Madre's eyes widened. "Is that really what you believe? That I love the money and not your father?"
"How could you possibly love a man who treats you like that?"
"You ungrateful bitch!" Padre roared.
I wasn't done. "Don't leave me anything in your will. I'll make a path for myself. If you want, I'll gladly return my trust fund. I don't want anything else from you."
Mother shook her head so hard you couldn't miss her disapproval. "You cannot be the daughter I raised."
To me that sounded like a good thing. For years, I'd dreamed of having different parents. I was this close to sharing that fact when Padre stood.
"Fine with me. Don't even waste your time coming to my funeral when you find out I'm dead."
I won't lie, that stung. Maybe what I said was also too strong, but it was out, and one thing I got from my father in large doses was stubbornness. I wasn't backing down.
As he gathered Mother, the phone in the kitchen buzzed. It must have been the doorman alerting me the cook was here. The one who was supposed to make us a delicious lunch.
Father pulled Mother toward the door.
"You never stood up for yourself, makes sense you'd never do it for me."
Mother dragged her hand out of Padre's grasp and turned back to face me. "One day you'll grow up and see not everything is black and white. Until then, enjoy being alone."
With those final words, they walked out and slammed the door. The frames on my wall shook. My heart pounded as I stood there shaking with a mix of anger and sadness.
Deep downI must have still been a child at heart, wanting her parents' approval, because my big plan was to bring them to theAmoré Nights launch party tonight, even though I knew it was bound to go badly. Whenever my padre and I shared a room, tempers flared. Yet, foolishly, I had tried to brush aside my doubts this time.
I'd refused my trust fund plenty of times, but when I finally came to my senses, I thanked God I still had access to the account. I wasn't about to let it go.
But still, this blowup between us hurt more than normal.
Typically, I had skin thick enough to take it, but after sleeping with Bruno and finally talking things through, my defenses were a little lower. Getting disinvited from my father's funeral and my mother telling me I'll be alone took the celebratory mood out of me. Snow streaked across the car windows as we crawled through traffic, the city dull and gray from where I sat, with a hollow feeling inside my chest. When the car stopped in front of the venue, I took a deep breath. "You can do this. Yesterday, you didn't need parents by your side. You were fine alone. Nothing has changed."
After some reassurance, I opened the door and was greeted by photographers.
The blinding light stung a little, or maybe it was the tears that prickled my eyes. Briefly, I worried my pep talk didn't work and froze as the idea of retreating to the car to give myself another one came to me. Suddenly, I felt an arm pull me.
"Bitch, you're late." The light that shined into my eyes blurred my vision, but I smiled immediately. Only three people would call me that.
"You look gorgeous," Demetria added, and she kissed me on the cheek.
Olivia released my arm and stepped back. "That's why I sent that dress over. I knew it would fit you well."
"Thanks for the dress," I said, blinking to fight the tears.
Mei stood at the other side. "Let's go. I've been hearing about the app since college. Let's kick it off so we can start celebrating."
With the girls at my side, we snapped photos on the red carpet, then made our way inside the venue. Every Amoré Nights employee gathered with their friends or family. We were all in this together. We'd done our part. Now, it was in the hands of the customers.
"Let's make a toast," someone said when the tray of champagne came toward us.
We all reached for a glass, and Olivia spoke first. "I have a way of predicting these things, and I definitely see a winner in your future."
We all shared a smile when Mei winked, and we yanked our heads around to investigate. "New friend?" Demetria asked.
Mei nodded.
"We walked in together. How did you meet him?" I asked.
