Fatherly Duties or Business Decision?
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Phil checked the camera, then scoffed. “She’s here.”
John cracked his knuckles. “Perfect. Let’s end this.”
The front doors of the Trudeau mansion swung open with dramatic flair. Carina strolled in, sunglasses too big for her hungover face, heels clicking with the arrogance of a woman who still thought the world revolved around her.
“Home sweet home,” she drawled, tossing her designer bag on the antique settee like it was a laundry basket. “Daddy came through, as always.”
Phil didn’t look up from his laptop.
John Gordy stood by the bar, pouring himself a glass of sparkling water like he’d just come from a board meeting instead of a police station. He didn’t even glance at his daughter until she flopped down onto the couch.
“I’m starving,” she sighed. “Somebody tell the chef I want eggs benedict with truffle oil.”
“Carina.” John’s voice cut through the air like a guillotine.
She blinked, slowly pulling off her sunglasses. “Daddy?”
“I didn’t post your bail for you,” he said flatly. “I did it for the Gordy name. Because headlines like ‘Music Mogul’s Daughter Caught Partying With Drug Lord’ are bad for business.”
Carina froze. “It wasn’t like that—José didn’t look like a criminal!”
John raised a brow. “Neither does a cobra until it strikes.”
She sank back, her confidence unraveling in real time.
“Daddy, I—”
“No,” John barked. “You made your choices. You mocked the woman carrying your husband’s child. You went out partying with a drug lord. What’s next, Carina? An autobiography titled ‘How to Ruin Your Bloodline in Ten Steps’?”
Her lip trembled. “You’re taking her side?”
“I’m taking the side of honor. You threw that away the second you chose ego over family.”
She looked past him toward the front door. “I’m still your daughter.”
“Yes,” he said coolly. “And you’re going to be one hell of a cautionary tale.”
“I spoke with Phil,” he continued, each word laced with cool finality. “He told me everything. The lies, the fake pregnancy, the contract you signed to step away from the child—your decision. You wanted out, remember?”
She opened her mouth, but no sound came.
“My loyalty,” John said, setting his glass down with precision, “is to my grandchild. And the woman carrying him.”
At that moment, Gabby entered the room quietly, dressed in soft maternity wear, a hand on her belly. She paused at the sight of Carina, her expression unreadable.
Carina scoffed, eyes narrowing. “So she’s the new queen of the castle now?”
“No,” John said. “She’s the only one acting like a Gordy.”
The silence was deafening. Even Carina’s ego couldn’t fill it.
“Get your act together,” he added. “You’re not a victim. You’re a liability.”
And with that, he walked past her, kissed Gabby on the cheek, and disappeared into his study.
Phil finally looked up, just once, and said: “Gabby, you need anything?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Carina’s jaw clenched. She didn’t even exist in that moment.
And it burned.Carina paced the kitchen like a lion trapped in a cage, her heels clacking angrily against the polished marble floor. Rhonda, the chef, didn’t even flinch as she chopped vegetables with precise movements. The air between them was thick with the tension of a battle already lost.
“Rhonda, you know I’m the reason this place runs,” Carina snapped, standing in the doorway. “I’ve been the face of this family for years. And now, all of a sudden, I’m irrelevant? Just because I made a mistake?”
Rhonda didn’t stop chopping. “You’ve made a lot of mistakes, Carina. We’ve all noticed. But your behavior? That’s a choice.”
Carina’s blood boiled. “I don’t need a lecture from you, you—a glorified cook in this house. Do you know who I am?”
Without even turning, Rhonda answered calmly, “I know exactly who you are. Someone who’s never had to fight for anything, who thinks the world owes her. But you’re not the star of this show anymore, and you haven’t been for a long time.”
Carina felt her chest tighten. “You’re all so quick to turn on me. First, my father, then Phil, now you. No one cares about how I feel anymore. No one cares that I’m trying to fix things. I just need... I need someone to care.”
Her voice cracked, but she immediately forced herself to hold it together.
Rhonda didn’t miss a beat. “Carina, you’re the one who created this mess. You didn’t just fail Phil—you failed yourself.”
The words hit harder than anything Rhonda could have thrown at her.
“I’ve been here for years, and this is how you treat me?” Carina’s voice was rising now, desperation leaking through the cracks in her facade.
“I’m not the one treating you, Carina,” Rhonda said. “You’re the one treating yourself like this. Trying to be the victim when all you’ve done is hurt the people who actually cared about you.”
Carina clenched her fists, staring at the back of the woman she’d once dismissed. “You know what? Maybe I’ll just leave. Let all of you—all of you—see what it’s like without me.”
“Go ahead,” Rhonda replied, still focused on her task. “I don’t think anyone will miss you. We’ve all learned to live without your tantrums and manipulation.”
Carina’s face burned with humiliation. She was used to being adored, to everyone fawning over her. But now? She was nothing. The realization hit harder than anything.
“You don’t care, do you?” she whispered, her voice cracking with hurt.
Rhonda finally set the knife down and faced her. “I don’t care about the drama, Carina. I care about people who show up, who act with some integrity. And you, sweetheart, have none.”
Carina stood there, her breath shallow, as Rhonda turned back to the stove. The words lingered in the room like smoke, suffocating her.
She wanted to scream, to lash out. But what was the point? No one was listening. No one cared.
Carina’s mind flickered back to the past, to when Phil had been the one to give her a fleeting glimpse of everything she wanted. Phil. The award-winning musician. The one who had rejected her multiple times when she first chased him through Gordy Records, desperate to be his muse. The one who made it clear that she wasn’t his type. But she knew how to play the game. She manipulated him, seduced him, and faked a pregnancy to trap him into marriage.
It had worked. They were married. But even now, it felt like a hollow victory. Phil’s love was something she could never hold onto, not truly. And now, his heart was with Gabby. His trust, his loyalty, his future. All the things she’d never been able to keep.
She wanted to scream, but instead, she stood there, shaking with rage. All the pieces of her life were crumbling, and no one was coming to her rescue.