, then I was going to play
the same game.
“I beg your pardon?” Mom asked, stopping me. “The man is your father, have you forgotten…
“And that is, Iris?” Dad asked, stopping her from scolding.
“I will work with him, and I will be sure to make you proud. But you will go back to your medication; otherwise, I
don’t care who buys the shares…”
