Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Was she a terrible daughter for not seeing through the lies?
“He didn’t want to worry you,” Sheila added, as if reading her mind.
“So that’s when he started drinking?”
Her stepmother nodded. “At first, it was just a drink or two in the evenings, but the worse the situation got, the more he drank. I tried talking to him about it. I told him it was becoming a problem, but he refused to hear it. That’s when…” Sheila’s voice drifted.
“That’s when what?”
“He slept with another woman.”
A silence fell between them, but this time Hayden didn’t try to defend her father. That day at the law office, she’d believed Sheila to be a heartless lying bitch who was baselessly accusing Pres of adultery. But after his blowup at the Gallagher Club and discovering this morning that his water glass was full of vodka, Hayden couldn’t deny her dad had a problem. And if that problem had driven him to cheat, she needed to accept it. No point sticking her head in the sand and pretending things were okay, when they obviously weren’t.
So she leaned back and allowed Sheila to continue.
“He told me what he’d done the next morning, blamed me for his infidelity, said my constant nagging forced him to do it.” Sheila made an exasperated sound. “And he kept denying he had an alcohol problem. I might have been able to forgive him for the affair, but I couldn’t look away while he destroyed the life we’d built.”
“What happened?”
“I confronted him again and ordered him to get help.”
“I take it he didn’t agree.”
“No.” Sheila’s features twisted in distress and anger. “He only got worse. A couple nights later, I came home from the gym and found him in the study, drunk out of his mind. That’s when he confessed about the games he’d fixed.”
A rush of protectiveness rose inside her. “It could have been the alcohol talking. Maybe he didn’t know what he was saying.”
“He knew.” Sheila offered a knowing look. “And what he said was confirmed to me by a player on the team.”
“The one you’re sleeping with?” Hayden couldn’t help cracking.
Two red circles splotched Sheila’s cheeks. “Don’t judge me, Hayden. I may have turned to another man, but only after your father betrayed me. Pres pushed me away long before I did what I did.”
Her mouth closed. Sheila was right. Who the hell was she to judge? What happened within a marriage wasn’t anybody’s business but the people who were married, and she couldn’t make assumptions or draw conclusions about a situation she hadn’t been a part of.
And if she were to draw conclusions, it startled her to realize she actually believed Sheila. She might not approve of Sheila’s contesting of the prenup, but Hayden couldn’t bring herself to brush off what her stepmother had told her.
If her father had really bribed players, what would happen to him if—when?—the investigation revealed the truth? Would he get off with a fine, or would she be visiting him in prison this time next year? Fear trickled through her, settling in her stomach and making her nauseated.
With a sympathetic look and a soft sigh, Sheila said, “Things aren’t always as they seem. People aren’t always as they seem.” She averted her eyes, but not before Hayden saw the tears coating her lashes. “Do you want to know why I married your father?”
For his money?
She quickly swallowed down the nasty remark, but Sheila must have seen it in her eyes because she said, “The money was part of it. I know you probably won’t understand, but I didn’t have a lot of financial security growing up. My parents were dirt-poor. My father ran off with what little money we did have, and I was working by the time I was thirteen.” She shrugged. “Maybe I was selfish for wanting a man who could take care of me, for wanting some security.”
Sheila paused, shaking her head as if reprimanding herself.
“But the money wasn’t the only reason. If it was, I would have married one of the many rich jerks who showed up at the bar I waitressed at, pinching my ass and trying to get me into bed. But I didn’t marry one of those guys. I married your dad.”
“Why?” Hayden asked quietly, strangely fascinated by her stepmother’s story.
“Because he was one of the good guys. I wasted so much time on the bad boys, the guys who light your body on fire but end up burning you out in the end. I was sick of it, so I decided to find myself a Mr. Nice—a decent, stable man who might not be the most exciting man in the world but who’d always be there for me, always put me first. Financially and emotionally.”
A wave of discomfort crested in Hayden’s stomach, slowly rising inside her until it lodged in her throat. She never thought she’d have anything in common with this woman, but everything Sheila just said mirrored the thoughts Hayden had been having for years now. Wasn’t that why she’d chosen Doug? Because he was nice, decent and stable? Because he’d always put her first?