Chapter 8

Joanne scoffed, not only because she never heard of such a thing, but because she was appalled by the idea of her mother keeping yet another secret from her. Very not interested in what her father had to say, she walked back to the parking lot, trying to find the black Jaguar they rode to this place. This trip made her resent the world more than she already did which she never even thought was possible.

She crossed her arms while leaning her back on the car as she waited for John to approach her. Which took longer than she expected. Her thoughts lingered as she stood by herself. Even if he did send her money, which she had no interest in knowing the amount, she still could not wrap her heart around the fact that her father, yet again, kept something from her while her mother was willingly telling her another lie. These toxic habits of her parents had only left our little Joanne wondered if her entire existence was just another one of many of the fictions they were telling everyone.

It took John some time before he finally decided to follow in the footsteps of her daughter. His paternal instinct was telling him to persuade his daughter to go back sightseeing with him, but there were too many spectators now and he did not want to attract too much of the public attention. John found it very difficult to communicate with his daughter, not only because it was impossible for him to find any connection with the girl, but there were a lot of things that he wished he could ask her. He never tried though, he knew those subjects were too sensitive to bring up.

Joanne looked at his father with one hand on the door handle. With that, John already knew what he had to do. He unlocked the door with no hesitation, jumped inside the driver’s seat while waiting for Joanne to follow. He stole a quick gaze at his eldest daughter, the one he sacrificed his working hours for. He prayed by the end of this day, she would understand how much he is willing to give up for her.

“What do you want for lunch?”, John questioned. His voice is lower than usual.

Joanne shrugged, she crossed her arms again. When they finally left the site, Joanne shifted her gaze to her side window. She realized how ungrateful she had been for the past few weeks. Her friends from back home would literally kill just to experience the life she had lived lately. Escargot for almost every dinner, yacht parties, random Paris weekends. There was no way she could ever leave all these behind, but how could she ever let her mother live in filth while she enjoyed this new lifestyle she was still adapting to.

“I need to see her.”, Joanne broke the silence.

“I told you…”, John replied, trying to deny his daughter’s request.

“I don’t care, you’re rich! Do something!”, Joanne raised her voice while cutting her father off. Her eyes darkened as they rode under the tunnel.

Although she was indeed John’s daughter, he never knew what she was capable of. If she was only half as dangerous as her mother claimed her to be, John better is extra careful not to upset her. “Fine”, he replied, he tried to conceal his sigh of disappointment but failed miserably. His heart raced as he realized that Joanne could sense it. Slowly turning his head towards her, he looked at her. Joanne was then calm, she did not look bothered by one bit.

John was a bit surprised by her compliant reaction towards his response. He started to wonder if everything Kiara told him about her is a big fat misconception. Kiara has always been so manipulative. He always knew it was a horrible idea to try to get back in touch with her but knowing that his daughter was still under her care. He could not help but interfere, he tried to help as much as Victoria allowed him to. Everything was going so well until he got a phone call that day. He could not sleep for days, his guilt always kept him awake at night. He knew she looked fine, but is she really okay? After all the changes she had to go through in a split second. One could only bear so much, the thought repeated perpetually on his mind.

**

John ducked his head, trying to take a closer look at his daughter’s pale arms. He knew this was a horrible thing to do, but he needed the confirmation. Something that could settle most of his suspicions towards his daughter. She always wore long sleeves when he was around, he was not sure if she did it on purpose to conceal something or if it was just a mere coincidence. His focus almost cost him 2 lives. Joanne noticed that John’s eyes were not on the road like they were supposed to be. She abruptly took the steering wheel when she saw a car slowing down right out front.

“Jesus! Were you that depressed from seeing my mother that you are willing to commit suicide, not to mention, taking another life with you!?”, Joanne screamed in distress.

That settled it, John thought. He did not have to see the skin under those sleeves anymore. He finally got the answer to the question he had kept for so long in his head.