Chapter 25: Antonia the Tycoon.

My father stares at me with blank, dead eyes and I don't know what hurts more. The pain that he’s going through or the fact that I'm the one making him go through it.

I wish someone were here with me right now, but no one is so I have to face this alone. I get up from the table and walk over to my father, sitting on the seat beside him and taking his hand in mine. I ask the most honest question I can, “You trust me? Don’t you, dad?”

He tries to put a smile on his face and I see how hard he’s trying to do that. He's just gotten me back, and now I'm going off again.

“I wish you didn’t have to feel indebted to any of them, Antonia.”

My father’s voice is sad even though his eyes radiate feeling and warmth. “I wish I was there from the beginning so you didn’t have to feel indebted to anyone. Your marriage should have been one of love and value, not something you had to count as a favor from someone, a favor which you now have to repay.”

I realize immediately that my father and I see things