Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Eva’s Point of View

I sat behind my desk, skimming through the endless emails piling up in my inbox. Each one required a decision, a command, or a signature so many details, each one moving the company forward, step by careful step. I had fought to get here, to build something entirely mine. But today, there was an uneasy, restless feeling lingering in the back of my mind.

A soft knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. I glanced up, expecting to see one of my assistants, but instead, there he stood my father. His presence hit me like a cold wind, a reminder of a life I had tried to bury. The man who had once held my future in his hands, only to gamble it away on his own ambitions.

“Eva,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he took a tentative step inside.

I stayed silent, gripping the edge of my desk. The last time I had seen him felt like a lifetime ago. I remembered every detail every painful choice he made for me, every time he looked the other way as I suffered.

“May I sit?” he asked, his gaze pleading for something understanding, forgiveness, or maybe just a moment to explain. I didn’t know, and honestly, I didn’t care.

I gestured coldly toward the chair across from me, watching as he slowly settled into it, his shoulders heavy with something resembling regret. He looked older now, the years evident in the lines etched deep into his face, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel pity.

“I heard… I heard you were here. In this city. I wanted to see you, Eva. I needed to.” His words hung heavy in the room, yet all I felt was a dull ache a memory of the pain he’d inflicted that had scarred over, leaving nothing but bitterness in its wake.

I kept my expression impassive. “What do you want?”

He flinched, clearly hoping for a warmer response, but I had nothing left to give him. Not after everything he had done, and everything he had allowed to happen to me.

He took a shaky breath, his hands trembling slightly as he wrung them together. “Eva… I came to apologize. I know… I know I failed you. I know you have every right to hate me.”

I leaned back, folding my arms across my chest, and raised an eyebrow. “You ruined my life,” I replied bluntly, my words slicing through the air like a blade. “Do you have any idea what I went through because of you? Because of the choices you made for me?”

His eyes dropped to the floor, his face pale, as if he was hearing these words for the first time. “Eva, I... I thought I was doing what was best for you. Marrying you to Maximilian… I thought he would take care of you, give you a life I never could.”

I let out a bitter laugh, shaking my head. “You thought he would take care of me? Is that what you call it? Leaving me with a man who treated me like I was nothing? Who destroyed me bit by bit? That’s what you thought was best for me?”

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. I watched as he struggled, his hands gripping his knees as though he were bracing himself. “I heard… I heard you were in that fire. That you… you were gone. Eva, I...” His voice cracked, and for a brief moment, I saw the pain in his eyes, the agony of a father who had believed he’d lost his daughter.

But it wasn’t enough. Not after all the years of suffering. Not after the betrayal.

“I would have rather been dead than married to that man,” I said quietly, my voice laced with the anger I had carried for so long. “Do you understand that, Dad? I would have rather died than live the life you forced me into.”

He looked up at me, his face crumbling with guilt and sorrow. “Eva, I’m so, so sorry. I know I can’t make up for what I did, but… but I need you to know how much I regret it. I thought you were dead, and I lived with that pain every single day.”

I stared at him, unmoved by his remorse. The man sitting in front of me wasn’t the father I once knew the one who had promised to protect me, to keep me safe. He was someone else entirely, a stranger who had traded his daughter’s happiness for his own selfish ambitions.

“You have no idea what you put me through,” I said, my voice cold, each word a weight pressing down on him. “You have no idea how many times I begged you to listen, to see what was happening. But you didn’t care. You chose him, his money, his power, over me. Your own daughter.”

He swallowed hard, his hands still trembling as he clasped them together, as if trying to keep himself from falling apart. “I was wrong, Eva. I know I can’t change the past, but I’m asking for your forgiveness. Please… I need you to understand.”

I shook my head, a bitter smile tugging at my lips. “Forgiveness? After everything you’ve done? Do you honestly believe that a few words can erase all the years of pain, all the suffering you let me endure?”

His face fell, and for a moment, he looked like a broken man. But I couldn’t bring myself to care. Not after all the hurt, all the betrayal. He had lost the right to my forgiveness a long time ago.

“I understand if you hate me,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “But I need you to know… I never stopped loving you. I just… I didn’t know how to protect you.”

A hollow laugh escaped my lips, the sound sharp and cold. “Protect me? You force me, Dad. You force me to a man who treated me like I was worthless all for your selfish interest. And you call that love?”

He closed his eyes, his face twisting with pain. But it wasn’t enough not for me. I couldn’t find it in myself to forgive him, not after everything he had done.

“I came here because I wanted to see you, to know if you were truly alive,” he murmured, his gaze finally meeting mine. “And now that I have, I can see… I’ve lost you. Haven’t I?”

I stared at him, my expression unyielding. “Yes,” I replied, my voice steady. “You lost me the moment you chose Maximilian over me. The moment you decided I was a tool to be used, rather than a daughter to be loved.”

He looked down, his shoulders slumping, the weight of his guilt pressing down on him. I could see the regret in his eyes, the sorrow, but it didn’t matter anymore. Nothing he could say would ever change what had happened.

I stood, the coldness in my chest hardening into resolve. “I don’t need your apologies,” I said, my voice firm. “I’ve built my own life, away from the mess you left me in. I don’t need you, and I certainly don’t need your guilt.”

I couldn’t afford to let him linger here any longer.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said, crossing my arms, my voice cold and steady. “This isn’t the time or place. You need to leave i am busy.”

He looked up at me, eyes filled with a regret I had no interest in entertaining. “Eva, please, I just need a moment”

“No,” I interrupted, my tone leaving no room for negotiation. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve moved on. I’ve built a life without you, and I don’t need you showing up out of nowhere and disrupting everything.”

His shoulders slumped, a hint of desperation flashing across his face. “I know I made mistakes, but I just want a chance to explain, to apologize.”

“Apologies don’t erase the past,” I replied, keeping my gaze unwavering. “And they don’t change the fact that you chose to abandon me when I needed you most. I don’t want or need your guilt, and I definitely don’t want you here.”

A heavy silence hung between us, and for a moment, he just stood there, staring at me as though he couldn’t believe the distance I was putting between us. But he had no right to be surprised I had become a stranger to him, just as he had become to me.

“Please, Eva...” he began, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I said leave,” I repeated firmly, pointing toward the door. “Whatever you're looking for, it isn’t here.”

He swallowed hard, the weight of my words finally sinking in. With a resigned nod, he took a step back, his gaze falling to the floor.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, but I didn’t acknowledge it. His apologies were too late, too hollow to hold any meaning for me now.

Without another word, he turned and walked to the door. I stood there, unflinching, as he paused one last time before stepping out.

As soon as the door closed behind him, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. The silence returned, comforting and familiar. I had my life now, one that didn’t include him, and that was all I needed.