Brie Newman's POV Continues...

Dad grinned as if he were pleased with himself.
He definitely looked like the cat who swallowed the canary.
‘I never allowed the provisions of Sasha’s will to be published. She made sure that most of the fortune she accumulated was divided among her favorite charities. The remainder was placed in a trust fund to be awarded to you. You won’t be able to touch a penny of it until you turn twenty-one. I’m sure Sasha set it up that way, so that mother of yours, couldn’t help herself to any of it.'
Dad looked delighted to see my shocked expression.
'You’re actually a very wealthy young woman, Brie. I’m truly happy for you. I may not be father of the year, but I don’t begrudge you any of it. When the time comes, take the money and run as they say.’
I felt sick to my stomach.
I was touched that Sasha thought so much of me to do that, but once again the very idea of being on my own frightened me.
Even a psycho father was better than no one at all.
‘Dad, why can’t I just stay with you? Your house is so big. You won’t even know I’m there. I can still get a job and pay rent. Money doesn’t matter to me...all I ever wanted was a real family. Why can’t we have that?’


‘I’m no good, Brie. I wasn’t cut out to be anyone’s father. Take advantage of my offer to pay for an apartment and to max out my credit cards furnishing it. I don’t even expect to be reimbursed.'
He shook his finger sternly at me as he spoke.
As for family...It must have occurred to your mother that with your newly resculptured face and youth, that you would become serious competition. I’m going to be really angry with you, if you forgive her when she comes crying and apologizes. She will, when I finally tell her about Sasha’s trust fund. That alley cat was never a good mother to you. Forget about her and forget about me.’
Wow...just go away, Brie....


I would never understand the weird relationship my parents had.
Dad never acted like he cared much for mom, except as an occasional plaything.
Yet, he had all those pictures of her in his ‘inner office’.
‘You know Dad, if you love mom so much...why don’t you just tell her?’
‘What?’ Dad looked truly stunned.
I quickly indicated the door to that creepy closet.
The fury to be reminded of what went down earlier, shone in his eyes.
I thought for a split second, he’d actually slap me after all.
‘That isn’t your mother.’ he spat out. ‘They may look alike, but that would be like comparing chilled vintage champagne to warm cheap beer.’
‘You must have loved her a lot...um...who ever she is.’


Dad’s face relaxed a little.
‘She was my first true love. Her name was Mary. She was roughly your age when we first met. I was one of the judges of a beauty pageant she had entered. She was hoping to win a scholarship to college. From the moment I first laid eyes on her, I knew she had that something special. I knew she could be much more than she aspired to be. When I actually spoke to her, I knew I didn’t want to go on without her....Mary was my first wife.’
It seemed painful for Dad to talk about, but I wanted to know more about Mary and hoped he kept talking to me.
This was probably the only time we actually ever talked.
‘It’s probably not hard for you to imagine that I made lots of mistakes. She finally grew disgusted enough to leave me. I never even saw it coming...I came home to our apartment and found her and Remy gone. They eluded me for almost two years, until I finally caught up with them. It was too late. Both Mary and I had married other people...it’s complicated.’
In quite a few pictures there was a young teen boy with a bowl haircut and huge glasses.
He’d looked so familiar to me.
‘Remy?’


‘Yes, Mary’s baby brother. He was the reason her family was so poor. He had a serious heart condition. The medical bills for his care and medications had both parents too busy to give Mary much attention. I desperately wanted to whisk Mary away from all that. She needed a chance in the spot light.’
My father actually seemed grateful to let his story out.
‘I couldn’t stand Remy at first. I thought the whole family would be much better off, if someone were brave enough to snuff him out with a pillow...’
My hair literally stood up on the back of my neck.


‘Of course I would never have done anything like that.’ Dad reassured me very quickly. ‘I also didn’t expect he’d charm his way into my heart. I couldn’t help but admire his spirit and sheer determination to survive. He was a blazing sissy, but a very gifted artist. He too had that special aura surrounding him. I knew both he and Mary could be very famous and I wanted to be a part of it.
In the beginning, I was Remy’s hero...the only man besides his father, that accepted him as he was. He helped Mary sneak out to see me and saw us off when we eloped. When their parents passed away, I tried to push them toward the goals I set up for them.
Mary kept insisting she only wanted a family and Remy became resentful when I tried to man him up a little.
They were my entire world. On retrospect I could have done things differently....’
‘Where’s Mary now?’
‘She and her husband were killed in a car accident a few years ago.’ He smiled bitterly then.
‘The only selfless thing I ever did was to let Mary go. She was happy with her inn keeper husband. I realised when I did track her down, that I loved her too much to hurt her anymore. I always thought she would be safe there.'
Did I actually see tears glittering in my father's normally cold grey eyes?
'I even forgave Remy and got him his start as a fashion designer. All I wanted from the little ingrate was that sense of family again, but he continues to shun me.’
He was talking about Remington Mansfield! Sasha’s friend!


I did remember reading that Remington’s sister was killed in an automobile accident.
It made the news when he later formally adopted his orphaned niece.
‘Dad, I’m so sorry.’
I reached for his hand, as freaked out as I was, he was still my father.
Dad smiled at me sadly.
‘After my little family left, I lost the ability to love and be loved....I’m not a good person, Brie.
You deserve so much better. Sasha’s money will open up many doors for you. Take what I offer you today and never look back....’