I ignored what he said and left the shopping mall. Deep down, I felt that Lyle didn’t understand me at all. While I was gentle and timid, my pride and self-esteem were a lot more than he imagined.
Back then, after Nathan drove me out of home, I didn’t ask for money from him but worked in the basement to make ends meet. After Lyle hurt me badly, I was brave enough to forgo my eight years of secret crush and two years of marriage. These were proofs that I could be resolute whenever I wanted to.
However, he thought I was the same nose of wax, who was obedient to him.
As I was deep in thought, I opened my handbag and looked at the gift I prepared for Nathan—a slightly old-fashioned necktie. Initially, I wanted to deliver it to him via courier. After the incident, Scarlett and Yvette would claim that I dared not go home because I was guilty. Therefore, I decided to go, for I wanted them to shut their mouths. I would leave as soon as possible if all of them were unhappy to see me.
It had been a long time since I returned to the Tanner residence. As I stood at the entrance, I somehow felt unfamiliar with it. Although it was my home and supposedly haven, I seldom came back after I turned eighteen.
The servants opened the door for me coldly and didn’t even serve me with a glass of water. Given that servants there disrespected me, I was indeed a nobody in the Tanner family.
Nathan and Scarlett were chatting happily on the couch. Nonetheless, the atmosphere changed the moment I came in. The next moment, Nathan sneered, slammed the table with his hand, and said, “Why are you here?”
Judging from his tone, I knew that something wasn’t right. I came up to him, put down the necktie on the table, and said calmly, “I bought it from the mall just now. Happy birthday, Dad.”
“Why should I be happy? How can you have the cheek to give me something that you stole from the mall?” Nathan flung the necktie to the floor and said, “I don’t have such a disgraceful daughter.”
As I gazed at the necktie, I praised myself silently for making the right choice to buy an inexpensive necktie. Nevertheless, I still felt uncomfortable about it, for I spent quite some time choosing the necktie for Nathan.
“Since you don’t like the necktie, you can do whatever you want with it. I’ll get my belongings upstairs and leave right away.” I stopped looking at the necktie and went to my bedroom upstairs. After looking around the room, I realized that I probably didn’t have any personal items left in this house.
Suddenly, I remembered that the things that Amelia gave me were in this house. One of them was an amethyst hair clip. However, I spent quite some time but still couldn’t find it.
There were originally two hair clips. I still kept one of them now, but the other was somewhere in this house. Amelia bought the hair clips for me from the mall before she left. As I liked the gift very much, I always hoped to find the other hair clip.
After packing up my belongings, I stared at the living room for a long time. Deep down, I believed I would only come back here when it was necessary. As I left the bedroom, I could hear Scarlett and Yvette speaking ill of me. Nathan was irritated as he listened to them and scolded me from time to time.
I couldn’t help but heave a sigh. Some people said that a biological father would turn into a stepfather once he married another woman. However, I still couldn’t accept the drastic change in Nathan’s attitude toward me. Worse still, he never attempted to maintain our relationship in any way. If the situation persisted, we would eventually become a father and a daughter in name only.
Knowing that they loathed my presence, I wanted to leave the Tanner residence once I finished packing. As I arrived at the door, I was suddenly hit by something from behind. I turned around and realized that it was the necktie that I spent two hours choosing for Nathan.
“Take your belonging away. I can’t accept any stolen goods,” Nathan said coldly.
As I picked up the necktie, I noticed the smug smiles on Scarlett and Yvette’s faces. Besides, Yvette, who was leaning against Nathan, turned her thumb down at me provokingly. I turned around to look at Nathan, who glared at me, and said curtly, “It’s fine if you don’t want it. I wish the three of you a happy and harmonious life.”
After exiting the Tanner residence, I lifted my arm and threw the necktie into the dustbin. Also, I told myself that I wouldn’t come back ever again.
