"It doesn't bother you?" Whatever patience he had left snapped. "Stop throwing tantrums! Julie is pregnant. Don't go upsetting her. You're coming to dinner tomorrow, and that's final. Are we clear?"
I said nothing. My hand drifted to my own stomach.
I was pregnant too.
But in his eyes, only Julie's feelings mattered. Mine weren't even worth considering.
Cold fury churned deep inside me, wave after wave. But then I thought of my agreement with Joseph, and I swallowed it down.
It was just one dinner.
I'd think of it as their last supper.
The next evening, Piers drove me to the restaurant himself.
When I pushed open the door to the private dining room, I found my father sitting beside Julie.
He was gently adjusting a hair clip for her, his expression soft with a tenderness I hadn't seen directed at me in years.
The moment he noticed me, the smile vanished. All that remained in his eyes was disgust.
I was long accustomed to that look.
There was a time when I'd been his little princess too.
That ended when my mother caught him cheating. Julie's mother and her daughter staged a dramatic exit, faking a car accident to make my father believe my mother's confrontation had nearly killed them.