Recrudescence

Silence stretched at both ends of the phone. His silence was filled with shock, while hers was filled with confusion, doubts and betrayal.

My father knows I'm held against my will? He's calling to ask about me? Nothing made sense anymore.

She talked to him this morning, and he didn't mention anything.

“Are you even in Japan? ” She voiced her question in an accusing tone, "Did you know about all of this?”

“Yes, I am in Japan, Sonia, and yes, I knew. But trust me, I didn't think it’d turn out like this,” he said, trying to defend the undefendable.

“You didn't know he’s going to kidnap me? Or you didn't know he’s going to drug me? Tell me, Dad. What didn't you expect? That I’d find out about your involvement with him?” She said, her voice cracking.

Her friends came to her side. Istona's cold voice told her to get a grip or give her the phone to show her father what his real worth was.

Sonia steeled herself and asked in a detached tone her father knew very well. Her eyes fixed on the alpha sitting on his chair with only his desk separating them.

“Tell me everything, Father.”

Gasping, her father asked, fear clear in his voice.

“Sonia, did you take your medicine?”

“No, I didn't because your friend refused to let me go home.”

She looked at Lana who was now sitting at the other chair next to her. “But I’m glad he did. I can think clearer now. I bet you didn’t see that coming, Father.”

That was true, she could feel her mind was clearer. The more the pills' effect wore off, the more she could see things the way they were. The alpha's intention to rob her of her life to secure his own. Her father's fake love for her.

She then remembered that he never loved her, not when she was a rebel teenager, as he used to call her, and not as a young adult who wanted to make a life of her own away from his grasp.

She could remember it all now. How he always wanted to control her. How he always sent his bodyguards to drag her back every time she tried to escape.

Her life wasn't easy with him. The bruises she often found on her with no recollection of how she got them. The paid doctors, the fake medical tests and the many weak excuses to shove more pills down her throat and put her on a hospital bed prove it.

From the outside, Sonia, the only daughter of a successful business man, had it all: the money, the power, the fame, the friends, the perfect family... except she hadn’t.

Her perfect father was manipulative. Always hungry for power. He used anything and everything in his way, even his own daughter.

Maybe that what this was. Maybe he found an opportunity to associate with the wolves, by throwing her to them. After all, he invested his time and money to tame and control her, after her mother's death, and to make her the perfect marionette he always wanted her to be.

She waited for his lies to come. It was all too familiar. The same old ways.

Still, she blamed herself for letting him manipulate her.

Her whole life, she saw through all his lies. All her life, she was strong and defiant, then her mother died, and like the snake he was, he took advantage of her fragile state, and she lost herself and her friends in the process.

Hearing his voice now, she could see the same process he used on her. First the love card and the sweet talk, then the emotional blackmail, the use of weaknesses and the guilt trap. If all this didn't work, the anger and threats would follow.

It was all too familiar to her, and she hated herself for falling in his trap.

He said frantically, “I thought it’s a good opportunity for you to meet him. I told you I know some of the wolves personally, and I know Alpha Omar since he was a kid. His father was a good friend of mine. They are good people, Sonia. You could imagine my happiness when he told me that he’s your mate.”

She gritted her teeth. Of course he knew about that, too. She thought bitterly. “You already know I'm his mate?”

“Yes,” he said, truthfully, “He came to your mother's funeral and saw you. He told me that you’re his mate and I asked him to wait for you because, Sonia, you weren't in a good place at that time. Then you went to get your life back together, and he asked about you every day." He laughed, “You have no idea how hard it was to keep him away.”

She couldn't say a word. She knew he was lying and she wanted to call him out on it.

She knew him well, everything he did was for his own gain. He wanted to secure his relationship with the West Claw Pack. He could have asked me, and I would’ve been glad to do anything to please him.

“Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you set me on a date with him, or just introduce us to each other like normal people do? Why Did you lie to me?”

“I tried multiple times, but you refused to have any social life after what happened, and he was persistent. I couldn't hold him back anymore without revealing your condition.”

She threw her head back and laughed at that. A high pitched laugh, a result of her frustration and bitterness.

Could he be more cruel? He is playing with my emotions, gaslighting me to make me feel grateful for his consideration of my 'condition' .

She said when her laughter died, “Please do tell, Father. You didn't want him to know my condition, or you didn’t want him to know the atrocities that you did to me?”

“Please, Sonia. Don't go back there. You are stronger than that. Please, remember your mother... remember what happened to her.”

Realisation dawned on her like a shock of lightning on her head.

She now understood, it wasn’t the thirst for power that drove him, she thought dreadfully, it was revenge. She spoke, already knowing the answer,

“Did you do that to me because I killed your wife ?”