Blood red love by Dripping Creativity

22 

“To understand my relationship with my dad, I guess I need to tell you about my family. My mom and dad were high school sweethearts. They married their second year in college since mom got pregnant with Huxton, my brother,” Charlie 

started. 

“Huxton, Charmeze, your parents have a liking for unusual names,” Vidar pointed out with a smile. 

“Don’t remind me. I think it was my mom’s idea. She had a flare for the dramatic,” she told him. “Three years after 

Huxton, I came along. When I was three, my dad told my mom he had been having an affair with a coworker. He only 

told her because the other woman was pregnant. I don’t remember much from back then, but Huxton says dad wanted to 

fix the marriage. But mom couldn’t take the fact he had betrayed her. They divorced and my father moved in with the other woman and they had a daughter together, Sophie. My dad wanted her to spell it with a Z, to keep the tradition of 

odd names going. But Rose, dad’s new wife, didn’t like it, so it’s Sophie with an S.” 

“It had to be tough on you and your brother,” Vidar said. He put his arm on the back of the couch and rested his hand on her shoulder. Charlie looked down into her tea and shrugged. 

“It was. It was worse for Huxton in a way. He remembered how it was before. I didn’t, so it was normal for me. Huxton got more attention from dad than I did. Being the only son, both dad and Rose made sure to plan things with him, be there when he had things in school or show up at his birthday parties and things like that. Me, I was one of two girls, and I was the one not living with him. It was easy to forget about me. Rose didn’t like me, maybe because she thought I was competition for her daughter, or maybe because I resemble my mom. She was happy he forgot about me.” Charlie leaned forward and put her teacup on the coffee–table and sat back again. “Sure, I missed having a dad, especially during the big moments. When my appendix burst, he wasn’t there because Sophie had a dentist appointment and she wanted both her parents there. When I had my first dance recital, he was at home because he had promised Rose they would have a family evening. But it was okay, because I had my mom and Huxton. Huxton realised what was happening sooner than I did, and he tried to step up and be there for me when dad wasn’t. He and James,” she said. She saw a small scowl pass over Vidar’s face when she mentioned James. It made her smile. “I was happy with that. Then, when I was eleven, mom started getting tired all the time. She had never remarried, or dated as far as I know. I think she couldn’t bear to risk her heart again. She was diagnosed with leukaemia,” Charlie said, sighing as she felt the familiar pain in her chest. 

“I’m sorry to hear that, Charlie,” Vidar said. He didn’t look uncomfortable like most did when she talked about death. 

“Thank you. A year after she was diagnosed, she was gone. Huxton and I moved in with my father and his family. That was when I understood how my dad chose Sophie before me. Huxton tried to fill the void for me, tried to shield me. But he was grieving as well, and he was a kid. But he and James came to every event, every school meeting. They took me out for my birthday together with Lilly, as I didn’t always get a party.” It was a hard thing to admit your own father didn’t care about you. Vidar lifted his hand from her shoulder and caressed her cheek. 

“Do you need to stop?” he asked. She shook her head. It felt surprisingly good to tell someone. Everyone close to her knew about her history. They had lived it with her. And they never talked about it. 

“No, it’s okay. I’m not weighing too heavy on you, am I?” she asked. 

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“Don’t worry about me. I can handle it,” he told her. 

“Okay. We are getting close to the present. When my mom died, her will set up a trust. All her money, it wasn’t that much, went into the trust. Each year it paid a sum to my dad, to help him with our expenses. When I turned eighteen, the remaining amount was divided equally between Huxton and me. When I was fifteen, my father’s parents both died. They had a good amount of money and in their will, they set up an education fond of each of their three grandchildren. We each got an equal amount in an account. For me and Sophie, who were underage, my dad was co–owner of the fund. Huxton used his for his law studies and didn’t need to get a scholarship or loans. I knew what I wanted to work with. I wanted to work with computer security and because I’m ambitious, I wanted the best job in the field. Everything was planned. When I got my inheritance from my mom, I put most of it into a separate account to have for my bachelor’s degree. With the money I had left, I bought my apartment so I could move out of my dad’s house. It all went as I had planned. I worked to have money for food and bills, but my school was paid for by my inheritance. When I got my degree, Huxton, James, and Lilly took me out to celebrate. I applied to start studying for my next degree the next day,” she told him. He smiled at her. “I still had contact with my dad, even if it was sporadic. He would take me out to eat sometimes. I would call him if I had big news. I told him I had got my degree and been accepted into the next program. He told me he was proud of me and things felt good between us. During the summer vacation between the first and second year of my new program, my dad called me out of the blue. He told me Sophie had dropped out of college two years back and had told our dad she wasn’t planning on continuing her education. She then used the rest of her fond to buy a car and travel and other things. Now she had met a new boyfriend, and he was studying at college. Now she wanted to go back, but there was no money. My dad and Rose couldn’t help her. But then he thought about my fund. I already had a degree, so I could spare the money. In his mind, it was really unfair that I still had the possibility to study while she hadn’t. He was calling to say he had already taken the funds from my account and put into Sophie’s. He didn’t even ask, he just took them.” Charlie felt the anger bubble inside of her. She had been so angry that day, it was still a 

fresh memory and the anger had only increased. 

1 

“Did you look into the legality of it?” Vidar asked. 

“I called Huxton the first thing I did when I had calmed down. He told me that based on how my grandparents had formulated the will, my dad was just as much the owner of the account as I was. I could sue him, it could go in my favour. But it could take a long time and it wasn’t a guarantee. I could have accepted it. Used the degree I have and accept that my dream career wasn’t going to happen,” she said. Vidar let out a soft chuckle that caught Charlie’s 

attention. 

“No, lilla lo, you couldn’t have done that. It’s not in your nature,” he told her. 

“True,” she confessed. “So I did the only thing I could think of. I vowed never to talk to my dad again. He had disappointed me one too many times. Then I found the best paying job I could and started collecting money until I can pay for my school,” she said. 

“No one offered to help you?” he asked. 

“Sure they did. Huxton almost demanded I let him pay. As usual, he tried to step up when dad stepped down. But he and Tyson had just adopted the twins and Tyson had quit his job to stay at home with them. They needed a life line more than me. Lilly also offered. But she is in an unstable relationship. I don’t want to take that much money from her and end up trapping her with someone. Even James offered. But I turned him down as well,” she told him. 

“I’m happy you did,” Vidar said. 

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“Me too. Anyway. That was about seven months ago. Dad started to reach out to me about two months after our fast conversation. Nothing like this. I suspect James told him where I work,” she told him and regretted it at once as his face looked like a thunderstorm had moved across it. “It’s okay. It’s his childish way of trying to get back at me. I don’t care,” 

she added. 

“If Caine hadn’t been there, what would have happened? He may be your father, but he wasn’t in control today,” he told 

her. 

“Speaking of Caine, who is he and why exactly was he there?” she asked. Hoping to change the subject. To her surprise, Vidar looked a little flustered.