Juliette Pov

　　"Go in!" he said and I held myself from asking why me first? Turning the door open I walked in and was about to look back at Zachary whether he is coming or not when my eyes fell on the person who was sitting on the sofa and stood up as soon as he saw me.


　　"Dad?" I heard my voice croaking at the end and tears fell down my cheeks when he walked up to me with his arms open for me.

　　"Oh, my sweetheart!" he said as I ran into his arms and he embraced me lovingly pulling me up to him.

　　"Dad!" I sobbed into his chest while he rubbed my back occasionally patting on my head.


　　"How are you my princess?" he cooed into my ear. That made me cry even harder. It's been so long since I had heard him. I have missed him terribly.

　　"Juliette," he said as I withdrew back and he wiped the tears affectionately. I looked up at him. He seemed to grow older from the last time I saw him. He didn't even dye those gray hair from the sides, which is something new because he never loved seeing those gray hair on his head.


　　"Mom? Where is mom?" my eyes searched for my mom inside the room. I thought if dad was here then mom and Jace must be here too. But I didn't see them.

　　"Dad where is Jace, Mom?" I asked gripping his suit while he nodded his head no which immediately drowned me into disappointment.

　　"Why?" I cried bobbing my head disappointed.

　　"Don't worry darling, they will be here soon. I wanted to meet you so I came here as quickly as I could. They will be here soon" he said as he cupped my cheek and smiled down at me.

　　That reminded me what had happened previously. What were the conditions that made me; we separated away from each other. My marriage, Nicholas, Zachary. Realization hit me and I looked back at Zachary who stood near the door with his hands inside his pocket. I turned back to dad and whispered: "Did Zachary do something with them?" I referred mom and Jace.

　　Dad looked taken aback for a moment but then he looked to where Zachary was standing and then back at me.

　　"Dear Mr. Zachary can never hurt us or our family" dad said smiling down at me. That confused me. Why would he not hurt my family?

　　"How are you so sure? What is going on?" I asked when we heard a clearing of a throat.

　　"I can hear everything you know?" Zachary said and I looked back at him biting down on my lips. I thought I was whispering. How can he still hear? Has he got the ears of a dog? No wonder he is a dog.

　　"It's great to know what you think of me!" he said sarcastically rolling his eyes.

　　"Did I say out loud?" I questioned myself to which dad gave the answer "Yes dear! You did!"

　　"It's great to have here Mr. Swanson. Thank you for coming on short notice" Zachary said as he walked forward and both of them shook their hands while I stood in the middle looking at them as if they were aliens.

　　What's going on?

　　"Thank You for taking care of my daughter," dad said and that made me snap my head towards his direction. I looked back at Zachary to find him already looking at me.

　　"Is there something that you need to clarify dad?" I asked looking at Zachary. He narrowed his eyes at me and asked dad and me to take a seat on the office couch.

　　We took a seat with dad right next to me on while Zachary chose to seat across me on the single sofa.

　　"I know you two are hiding something from me, and I don't like it. Dad!" I turned to him "Please! Tell me, what's going on? I am fed up of being in dark. These past few days have been very hard for me. I have been seeing the other side of my life and I am not really liking it. Dad do you know, Emmett is alive! He betrayed me. He is not the person with whom I was in love and even his identity was not true. He was playing with me, with my sentiments and emotions. Dad! He betrayed me. Do you know who he is? He told me that his name is not Emmett bu-" dad cut me off in the middle "But Nicholas Greer" dad completed while I sat there with my mouth wide open.

　　"Y-You knew?" I asked slowly to which he replied by nodding 'yes.'

　　"Wow!" I exclaimed rubbing my face with my palms.

　　"From when?" I questioned.

　　"From the beginning!" he replied. I turned toward him in disbelief.

　　"What? From the beginning?" I questioned and he shifted in his position nodding positively.

　　"Wh- What?" I exclaimed in disbelief. "Wow, dad! Just wow! Then why did you not tell me about this? And I just don't understand what did I ever do to be involved in all this. Why does Em- I mean Nicholas wants to kill me? Why did he hide his identity and how do you know his real his identity? Why is Zachary involved in all this and why am I kept in the dark?" I snapped rudely at dad.

　　He sighed and looked down.

　　"Juliette!" Zachary called and I looked at him. "He is here to clarify all these to you. Easy there!" he narrowed his eyes whilst I glared back at him.

　　Does he think himself as my father?

　　"Okay! I'm sorry dad!" I said sighing as I looked back dad. I felt guilty for snapping at him. Look at him, he came all this way to me and what did I do? So ungrateful of me.

　　"It's okay princess. I understand what you are going through but please trust me. I was restrained from telling you the truth. I wanted to tell you from the beginning that that guy is not good for you, not only because I knew his true identity but also because he threatened me that he would hurt you and Jace if I told you about him.

　　"What! But why?" I questioned not believing what dad unveiled before me.

　　"That is why I am here to tell you everything. Okay? But before that please promise me that you will hear until the end and you won't judge me until I reach the end" dad said and suddenly anxiety began to build up inside me.

　　"Why does he want me to make a promise like that? It must be really something that I guess I wouldn't like and I think he knows it. This is the reason he wants me to make a promise to him?" I wondered and nodded my head agreeing that I will listen till the end. But I didn't make any promise because I knew I could break them if I didn't like what he was going to present before me.

　　"Okay! So it's a big story" he said as he rubbed his palms on his pants probably because he was nervous. Whenever my dad was nervous he would have his palms all sweaty and he would always rub it on his pants which my mom hated the most.

　　"Tell me, dad!" I asked slowly encouraging him to tell.

　　"So, do you remember how we became so wealthy all of a sudden?" he said and I gave him an astonished look.

　　"What? I mean yes. It was because you worked hard for our family and-" he cut me off.

　　"The story begins from here. It is not what you think! I did something to reach this position and I am really ashamed of it!" he said and he cupped his face hiding his face from me.

　　That didn't really help me. My nerves tensed up and I looked back at Zachary. He sat calmly and stared between us and then averted his gaze away from.

　　Not a help!

　　"Dad!" I reached forward and held his hands removing it from his face. Though I was the one who was in the state of passing out any second, still I compromised with myself for sake of my father and ensured him that I was there and I will not judge him.

　　"I got myself into this mafia world," he said and suck in my breath in complete disbelief.

　　"Believe me, Juliette! I did all this for you!" he cupped my face. "For your mother, for Jace, for our family! Because we were in a very condition that time. We were broke and we would have ended up in the gutter if I did consider getting myself involved in this mafia business!" he said lowering his head and I nodded agreeing with him.

　　"I knew how much you hated crime and criminals. I never wanted to see those hateful eyes that you always had for those criminals for me. This is why I hid it from you and Jace" he finished and I withdrew my hands from him. He looked at me as if he was hurt by my actions. But I reassured him that I was not angry by putting one of my hand back on his. A small smile appeared on his face by my action and he held my hand tightly assured.

　　"So, mom knew everything?" I asked and he nodded.

　　"Your mom also hated all this but she chose to compromise for her family," he said and I nodded.