Chapter 19: The Forsaken Daughter
Chapter 19: The Forsaken Daughter
"Miss Davis, about six years ago... Did you ever stay overnight at The Golden Eagle Hotel?"
The question that Ethan Wright raised just made everything else turned mute. Samantha could not understand why in the world was this question coming out of Ethan's mouth!
'The Golden Eagle Hotel. The Golden Eagle Hotel,' Samantha repeated in her mind. It was the place where it all started. It was the same hotel where she committed the biggest mistake in her life.
After hearing Ethan ask again, she took a deep breath and said, "Why?"
Her voice was barely audible that she had to clear her throat and ask again, "What about... The Golden Eagle Hotel?"
In her mind, she asked, 'Why did it have to be about six years ago?'
It would seem as though the food arrived on time, assisting in Samantha's burden. The servers came in with the starter before Ethan could answer her question.
"Mr. Wright, tomato and mozzarella salad, garnished with basil leaves and black pepper as you like it," said the male server.
"Thank you," Ethan said to the server.
He glanced at Samantha and said, "I hope you don't mind. I ordered the same for you. I like this kind of salad."
All Samantha could say was, "That's well noted."
To her, it was a reminder of the boss' favorite dishes, one she was expected to prepare on his site inspections.
The same plate was presented in front of Samantha, and she immediately diverted the topic. "Wow! Makes me want to eat!" She gave one look at Ethan and said, "Can I? I am just so hungry."
"Of course," Ethan replied.
Samantha could tell that while she had started to dig in, Ethan was still staring at her. She did not care, however, she just wanted to get that night over and done with.
"And about The Golden Eagle Hotel." She heard Ethan say, and that altogether made her slow down on her chewing.
Only after looking up to him did he explain, "It's because... your aunt asked me the same question. So I thought... It might have something to do with you."
Knowing that the idea came from her aunt, Samantha took a deep breath, utterly relieved. She understood that her aunt was considering Ethan to be her twin's father. She practically closed her eyes and placed her hand on her chest. After another heavy breath, she finally answered, "I'm sorry that she asked you that question."
With pleading eyes, she added, "Please ignore her."
Following Samantha's suggestion, there was another moment of silence, but right after they both finished their salads, Ethan asked, "Miss Davis, I have been wondering."
"I saw your profile." Ethan first wiped his mouth with the table napkin and stated, "Since we are going to pretend that we are secretly married, I wanted to get to know you."
With a frown, Ethan added, "But I noticed how you never placed your father's name on your information... Why is that Miss Davis? If you don't mind me asking."
'Great,' Samantha said. Just when she had escaped a recent relevant probing, here came another.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
It was as though her bladder aided her that she suddenly felt the need to go to the ladies' room. She requested, "Mr. Wright, let me just... get back to you on that... I just needed to go to the restroom."
"Excuse me," she said before hurriedly leaving Ethan in the conference room, bringing her purse with her.
As she was in the ladies' room, she contemplated whether to tell the truth, but later on, she thought, 'Surely, there is no harm in telling him.'
Thus, after using the restroom, she walked out of there, already decided to be honest about her father. Just as she was walking down the hall, she saw four familiar figures that made her heart race.
Of course, how could she not know her own father?
It was just a coincidence that Ethan Wright was asking about him and now, there he was.
General Winfield Davis was walking in her direction with her stepmother, Catherine Jones Davis, and stepsister, Annie Jones Davis. Worse, her ex-boyfriend, Clayton Brown, was also with them!
"Shoot, just my luck!" She muttered to herself as she hid behind a huge column.
"Let me just go to the restroom really quick," Samantha heard her stepsister say.
She would never want to encounter Annie in the restroom. Thus, Samantha decided to remain in the column and merely turn to face the wall. She grabbed her mobile and acted to be engaged in a phone call. Samantha earnestly hoped they would not notice her figure at all.
When her stepsister went past her, she was relieved. She remained to linger in the same place, acting to be busy on her phone.
While she was there, however, she could hear the hotel sales representative talking, "Over here is our two-carat function room, which will be the perfect venue for your engagement party, Mr. Brown."
'I see,' She thought silently. 'So they were looking for a venue for their engagement party.'
She recalled how her grandmother had warned her about Annie and Clayton's engagement.
Samantha suddenly felt a pang in her chest. She silently reflected, 'How nice of my father to be personally involved with Annie's engagement party. To think, he used to dislike Clayton.'
Thinking of this, she could not help it. She suddenly felt teary-eyed at the idea of her father caring for a daughter that was not even his own flesh and blood! Whereas her own father had abandoned her!
When she assumed she heard them take steps inside the two-carat conference room, she took a peek. When she saw no one, she decided to make the walk.
The entire time, she had her eye on the one-carat conference room. It was just twenty meters away, and she was confident she could make it without being seen.
To her dismay, however, the enormous doors to the two-carat conference room swung open, and her father happened to step out.
Samantha wound up standing face to face with the great General Winfield Davis!
Blood easily drained out of her face as she stood frozen in her stance.
She clearly saw the shocked expression on her father's face, but what happened next was far beyond her expectation... General Winfield Davis merely raised his chin and calmly returned to the conference. She heard her father say, "Let's just stay here for the moment and wait for Annie."
It broke Samantha's heart thoroughly.
She expected her father to at least rant or humiliate her, but no! What he did was far worse. He completely ignored her like she was not someone he identified.
Her entire body trembled and the next thing she knew, tears streamed down her face.
Samantha ran as fast as she could to the one-carat conference room, weeping in tears. She forcefully pushed open the door with all her might and as soon as she shut the door behind her, she broke down completely.
Samantha found herself down on the floor, pouring her heart out without a care in the world. Everything around her blurred out. The next thing she noticed was how Ethan Wright was calling to her and urging her to get up.
"Miss Davis, what happened? Miss Davis?" She heard him, but she did not have the strength to focus on his words. Her entire body turned weak, shaking both in anger and pain.
Samantha just kept sobbing, trying to rid herself of the strain of having seen her father, the same father who used to cherish her so.
"Samantha!" Ethan yelled while holding her shoulders. "Who?! Who did this to you? Tell me? Tell me!"
Only when she heard Ethan call her name, did she look at him in the eye.
When Ethan acted to step outside the conference room, she reached for his arm and pulled herself up from the carpeted floor.
Samantha wound up crashing into his torso, burying her face into his chest. She said, "Stay - stay with me... please... Please don't go outside... Just stay with me."
To her shock, Ethan swept her off her feet and carried her to the seat.
As she continued to whimper, Ethan grabbed his own seat and let her cry into his chest. He did not seem to mind how his custom-made suit was being soaked by her tears.
He caressed her back again and again. In a comforting tone, he said, "Whatever it is... let it out."
It essentially took Samantha another fifteen minutes to calm herself, just savoring his manly scent.
Samantha thought his essence was really soothing. She honestly considered that Ethan was a scary man, but at that point, everything about him was soothing.
After drinking some water, she looked Ethan in the eye and admitted, "Mr. Wright, my name."
She took a deep breath and resumed, "My name... is Samantha Turner Davis. I am - I am the only biological daughter of General Winfield Davis... but he - he cares more for his adopted daughter."
"My father, he - he has long forsaken me," added Samantha before she found herself crying again.