Chapter 3 - The Poisoned Apple
I tore the check into tiny pieces and threw them in his face.
But a millionaire with a guilty conscience and a massive ego doesn't take 'no' for an answer. Liam didn't leave town. He booked the penthouse suite at the downtown Ritz-Carlton and began his campaign.
He didn't come to the apartment again. He went straight to the girls.
Two days later, Stella, Chloe, and Harper sat me down at the kitchen table. They looked pale.
"Dad," Stella started, tracing the edge of her coffee mug. "Someone intercepted us at the campus library today."
My stomach dropped. "Liam."
Chloe nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "He told us who he was. He... he showed us bank statements. He paid off all of our student loans this morning. Two hundred thousand dollars, Dad. Just... gone."
I felt the air leave the room. For four years, I had worked double shifts to help them pay for books, and they had taken on massive debt just to survive. With a flick of his wrist, Liam had erased a burden I could never lift.
"I told him we didn't want his money," Harper said fiercely, crossing her arms. "I told him to go to hell."
"But Chloe didn't," Stella said quietly, looking at her sister.
Chloe buried her face in her hands. "I want to go to medical school, Dad. You know I do. But I couldn't afford it. Liam said... he said he’d pay for my entire tuition at Johns Hopkins. Full ride. An apartment. Everything. He just wants us to have dinner with him."
May you like
I looked at my girls. I saw the conflict. They loved me, but the temptation of a debt-free, luxurious life was a heavy weight. Liam wasn't trying to be a father. He was buying them, preying on the financial insecurities I had never been able to fix.
"If you want to go to dinner," I said, my voice cracking, "you can go."
