You're Invited(84)

Of course, my father, logical as he was, had no intention of telling my mother about any of this until he found out if it was true or not. He was accosted by her when he was trying to have breakfast, which was when I heard the yelling and rushed downstairs.

I tried to count the number of houseguests who would have overheard. So much for keeping this shit under wraps. My mother was usually so smart and calculating, but the way she’d just fly off the handle like this was a major weakness. And not only to her.

“You better keep your mouth shut, you hear me, Fiona?” my father warned, before Spencer entered the office.

“Good morning, Thaththa, what’s wrong?” Spencer asked.

“Morning, Putha. Would you mind sitting down?”

All this bullshit and they were still calling each other dad and son? I gotta hand it to Spencer: he really could be even-keeled during the rockiest of situations.

“I received these documents today. Could you please take a look at them?”

All three of us watched Spencer as he leafed through the contents of the envelope. It felt like he was shuffling them for a million years. My heart was beating so loudly I was sure everyone could hear it. Why the fuck was I so nervous?

After going through everything, Spencer gathered up all the papers, put them back in the envelope, and stood up.

“Amma, Thaththa, I want to thank you for all your kindness. You have been nothing but perfect parents to me from the time I proposed to Kaavi. Parents that, as you can see, I was never lucky enough to have. I thought my luck had finally changed, but I see now that that is not to be the case.”

“What are you saying?” my father asked, the wrinkle between his eyebrows deepening.

“This is why you asked me to come here, isn’t it? To tell me that you are ending our engagement? I must say that I’m not surprised. Ashamed, yes, but not surprised. I also wouldn’t want my daughter, if I’m ever so lucky one day, to marry the son of a convict and a drug addict.” He looked at my mother, whose face was beet red as she refused to meet his eye.

“Spencer, we didn’t ask you here to end anything. We asked you here to find out if this is true, and if it is, why you felt you had to lie to us?”

All this time I held my anger at bay. This fucker promised me, just last night, no more lies. And here he was, caught in another. I mean, he didn’t deny it. He was ready to leave. So let’s just fucking let him.

“Yes, Thaththa, I mean, yes, sir, it’s true. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. It’s just that I was so ashamed. When I look at Kaavi, when I look at your beautiful family, all I see is perfection. And I am not my parents. I haven’t seen them or wanted anything to do with them since I was sixteen years old. In my mind, they are as good as dead.”

My mother winced, and Spencer caught on.

“I’m sorry, I know we aren’t supposed to speak of our parents this way. But they have done nothing for me. Every cent I earned was my own. Everywhere I’ve gotten, I’ve gotten because I’ve had to push myself. So, yes, in my mind, I’m on my own. That’s how I’ve always felt. And then I met Kaavi—and all of you, and I thought, well, maybe I didn’t have to be on my own anymore? Maybe I could have the only thing I’ve ever wanted? A family. That’s why I never told you, sir—”

“Now, there’s no need for all this ‘sir’ business,” my father interrupted him.

“Sorry. I—” Spencer blinked back tears. “That’s why I never told you about my parents. Because I was scared that you would never accept me if you knew the truth. That you would judge me by the actions of the people who never even knew me, let alone cared for me. And now I’ve gone and messed everything up. I’m so sorry. I’ll leave the apartment and check into a hotel. I’m happy to pay for any deposits you might have to forego and—”

“Spencer”—my dad rose to his feet also—“enough with this talk. We are not asking you to end this engagement.”

He’s not?

“We just wanted to get to the bottom of things. If we are going to be family, we aren’t to keep secrets from one another, you hear?”

Spencer let a single tear roll down his cheek. What a fucking performance. He’d lied to me about his parents just yesterday.

“Yes, sir, I mean—yes, Thaththa.”

“I don’t tell many people this, but my father”—he gestured behind him at Seeya’s picture—“was a terrible drinker. Heart of gold, but that was his one weakness. Could never give up the bottle. And when he drank, my god, he turned into something, well, something quite terrible.”

What? Seeya? I guess Spencer wasn’t the only one good at keeping secrets around here.

“We never talk about it, of course. But I vowed, the moment that Kaavi was born, that she was never to feel the way I did. We are not our parents, Spencer, and I respect a man who has made his own way in the world. We would be lucky to have you in our family.”

He reached out and gave Spencer a big hug, thumping him on the back the same way my heart was thumping in my chest.

I glanced over at my mother, and she looked absolutely livid. But I knew she’d never go against him. Not about something like this. She glared at Spencer, my dad, and most of all me.

I knew what she was thinking—that I should have known better. My mind went back to everything Spencer told me last night. About his parents dying and leaving him money. About why he couldn’t tell me about his bankrupt business. About why he wanted to get married in the first place. About how he would never lie to me.