Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 271: Absolute Refusal
“What the reporter is saying isn’t actually accurate. Sure, they have some evidence, but it’s not super airtight. If we could just do something, we still have the chance of sweeping this all under the rug,” my father said thoughtfully.
Suddenly everyone was silent as we all seemed to wait for him to come up with another genius plan to get us all out of this trouble. For a moment, I felt so far removed from the troubles of my family because I felt like it had nothing to do with me. That was what I thought until I felt my father’s gaze stop and then stared at my face as if he was expecting me to say something. I stared back at him with wide innocent eyes as I silently questioned what he really wanted from me.
He can’t possibly... 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
“I am not doing it. I am not doing anything to help you with this,” I stated before my father got the chance to say anything.
I might not know much about life, but I could clearly tell when someone wants something from me that I didn’t want to give. The way my father was staring at me told me that he was expecting me to do something to get us out of this horrible situation. It seemed so convenient for him to ignore that he was the one who got us into this deep mess in the very first place, and that I had nothing to do with it. Once again, I was reminded of how selfish my father was and helping him was the last thing that I wanted to do.
“You need to do something to get us out of this, Dahlia,” my father said it like an order rather than a cry for help.
That’s not how you ask someone for a favor...
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you can’t do anything, what makes you think that I can do anything to fix this?” I reply before looking away.
“Don’t say that. There is something that you can do to help all of us,” my dad replied with clear confidence.
The dreadful feeling that welled up with my chest suddenly rose up to suffocate me when I realized what my father was getting at.
“I can’t help you with anything,” I stressed again.
“You might not be able to help us, but you know someone who can,” my father said as he stood up and leaned over the table to stare directly at me.
I knew very well who he was referring to but I also felt that there was no way that that person would lend me a helping hand, not after all that I had said to him.
“There’s no one that I know that can help us, I replied coldly.
“The prince! I am talking about Prince desmond! How can you forget about him? If you let him know about our situation and ask him for his help, I am sure that he will lend us a helping hand,” my father said with a great sense of urgency.
“I’ve told you so many times before already. If there was ever anything between us, then it’s already over between the prince and me. Why would he offer us any help? He won’t help with something as serious as this even if I were to ask him. His entire reputation will be ruined and dragged down along with your filthy actions,” I argued before folding my arms defensively over my chest.
I wanted so badly to add that I didn’t feel obliged to help him at all and that he should just deal with his own mess rather than relying on his youngest daughter.
“How dare you talk like this isn’t any of your problem? Let me remind you that you still belong to this family, and as long as you live and breathe under my roof, you are obligated to help out and do everything that I say!” my father reminded me harshly.
“No matter what you say, or even if you throw me out of the house, I will never ask the prince to help you or us,” I retorted through clenched teeth as I stared back at my father.
At that moment it felt like if I backed down, I would end up being used forever. The sad and regretful look that Diana had on her face told me that I would end up regretting my words one way or another.
“I will do my best to convince her,” my sister said in her sweet voice before she came to stand behind me and placed her hands on my shoulders.
It was through my sister’s intervention that I managed to escape from that room that day without being further pursued by my parents. Although Diana told them that she would convince me, I knew that she just wanted to put a stop to the argument before it spiraled out of control. She must have known that regardless of my brave and courageous words, there was nothing to back it up. I was in no position to leave the house, and I didn’t have anywhere to go.
“I’m not going to do it, and even you can convince me otherwise,” I told my sister stubbornly when we were alone in my bedroom.
“I just promised them that so that I could save you and take you away,” Diana replied with what I already suspected.
“I’m sorry for causing trouble...again...”I muttered begrudgingly.
“That’s fine, I’m your sister so I’ll always cover for you,” Diana replied before showing me a bright smile that made her eyes sparkle.
...
The conversation that I had with my parents never came to a close and the matter of corruption that was detected also came to a standstill with everyone waiting to see how things would unfold. It felt like we were living life in a void as we waited to see what would come next for us. Surprisingly, my parents never brought up the topic again although their attitude turned even colder towards me. I wasn’t sure what was worse between being yelled at and confronted versus being completely ignored as if my body only consisted of thin air and had ceased to exist.
–To be continued...
