98 Fam glad my father died.
possibly be all of these sweet things but yet, he treated me worse than a stranger? I wondered, my frustration mounting with each passing second.
Then, it was my turn.
I rose on shaky legs, my gaze sweeping across the sea of sombre faces. I wasn’t shy about taking the stage. Back in the human world, I’ve presented in front of larger crowds but humans were more merciful when it comes to dealing with people.
I’ve seen a speaker go mute because of a panic attack when he once climbed the stage but instead of mocking and calling him incompetent, the crowd cheered for him. If it were in our world, in the presence of these judgemental gazes and scheming hearts, he would never stand a
chance.
I approached the stage, feeling a thousand pairs of eyes on me. Clutching the speech I had prepared – carefully, crafted lies. I forced myself to stand tall, my hands trembling slightly. I’d written kind words for the occasion, but staring at them… with the words swimming before my eyes, each line feeling like me confessing that I was a fraud….
This is a farce. It’s not who he was not really.
I couldn’t bring myself to say these nice things about a man who had treated me as though I was
invisible.
My gaze s
this“.
swept across the crowd and landed on Nathan. He nodded to me mouthing “You’ve got
They were just words, right? And all I had to do was read it out but the resentment and bitterness I’ve harboured all these years… that have taken deep roots in my heart felt too heavy.
I was beginning to waste people’s time now.
So, I cleared my throat, and opened my mouth, willing myself to say something anything.
“My father… My father…” I began but the words were lodged in my chest, choked by an overwhelming wave of anger and grief: “I’m glad he died…” I heard myself say.
The crowd gasped as everyone stared at me wide–eyed. I had let my intrusive thoughts win. “No… no…” I raised my hands placatingly. “That’s not what I meant,” I stammered, trying to collect myself. Angry tears pricked at my eyes and swiped at them, cursing at my weakness.
“I’m just… being so emotional. What I wanted to say is… my father, Alpha Logan Woodland is… was…. A g…” I trailed off shaking my head. “I’m sorry, I choked out tightening my grip on the paper. “I just… I don’t know how to put into words what he meant to me… especially to me.” I took another deep steadying breath, but the tears were following down my cheeks unbridled.
“Who am I kidding?” I chuckled sadly “I don’t think I can do this. I’m sorry for wasting your time. I should go now
I turned, hurriedly stepping off the stage when my heel caught on the hem of my dress causing me to stumble forward. I braced myself for the impact as if I hadn’t embarrassed myself enough. But just before I reached the ground, strong arms enveloped me.
14:47
2/3
- I am glad my father died….
It was Nathan.
He steadied me, cupping my face, and cleaning my tears as he looked at me with concern. “Hey… it’s okay. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
My eyes darted to Ramsey, who sat there, doing nothing and I felt another surge of annoyance pass through me. I took a step back from Nathan’s arms brushing his hand away, even though my cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.
I could practically hear my father’s voice now, reminding me how much misfortune I had brought to him by being his daughter.
“I’m fine,” I managed, taking another step backwards as Nathan tried to reach for me. I could see the hurt in his eyes but I was too overwhelmed to care. “I just need… I need some air.” Without another word, and without another glance at anyone, I bolted out of the hall, as fresh tears streamed down my face.
To the visitors… this would be an eyesore… but to members of Blue Ridge… to my mother and my sister… to Ramsey… oh especially to him… this was me just being me. The reason why he had rejected me and chosen another woman.
Even me… I didn’t want myself for anyone.
