Remorse

Lucien

He stared at the phone.

It suddenly seemed to him that he was watching, like a disinterested bystander, as his life unravelled.

First, his wife who had seemed to look at him as though she abhorred his very presence.

Not surprisingly, he thought, pouring himself another stiff drink although he had had way too much already. He scratched his powerful, hirsute chest and brooded.

He had spoken in an unspeakably unforgivable manner to her. Yes, he knew it had been his insecurity speaking. But he had chosen to hurt her when she was most vulnerable and he hated himself for it. With a loud oath, he threw the glass across the room where it shattered into smithereens. The strong smell of rum filled the air almost at once and he scowled. He would need to get someone to clean the mess.

But he was too disturbed.

*

Now, his daughter, the one child who was his favourite…

Ria had been crying as she slammed the phone after screaming at her father. She had accurately read the equation between Pro