Chapter 44: Broken Bonds

The sting on Celine’s cheek was unbearably painful. Tears automatically welled in her eyes by the time she fully turned to see who had hit her. Her hand instinctively braced to hit them back when she suddenly paused.

Her father’s blazing eyes were fixed on her with burning fury.

“You dare raise your hand at your own father?” He looked at her raised palm in disbelief and his anger seemed to burn even more. He grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her scalp backwards.

“It was my own fault for not teaching you manners. Now you think you’re all grown up and have the freedom to be so willful.”

Celine was astonished for a moment. Though her father used to ignore her existence and allowed Lydia to do whatever she pleased, he never was physically violent with her, nor had he ever hit her.

After she became famous he would actually speak to her calmly, ask her for favors, investments worth millions, then when she had refused to marry Ian he had suddenly turned back to the father who didn’t seem to care about her, the one who would say terrible things to her and force her into obedience.

Celine didn’t know where she got the strength from, she pushed herself out of his grip and his fist in her scalp released automatically.

“Teach me manners?” Celine said laughing through the tears that poured down her face. “Do you actually believe that you were a true father to me?”

Timothy Roberts frowned deeply with displeasure, watching Celine laugh while tears spilled from her eyes.

She had always been a quiet child, meek and subservient, a word or two could control her thoughts and actions. He couldn’t believe that she was actually questioning if he was a father to her in this moment.

“I’ve fed you, clothed you, and put a roof over your head, tell me who else would do that for an ungrateful child if not a father.” He yelled then pointed a finger at her face,

“You had a chance to win my heart, to prove your worth as my daughter but you ran away instead. You broke off the relationship with Ian and our connection to the Rode family is lost now. You have the nerve to come back home after that to insult your stepmother and your sister.”

Celine’s laughter ceased, she looked genuinely exhausted as she raised her eyes to look at both Lilian and Lydia who were smiling to each other and whispering something about her which made satisfaction show in their eyes. Lilian smugly lifted her chin as if to show Celine that she was better than her.

“Both of them are your only family aren’t they? They’ve always been.” It was a bitter realization.

Celine had only tried so hard because she’d seen her father be good to Lilian, seen him pamper her, treat her like a princess… Celine always thought that if he could be that way with Lilian, he could someday be that way with her as well.

Somewhere inside he loved her…he just didn’t show it.

Now she realized it was a lie she told herself just so she wouldn’t feel all alone in this world, just so she wouldn’t feel no better than an orphan, but that lie had led her to accept lies and abuse from a father who only saw her as a commodity he could use for his own personal gains.

“You all deserve each other.” She muttered looking up straight into her father’s eyes, “You only have one daughter from now on.”

Saying that she turned her back on him.

Her final words hit him as a shock.

The brat had never once given up, had never once turned her back to the family.

Watching her walk away, Timothy Roberts felt reluctant. She had after all contributed quite a lot to the rise of his company. Without the instant funds he received from her two years ago, he wouldn’t have been able to save Silverline Realty.

“You can’t escape your family Celine, I am still your father!” He asserted with a loud dominat voice that made Celine stop abruptly.

She turned over her shoulder to glance at him, her eyes looked empty and listless.

The effort of maintaining a bond singlehandedly in her heart for all these years was too tiring, too exhausting.

“My father…” Her voice came out hoarse, “You’re not worthy to be called my father.”

As Celine walked away, it was her final farewell to this family who had contributed more to the pain she had felt all her life rather than her joy.

She felt a mixture of deep sadness at the same time she felt relief.

She heard her father shout threats behind her, about how she couldn’t cut ties with him, how he could hurt her and the things he was capable of but it never made her stop. Perhaps he didn’t know that what made her stay all these years wasn’t because she was afraid of him but because she had cared…a misplaced care he didn’t deserve.

Celine sat in her car, laid her head on the steering wheel and allowed the tears to flow, there wasn’t so much as a single sob from her but the tears didn’t stop. She let them out until her heart felt lighter then wiped them off and quietly swore to never shed a tear for this family ever again.

When she raised her head however, someone was standing in front of her car, arms crossed and a derisive smile on her lips.

Lilian.

Celine started her car, revving it to life with a cold look in her eyes that told Lilian that she could run her over without a single care.

The confident and satisfied look on Lilian’s face stiffened, she walked towards the car window to say,

“Do you think you can survive on your own out there now that you no longer have a career? You were foolish to anger Dad like that. Anyway I just came out to share some good news with you.

Silverline Realty just received a collaboration with Grayson Corp.”

The mention of the name Grayson made Celine halt with shock.

Lilian was satisfied with that expression.

“Do you know what that means?” Lilian whispered leaning closer to Celine’s ear to add, “It means I’m one step closer to meeting Tristan Grayson, one step closer to my dreams of becoming his wife. All my dreams are coming true Celine, and yours… they’re flushed down the gutter, right where they’re meant to be…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep