25: I Stayed

Chapter 25: I Stayed

Kiara

“Where did you go?”

I closed the door and leaned my head on the cold wood, taking a deep breath and hoping I could keep up with the small talk with my father.

“Swim competition, remember?” I chuckled and turned to face him. “Oh, wait, why would you? You’re too busy delivering babies in the hospital and drowning your sorrows in work rather than talking to your daughter about it.”

He was sitting at the dining table reading a book with his glasses on and the dim yellow light cast a shadow over his face. He looked tired and exhausted.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and walked past him. “Good night, Dad.”

“Kiara.”

I stopped, clenching my hands in a fist.

“Come back here and sit with me. I . . . I have made dinner for us.”

I said without turning, “I don’t want to eat—”

“I bought Gulab Jamun's for dessert.”

I looked back at him and saw him close the book, remove his reading glasses, and look at me. His obsidian eyes were warm and glistening with unshed tears