Bribing the billionaire’s revenge
60

He laughed in her face and pulled his phone out, “this is a photo of Liesl last night arriving to the gala. Does she look unwell to you?”

Her mother looked at the photo Isaias had shown her earlier taken by paparazzi. She was smiling brightly as she was escorted in with Mallory right behind her. She looked to Liesl with a smile, “you look gorgeous, sweetie.”

“Now,” he pulled a photo taken by his security, “this is a photo of Liesl when she was being accosted by Sandy, Merlin, and her in-laws. I was pissed my security didn’t intervene until I found out Liesl told him to stand down but, a fool can see from Liesl’s facial expression here, she is struggling with the shit your daughter is doing to her.”

“What the hell is she wearing?” Lorraine’s eyebrows jacked high in her forehead as she looked at Sandy’s dress.

“Nothing appropriate but your comment has proved my point, Lorraine. I pointed out Liesl’s discomfort and all you noticed was Sandy.”

“I’m sorry, I was surprised is all. Liesl what happened?”

“Do you actually care?” Isaias stopped her from answering.

“Yes, I care.”

“Not as much about Liesl as you do Sandy. You’re not here for Liesl. You’re here to make sure Sandy isn’t going to be more of a handful because she’s going to be jealous of Liesl making her own happiness.”

“It’s not true.”

“Isaias,” Liesl put her hand on his arm. “Please.”

He looked to Liesl, “I’m sorry, love. I’m all for you standing up and fighting your own battles but this is pissing me off. Clearly, all she’s concerned about it how much it’s going to affect her when Sandy gets upset at you being happy. She’s here to scope out our situation and how she needs to twist it to Sandy to make sure she isn’t negatively impacted.”

“You’re out of line,” Lorraine spoke sharply. “You don’t know me!”

“No, you’re right, I don’t. Let me tell you what I do know. I know this woman beside me is the kindest, sweetest, most loving person I’ve ever met with a joy inside her which inspires me to want to keep making her smile. How she became this incredible of a woman when she derives from a family where her sister consistently tormented her, and her own mother forced her to play second fiddle to her sister’s insanity baffles me. Yet, here she is, strong, beautiful, and still shining like a million suns despite the atrocities you two have committed.”

“I have never hurt my daughter.”

“No? Not when you knew she was fucking Liesl’s husband and didn’t tell her? You don’t think it hurt her knowing you would keep Sandy’s secret over telling her the truth? You don’t think it hurt when you told her to sacrifice her own happiness for you to have peace from Sandy’s chaos? You aren’t strong enough to wrangle your willful child in. To avoid the headaches of fighting and correcting her shitty behavior, you forced Liesl to sacrifice over and over again, from an incredibly early age, to keep the peace. A peace you couldn’t maintain because you’re a terrible parent.”

“How dare you!”

“I dare because I love her. I am not like you Lorraine. I will go toe-to-toe with the worst of the worst to make sure Liesl is happy. I won’t ask her to sacrifice her happiness and self-respect so I can take the easy way out of dealing with inconvenient situations. I won’t be asking Liesl to bow down to Sandy’s demands simply because I can’t be arsed to deal with Sandy. I’m not Merlin who will cave into a crazy woman’s demands simply because he wants to avoid the conflict and insanity your family created in Sandy. I will protect Liesl’s right to have it all and it includes protecting her from you.”

“She doesn’t need to be protected from me.” Lorraine almost shrieked with fury. “I am her mother.”

“Then act like one. Your daughter is a psychopathic, manipulative bitch. She’s jealous of Liesl’s natural beauty and shine. Sandy will do anything and everything to make Liesl appear lesser than her. You not only condone the behavior, but you also encourage it by patting her on the head and supporting her.”

Lorraine swallowed audibly and sighed, “that’s not true.”

“It is true. You sacrifice the life of one child, for the other if only to avoid having to deal with the craziness and it makes you worse than Sandy in my eyes. There are lots of moms in my family, Lorraine with kids of varying degrees of good and bad and I will tell you, not one of the women I know would put one child ahead of the other. You should have been protecting Liesl from Sandy and you should have gotten your daughter the help and care she truly needs. Instead, you’ve created a monster.” He stood up, “let me make myself really clear. Liesl is happy. I intend to keep her happy for decades to come. I’ll keep a smile on her face, and I’ll be the one she leans on when shit gets tough and,” he glared down at her, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as if hiding his clenched fists, “if this makes your life horrible because it pisses Sandy off to know her sister is living her best life, well, it’s your problem, not Liesl’s. Don’t bring your problems with Sandy to our door. You created the monster. You get to live with the beast.”

He leaned down and kissed Liesl’s forehead, “I love you. I need to walk away before I end up needing legal representation.”

She reached up her hands and touched his cheek, “are you okay?”

“Yes, but I might go rip out a bathroom just to reinstall it.” At her chuckle he kissed her lips and then strode away angrily.

She exhaled a long sad sigh and then looked to her mother who was red-faced and on the verge of tears.

“He’s rude.”

“He didn’t lie, Mom. He loves me and he is not a man to pull punches. He has the tact of a bulldozer but he’s not wrong.”

“He was wrong, Liesl. I love you as much as Sandy.”

“It doesn’t feel like it,” Liesl said with a quiver in her voice. “It has never felt like it. The fact you came here today to complain about Sandy making you miserable is like high school when you would ask me to not wear my new clothes or go to parties with the girls because it made her jealous. I’m not going to hide my happiness because Sandy is miserable, Mom, not even for you. Not anymore.”

“I’m not saying you need to hide. I’m letting you know she’s going to be a handful. She might back down if she thinks you and Isaias aren’t doing well. She’s struggling so much with Merlin being cruel and cold to her and how much Torrie is snubbing her.”

She looked to the ceiling and sucked in a breath. “Mom, I’m not going to pretend to be unhappy with Isaias so Sandy feels better about herself.”

“I’m not asking you to. I’m simply letting you know if you continue to flaunt this relationship, she’s not going to let up.”

“Mom. He was right,” she wiped a tear off my cheek. “You want me to bow down to her demands because it makes your life easier. I’m not doing it anymore.”

“No. He’s not right.”

“Isn’t he?” She felt her heart breaking, “you’re my mom and I love you, but right in this moment, I don’t like you very much. Tomorrow I’m meeting with lawyers to get a restraining order against Sandy, Merlin, and Trent.”

“Liesl, you’re taking this too far.”

“Don’t make me add your name to the list, Mom.”

“I think we should all sit down.”

“No.” She cut her off. “I think you should leave. We’re done here.”

With a sad sigh her mom rose from the sofa and made her way to the front entrance, “I do love you Liesl. I hope you know this.”

“All I know Mom is you put her first all the time and I’m done playing second fiddle.” She held the door open. “I’m done with you all. You all think she’s worth more than me, you can have her, and I will gladly stay out of your lives forever.”