CHAPTER 128: DINNER WITH DAD (2)

Nick’s POV

"I was trying to save a life. That’s why I did it. She was sinking, Dad. If I’d waited for protocol, she would’ve been dead." My voice came out sharper than I intended, but it was the truth—and I wasn’t going to apologize for it.

My father planted both hands on his waist, chest rising and falling as he sucked in a deep breath. His jaw locked tight, and when he finally opened his eyes, the storm hit.

"Right. I can understand the first time," he barked, his voice booming through the hall, "but you didn’t even report the damn rescue! And the second time?" His roar shook the air. "That was unnecessary!"

A vein bulged along his temple, another along his neck, pulsing with his fury. For a moment, I worried he’d actually keel over from a heart attack right in front of me.

But of course, he wasn’t finished. My old man never explodes halfway—he goes nuclear.

"That woman wanted to fucking die!" he spat, his voice raw with anger. "You should’ve let her! Saved yourself instead. Years of hard work, gone in a single reckless act! Do you even realize what you’ve thrown away?"

His words sliced through me, but I forced myself to stand my ground. My fists tightened at my sides, every muscle in me screaming to defend her.

"She’s trouble, Nick," he thundered, his face twisted with the kind of disappointment only a father can deliver. "A curse to every man who ever let her close. You should’ve stayed the hell away from her!"

I swallowed the surge of heat in my chest. Because if I opened my mouth, I’d say the one thing guaranteed to send him over the edge—

That I’d dive off that ship a thousand more times for her.

I frowned, suspicion gnawing at me. The way he spoke about Georgia, spitting her name like poison. It was obvious he already knew who she was. Too much, in fact.

But I am sure as hell it wasn’t Liam, or Vicky, and definitely not Ollie feeding him this filth.

"You don’t know her, Dad," I bit out with a low but firm voice. "So don’t say things about someone you haven’t even met."

That only poured gasoline on the fire.

"The hell I care!" he snapped, his eyes burning. "And I have no intention of meeting her. I don’t need to! Her reputation says it all—she’s a curse, and our family should stay the hell away from her.

Look what happened to you when you got tangled with her brother. Look what she did to the Davises... humiliation, disgrace! We cannot afford another scandal, Nicholas!"

His face had gone crimson, his neck veins straining with fury. Each word he hurled at me was meant to break my defenses, to make me see her the way he did—like a danger, like a stain. But all it did was make me want to shield her more.

I knew he’d worked side by side with Raymond during the search and rescue. But even that snake wouldn’t have dared tell him everything. No, someone else had whispered poison into my father’s ear. And I needed to know who.

"Dad," I said evenly, fighting the urge to match his roar, "she didn’t jump off those ships because she wanted to die. There’s more to it than what you’ve been told." My jaw tightened as I held his gaze. "So tell me—who the hell has been feeding you these lies?"

"Why would Sarah lie? She has no reason to do that!" my father barked, as if the very idea was ridiculous.

But of course, Sarah was more than capable of it. Damn it—why didn’t I think of her sooner?

"Lying doesn’t give me anything, Nick," she chimed in smoothly, her voice floating from the hallway. I turned, and there she was—standing like she’d been waiting for her grand entrance. "I only told your father the truth. What I witnessed with my own eyes on that ship."

I clenched my jaw, heat crawling up my spine. "Great. You tore up your contract just so you could run here and whisper lies in my father’s ear. Very responsible of you, Sarah. But of course, it’s your company, so the contract is useless, how can I forget?" I snapped.

Her lips curved into that smug little smile I always hated. "Why would I lie to my future father-in-law? All I want is for everyone to know the truth."

Future father-in-law? My brow shot up so high it nearly hit my hairline.

I turned to my father, fury simmering just beneath my skin. "I thought this was supposed to be a family dinner. Why the hell is she here?" I asked, my tone clipped, controlled—because the last thing I wanted was to raise my voice to him.

My father and I might have our differences, but I respect him very much.

"She is family," Violet cut in before my father could answer. Her words were a blade wrapped in silk. "Or have you forgotten the promise you made to her family?"

And there it was. A word I had given I’d buried so deep I’d almost erased it from memory—because back then, it had meant absolutely nothing to me. It was not even a promise as far as I remember; there was no formal agreement about it.

After David died, Sarah’s family swooped in with a marriage proposal—something they’d been dangling in front of my parents for years. And me? I was pissed off, drowning in grief, and too lost to care.

I just said, ’Okay, let’s see how things will play out,’ just for everyone to leave me alone.

Since it’s Sarah, she and her family saw that as a yes from me in their delusional minds after she coiled her body all over me like a snake.

The deal was perfect from the looks of it. My family would acquire their manpower and chandling business, expanding Knight Group beyond what my father had planned.

Sarah was the last unmarried daughter of Meyer Enterprise. Her sisters were already tucked away overseas, married to men wealthier than their father, and they couldn’t care less about the family’s business back here.

Me? I was spiraling. Depressed. Hopeless. I convinced myself it was a good bargain—two families satisfied, the businesses thriving, while I stayed at sea, free, and Sarah ran everything on land.

I never saw myself as the family man type. Hell, I was the opposite. And Sarah? She was the one woman who didn’t care. Or so I thought...

She told me I could stay in the shadows, live the way I wanted, and she’d handle the spotlight. All she asked was that I come home to her when my contract ends, perform the marital duties in bed, and nothing more.

It was the kind of deal every reckless good-for-nothing, stupid man thinks he wants. No strings. No demands. Just pleasure and silence. And I was exactly that stupid man.

Until Georgia.

Everything shifted the moment I met her. Not because she asked me to change. Not because she demanded anything of me. She didn’t have to. With her, it just happened.

And for the first time in my life, I didn’t want the shadows anymore. In my own will, I wanted to be the better man that she deserves.