If there had been any doubt in my mind about confronting my father, it evaporates in an instant. I’m used to Dad pushing me around, but there’s no way I can let him do that to Aidan. My veins burn with fury, and I spin on my heel, stalking toward his office. Dani glances up from her desk, but I ignore her. I stop only briefly at Tash’s desk, because I’ve always liked her, but she waves me into Dad’s office without hesitation. Almost as if she knows what I’m about to do, and it can’t come soon enough.
I throw open my father’s door, startling him. He’s got the phone pressed to his ear, his brows slashing together when he sees me. With an exasperated grumble, he ends his call, leaning back in his chair to glower at me.
“Look who’s finally decided to show up.”
“Where’s Aidan?” I demand.
My father’s brows rise. “I think we have more pressing things to discuss, don’t you?”
I clench my jaw. “Where is he? Did you fire him?”
“No,” Dad says, puffing a humorless laugh. “He quit.”
I inhale sharply. Aidanquit?
My father laces his fingers together on his desk, assessing me carefully. “I offered him partnership, and he turned it down.” He pauses for a beat, then adds, “Because of you.”
My lungs freeze with shock.No. He wouldn’t, would he?
“I told him he was making a mistake,” my father says evenly, watching me. “But he was too stubborn to see it.”
I try to suck in a breath to calm my spiraling pulse. Aidan quit. He turned down partnership. Is that my fault?
“You know,” Dad says philosophically, “I’d hoped Brooks’s work ethic would rub off on you, but it seems to be the other way around.”
My chest tightens. “Don’t.”
“Well, what do you expect me to think, Iris? My star architect has walked out of here, thanks to you.”
Shame tugs at me, that old familiar feeling that I’ve messed up,again, but something else rears up inside me, something protective and fierce. Something grounded in this new knowledge of myself, something akin to the way Aidan defended me. Something that remembers what Poppy said—he’s a bully, plain and simple—and knows it’s not about me. Not really.
“I didn’t make him leave,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm. “Youdid. He’s been working for partnership for years, and instead of rewarding him, you forced him onto projects that were clearly meant to put him in his place. The more he stood up for me, the more you punished him.”
“Stoodupfor you?” my father echoes, brow furrowing in bewilderment. “What on earth are you talking about?”
I give an incredulous huff. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
But he doesn’t flinch, just stares at me, brow low, and I give a slow shake of my head.
“You really can’t see it, can you? You can’t see what a bully you are.”
His gaze hardens. “Excuse me?”
“My whole life you’ve pushed me around, made me feel like shit. Told me I’m useless, lazy, that I don’t work hard enough. That I don’t try.”
A muscle tics in his jaw. “Watch it, Iris.”
“No,youwatch it,” I growl, jabbing a finger in his direction. “Just listen to me, for once in your life.” My voice shakes, but I force myself to go on. “Do you know how hard it is being your daughter? Nothing is ever good enough, no matter how hard I try. I know I’ve made mistakes, and I’m not who you want me to be, I get it. I spent years blaming myself, wishing I could fix what’s wrong with me.” Tears sting my throat, and I swallow hard. “But it’s not my fault. There’s a reason I’m like this, and if you’d only had an ounce of compassion, you might have noticed it for yourself.”
Dad stares at me, silent, something unfamiliar swimming in his eyes. Remorse. Guilt, even. I’ve never seen that look on his face in my life, and it gives me the courage to go on.
“I know he told you,” I say, voice catching. “He told you…” My pulse stumbles as I force the words out. Somehow, saying this to my father is a thousand times more difficult than saying it to my friends. “He told you I have ADHD.”
Something shifts in my father’s eyes at the mention of Aidan, his expression hardening again.
“Don’t talk to me about Brooks,” he snarls, and frustration bursts through my chest.
“Did you evenhearme?” I snap. “Did you hear anything I just said?”
