Chapter Two - Claire

"Claire, it's time for school" Celeste shouted.

"I know, I'll be out in a sec" Claire shouted back.

Claire was actually ready for school. She was just in front of her mirror trying to make sure she was both physically and mentally prepared for her new school. Her mum and she had just moved to this town, so she was completely unfamiliar with this place which was supposedly her birth place.

They moved because Claire was being bullied at her former school, a girl's only boarding school. The students called her different forms of derogatory names and even made fun of the fact that her dad was practically nonexistent.

The bullies changed her surname from Dumas to Dumbass, called her a lot of vulgar words and even tried to beat her up on several occasions. The bullying was actually her father, Joseph's fault. It was all because he had her, as his child. The bullies felt she was a stain on her dad and took it upon their selves to wipe her.

Her dad's love life was actually quite messy since he had gotten married thrice and been involved in several relationships. His first wife was Summer Hart and they had two children together in their first marriage and during Joseph's second marriage they had one more. They had a total of three boys together while Claire's mum had his only daughter.

Joseph and Summer's marriage crashed when their twins, John and Jack, were three. They had grown apart and decided to call it quits. Four months later Joseph met Celeste and after six months they tied the knot. They were married for a total of three years. In the first year, for some reason Joseph slept with Summer and they had their third child, Joshua.

Celeste forgave Joseph even though he had broken his vows and a year later they had their very own bundle of joy, Claire. Celeste's happiness was however short-lived as Joseph gave her a divorce letter a year after since he realized that summer was the one he truly loved.

They got divorced and a week later Joseph remarried Summer. They seemed so in love and made it all look like Celeste tried to ruin their happiness but against the odds they ended up together.

Celeste was completely heartbroken because she was only ever a rebound to Joseph. She left with her things and Claire decided not to ever return again until she could make them pay. After fifteen years, she returned stronger than ever to make them pay and also to change her daughter's school.

Claire took a deep breath and looked at herself with more confidence. There was nothing wrong with her, she was just nervous. She looked so prim and proper and gave the illusion that no one could look even neater.

Her uniform was ironed, her socks were tight fitting, her shoes were spotless and her red hair was neatly arranged with not a single strand out of place. Maybe because the bullying incidents had made her lack a bit of self-confidence, Claire repeatedly assured herself that everything was okay and will be perfect.

The bullying incident had somewhat scarred Claire so she changed from boarding school to the regular kind of school. After all, in the day students only schools she would not have to interact with her classmates during both day and night.

After taking a few deep breaths, Claire got out of her room and went to the dining where her mum was waiting for her.

"You're finally here, what took you so long. Eat quickly your food will soon turn cold" Celeste said.

Claire took her sit and started to dig into her mum's delicious meal. If she had raised her head from her food once, she would have realized that her mum seemed uneasy about something. Celeste looked like she had something to say but could not say it. After a long deliberation, Celeste decided to blurt it all out.

"Your dad wants in" Celeste blurted.

"Wants in what?" Claire asked confused.

"He wants to be in your life. I have not talked to him in fifteen years and have always ran away from him but with you it's different. He has a lot of money and could have easily fought and won for custody all those years ago but he didn't and I'm grateful for that. When he learnt of our arrival he asked to see you and I kind of agreed to a brief meeting before you left for school and for him to drive you" Celeste replied.

"It's okay, I understand" Claire said with a slightly cold tone.

"Oh come on, Claire. I only mean the best for you, he's your dad and he wants to be in your life grant him some audience. After all you can only have one dad." Celeste said.

"Yeah I can have one dad but I can have stepdads which would be far better" Claire said.

"CLAIRE. I actually do not want you to meet him since he broke my heart but I have to, you know the laws of this country." Celeste said in a warning tone.

"Ok, fine. I'll behave" Claire said then continued her meal.

Claire finished her food quickly unlike her usual self. It could have been because of her hatred towards her father or the excitement buried deep in her heart, after all he was meeting her dad for the first time. She would usually tell everyone that he she did not need a dad but would secretly go through his and her half-brother's feeds just to understand them and imagine herself with them.