19

Morgan's POV:

"Morgan?" Dad called after me. I pretended not to hear him, making my way up the stairs to my room. "Darling please, say something."

Say what? What does he want me to say?

I walked up the stairs and got to my room. He followed behind me, keeping a safe distance between us as if he was afraid of what I would do. Well actually, it was nothing.

I felt numb. I couldn't think about anything but getting to my room and crashing in bed.

I locked the door to my room, made a beeline for my bathroom and took a cold shower.

He's joking, right? And that girl, she's joking too, right?

After my shower I dressed in a loose shirt an went to bed. Tomorrow morning I'll sort my thoughts out. As for now, I don't think so.

******

The atmosphere that hovered over the breakfast table was nothing short of tensed. I ate my breakfast of oats and fruits, occasionally helping the twins with their own food. Dad sat at the head of the table, watching me with cautious eyes. And that girl sat beside him, oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

"Mommy, Who is that?" Cole whispered, his eyes moving to the girl.

"Eat your food honey," I said with a small smile. "Once you're done, you both can go to the pool."

"I don't want to swim." Miranda cut in. "I have an art project, can you help me with it?"

"I can help you with it!" The girl said. I turned to her. She had a wide smile as she looked at Miranda. "I may not look like it, but I'm a very good artist."

"Thank you," I said pointedly. "But we'll be fine."

"You're an artist?" Miranda asked, her eyes sparkling. "Can I see what you paint? Are you really that good?"

The girl laughed shyly and nodded. "Yes, after breakfast I'm sure I can show you."

"Awesome!"

I felt betrayed. I looked at the girl, my face hard as stone. If She noticed the cold look I was giving her, she didn't show it.

"Morgan," Dad called softly. "You haven't said anything."

"Not in front of the kids, dad." I said without looking at him.

Truth was, my heart was hammering. If this girl is my sister, like actually related to me, then dad has a lot of questions to answer. Questions I don't want to ask.

I'm an only child. I'm the heir of Rosewood. It's always been just me. And even after my mother was gone, dad never took any women.

Well, perhaps he did and I just wasn't aware of it.

I lost my appetite.

The twins finished first and ran off to the pool even though Miranda had said she didn't want to swim. That left the three of us at the table.

"Morgan," Dad called again. It crossed my mind to get up and walk out. I looked up and met his eyes. "Can you please say something?"

"What do you want me to say, dad?" I asked. "You drop the biggest bombshell of my life on me, at least give me time to process it."

"Oh, you didn't know about me?" The girl asked. I turned to look at her. "I know all about you! I don't know why..."

"Sabrina," Dad called. "Please, let me talk to Morgan."

"Okay!"

I planted my elbows on the table, my chin clasped in my palms. "Sabrina huh?"

Dad cleared his throat, a fleeting look of discomfort flashed in his eyes. "I was going to tell you,"

"When?"

"When the time was right."

"And that happened to be yesterday when you also wanted me to sign a deal with someone you know I don't want to ever see again? Wow dad, impeccable timing."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Morgan."

I glared at him, but my glare quickly died down. "I deserve an explanation,"

I could feel Sabrina looking at me. I absolutely refused to meet her eyes. Instead I focused my gaze solely on dad. He was squirming under the weight of my eyes. Good.

"Did you cheat on mom?"

"No." Dad said. "Sabrina is....she's your older sister."

I snapped my head to look at Sabrina. "What?!" I shouted, shock seizing my heart. "Dad?! What the...how?!"

"You grew up so well," Sabrina said, clutching her heart with a sad smile. "I'm so glad we finally meet "

"Dad!" I turned to my father. "What is going on right now?"

"Your mother was..." Dad started, clearly uncomfortable. His gaze shifted all over my face, refusing to meet mine. "Your mother and I were in an arranged marriage. I had Sabrina before we met each other, and for the sake of peace we, I mean I and Sabrina's mother agreed to keep it private."

"You had a kid before you married mom? Was she aware of it?"

"Unfortunately, she wasn't."

"And she died without knowing you had another family?!" I noticed my voice was rising. My heart was racing. I felt like I couldn't swallow. "Dad how could you! I....I can't believe you would be so cruel!"

"Darling please, you have to understand"

"You kept such a secret form mom! And you pretended....you pretended to be in love!"

"I loved your mother."

"Yeah bull shit! What kind of love was that if you kept something this huge from her?"

"Morgan, I understand you're upset. Yet I will not tolerate that tone of voice you're using."

"Oh so now you have a problem with my tone?! You know what, dad, you should have kept your little secret to yourself. Why did you even bother telling me?"

"You deserved to know." He said calmly. He turned to Sabrina and smiled warmly at her. "I have two amazing daughters. I'm not getting any younger, and I'd like to die with less regrets."

"You're not dying anytime soon, daddy." Sabrina said and held his hand. "You still have a long life ahead of you."

I felt sick to my stomach.

My father, the man I looked up to as my hero. He could do absolutely no wrong in my eyes. And yet...this is the kind of thing he does?

An arranged marriage? And a kid from another woman? How do I even begin to process this now?

"Morgan," Sabrina turned to me. "Don't worry, we have plenty of time to get to know each other better."

I wanted to throw my bowl of oatmeal at her face. "Fuck you." I rose to my feet and left.

Get to know each other better? Over my dead body.