Obsessed: Part Two Read Online Free Page B

at the declaration.
    "I know." I respond calmly. "You were right."
    "What happened?"
    "He cheated on me." I hate those words. I hate the taste of them in my mouth. I hope this will be the last time I ever have to repeat them.
    "Mark?" he snaps back. "Our Mark cheated on you? I don't believe it?" The sarcasm in his voice is obvious.
    I run my index finger around the handle of the fork sitting in front of me. "He did with many women."
    "What women?" he says it with contempt. I can tell that he's angry. I don't blame him. He warned me. He told me that Mark was no good for me and now I have to concede before I can ask for his help.
    "One was Liz," I mumble under my breath hoping he won't remember the name of my best friend.
    "You're joking?" The words fly out accompanied by small traces of the bourbon he's drinking. I'm surprised he didn't spit the entire mouthful in my direction.
    I breathe a heavy sigh. "I'm serious."
    "What kind of people are you associating yourself with, Ivy?" his voice cracks.
    "I had no idea, dad. I should have listened to you." I tremble knowing that I was too stubborn back when it mattered. My father was wise, he was strong and he was genuine. If his inner instinct had told him that Mark wasn't good for me that should have raised a red flag in my head. I wish I could undo the past few years. I wish I had taken my father's advice to heart.
    He stands and I panic. He's leaving. He's so embarrassed by what I've done with my life that he's going to walk right out of this restaurant, get back on a train headed to Boston and I'll lose him again for the next few years. My eyes well with tears as I bury my head in my hands.
    "Princess." His voice is right next to me. "You should have called me. I would have come and given Mark a piece of my mind."
    I throw my arms around his neck and pull him to me. The overwhelming scent of his cologne takes me back to when I was a little girl and I would sit on his lap for hours while he read to me each night. This is my home. This is where I belong.
    "You would have hit him, daddy." I giggle as I pull back to look at his weathered face.
    "I could take him. I'd sucker punch him when he was texting on that fancy phone of his." He winks at me.
    I laugh out loud. I feel a sense of calm and contentment. I haven't laughed like this with my father in so long. I finally feel anchored again. "Thank you for coming." I cup his cheek in my hand. "It means everything to me."
    "You mean everything to me." He kisses my palm. "Now where's my steak?"
     
    ***
     
    "No one can grill a steak like your mama could but that wasn't half bad." My father wipes the last remnants of mashed potatoes from the corner of his lips. "Now let's get to the nitty gritty of why I'm here."
    I look across the table at him and I feel a nervous knot form in the pit of my stomach. "It's about Mark and some shares I have in his company."
    "That real estate company he owns?" he takes a long sip of the water as he gazes over the glass at me.
    "Yes." I nod. "He gave me ten percent when we split."
    "It must be worth something?" He's scanning the dessert menu and running his finger across the page as if to check the prices.
    "Someone told me it was worth ten million." I cringe as I say the number. My father comes from humble beginnings and although he worked hard to make a very comfortable life for my sister and me after our mother died, we didn't have anything in excess ever.
    The menu falls from his hands onto the table as his jaw drops. Then, as if in slow motion, he shakes his head from side-to-side a few times. "I heard you wrong, princess. My hearing isn't what it used to be."
    "No, you heard me right." I swallow the last few drops of red wine that have been taunting me from the bottom of my glass since before dinner arrived. "I was told the shares are worth ten million dollars."
    "You're rich." A wide grin takes over his face. "You're rich, Ivy. Sell them back to him."
    "No." I know this is the point where I should