Marrying My Father's Enemy-Chapter 33: The Crossed Lines

Chapter 33: The Crossed Lines

Eira kept her head down as she walked, knowing she was being followed.

The click of a camera was like a mosquito that wouldn’t stop buzzing.

She didn’t turn or slow down, just pulled her coat tighter and kept moving, clicking her heels against the ground.

Paparazzi tailed her like she was prey, matching her footsteps, close enough to feel like an invasion.

A familiar car came into view near the curb.

Henry was behind the wheel, waiting.

The sight of him made her heart quicken, but not out of relief.

She knew exactly why he was here.

She reached the car, opened the door without a word, and slipped inside.

He didn’t greet her.

Didn’t smile or ask how she was.

His eyes were cold, assessing her with the kind of detachment that made her feel more like a transaction than a person.

As the door shut behind her, the noise of the street vanished, replaced by a tense silence.

He spoke first, in a voice as sharp as glass. "I’m here to make you an offer, Eira. A simple deal."

Her eyes narrowed. "An offer? What could you possibly offer me, Henry?"

He leaned back, tilting his head as if to calculate his words. "Money. Enough to make you comfortable for the rest of your life. In exchange, you’ll back off. Disappear, quietly."

She clenched her fists, feeling the anger rise like a slow burn. "You’re serious?"

"Of course," he replied smoothly. "And you should seriously consider it. These... rumors... they won’t go away. The press won’t let you breathe. People love a scandal, and you’re giving them one every time you walk outside."

Eira laughed bitterly, a short, humorless sound escaped her lips.

"You really think money will solve this, don’t you? You think it can make me forget everything my ’father’ has done."

Henry’s eyes darkened. "I’m not here emotionally..."

She turned to face him fully. "Oh, you’re in every part of this. The way you control everyone, the way you think you own people. You and your wife both. You’re trying to buy me off with money that doesn’t even belong to you."

His jaw tightened, but his voice remained calm. "I’d watch that tone if I were you, Eira."

"Or what?" she challenged him, cutting through the quiet tension in the car. "What else will you do? Ruin my reputation? Because it seems you and your daughter have already succeeded in that."

A faint smirk played on his lips. "Your reputation? Eira, this is only the beginning. It will get worse, much worse, if you keep pushing. You don’t understand the power I have."

"Hahahah!" She laughed again. "The power you have? That power belongs to me, Henry. Every cent you spend, every dollar you use to control people—it’s all my money, my inheritance. And you know it."

For a moment, his face slipped.

"Maybe once," he conceded in a low tone. "But as long as I’m in control, that power belongs to me. And I’m here to remind you of that."

Eira shook her head. "And I’m here to remind you that it’s mine. I won’t be manipulated. Not by you, not by anyone."

The smirk returned, colder now. "Then you’re making a mistake. You’re choosing a fight you can’t win, Eira. The media, the people around you—every time they see you, they see scandal. They see exactly what I’ve worked so hard to build."

She looked away, her jaw clenched.

The words stung because they held a sliver of truth, and he knew it.

Her father had built the image carefully, planting seeds of doubt and mistrust, all to keep her under his thumb.

"You think you’re strong enough to handle this on your own? You think your pride will protect you when everything around you starts crumbling?"

"I think my father has made a mistake underestimating me."

"Is that so?" He laughed. "Eira, you’re in way over your head. All I’m offering is a way out—a clean break. Take the money. Leave quietly. Start over somewhere far away where no one knows your name."

"And why do you want me gone so badly, Henry? Scared I’ll take what’s mine? Scared I’ll see you for who you truly are?"

"This isn’t about fear, Eira. It’s about order. And you’re disrupting that. If you don’t take this offer, there won’t be another one."

She held his gaze, refusing to be the one to look away first. "No amount of money will make me leave. I won’t be bought. Not by anyone, and certainly not by you."

"Then prepare yourself. Because the life you know—the little shred of normalcy you have left—it’s over."

Eira felt a knot tighten in her stomach, but she refused to let it show.

Instead, she nodded slowly, as if coming to terms with the reality he was so eager to paint. "So be it. But I won’t run."

Henry’s gaze lingered on her for a long moment, and for just an instant, something softened.

Maybe it was regret. Maybe it was nothing at all.

But then he looked away, his hand reached for the door handle.

"We’re done here," he muttered.

She reached for the door at the same time, but paused, her hand rested on the handle. "Father, I’m done being a puppet. And if you think you can scare me off, you’re wrong."

Without another word, she opened the door and stepped out.

She didn’t look back, didn’t hesitate as she walked away from the car in confident steps.

Henry watched her through the window. "This was my last warning and chance, Eira."

He used to have everything under control, and now the fact that his own daughter was disturbing his life...

Henry couldn’t accept it.

He allowed Reeds to have their peace for a year, and while one was lying down and dying, Henry was ready to strike: murder all the possibilities Eira had left in life.

Without them, she was nothing but the surname of a ghost.

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