Taming Mr. Cold And Arrogant

Sophia's POV:

"I'm sorry."

I turned around to see my father in a wheelchair and Mom is pushing him towards my direction. 

It's been two days when we arrived at our old house, or should I say 'our home'. The three of us were shocked to see Dad helplessly sitting in a cold, moving metal with two big wheels on the side...called...wheelchair. 

Who would have thought that these things would happen to us, and to our family? Who would have thought that a tough businessman, a dominant husband and a disciplinarian father in his younger years would turn into a helpless, defenseless and vulnerable man, who now needs help of the people he brushed off once in his life. 

I admit I was still mad at him when Mom convinced me to go with them and talk to him. For me, it was a wound from the past that, although it's already been closed but it left a scar. A scar that bleeds again when I saw him. 

But when I saw him in his current condition, how Steven accepted his embrace and how Mom cried in his shoulders, I don't know, but all the pain, disappointment and trauma that I was holding, suddenly vanished inside my c.h.e.s.t. And all that I felt right at that moment was contentment. 

It seemed to me that I was taken back to my childhood days when Mom was still with us, Dad is the best father I could describe and with an addition to the family, my brother. 

"I'm sorry for always making you cry, my baby."

"H-Huh?"

I was suddenly pulled back from my thoughts and checked my face with my palm. I didn't notice the tears that flow down my cheeks. I didn't even know that I was crying while reminiscing those days, those memorable days of the past. 

"Belle, I will leave you two for a while and help Angie to prepare for dinner."

I just nodded and smiled at my Mom. My gaze followed her until she disappeared from our sight, then I turned to Dad and pushed the wheelchair onto the wooden bench on the veranda. 

"How are you feeling, Dad?" I asked him, taking his right hand with me. 

He sighed deeply before giving me a sad smile. 

"I wanted to say that I'm happy because you and your Mom are back, and of course with your brother..." He paused as he sighed again. 

"Dad?"

He looked up at and stared at the stars that seem so bright because of the light they borrow from the moon. And I couldn't but smile, a smile that doesn't reach my eyes. 

"I am happy, Belle. I am so happy that it also scares me. I only have a few months to live and in those remaining months or days of my life, I don't know how to show to all of you that I love you so much. And that I regret those days that I wasn't on your side. I became a greedy person, selfish and----"

"Dad!"

I stopped him when I noticed the tears in his eyes. 

"It's in the past and now we are here, a complete family. Dad, it's better to count the days forward than to count them backwards, where the pains and wounds of the past are still fresh and bleeding. We are going to make new memories for the future, and don't ever say that you will leave us!"

"Belle----"

"No, Dad! From now on, you will never mention your condition, your illness or whatever you call that. We will start again as a family and, whether you like it or not, you will play instruments again for me, for Mom and for Steven. It's an order! Do you understand?"

A light chuckle break through his lips when he heard the same lines he used to tell me when I was young while he was teaching me how to play the piano. 

"And we will not talk about again anything in the past, because all we have to discuss is about our family, you, Mom, me and of course, Steven."

"Yeah, that's right and after we discussed our family matters, we will also discuss your love life."

"Dad!"

My eyes widened and I unconsciously straightened my seat when I heard what he had said. 

"Or should I say, your married life."

"Daddy!"

My face turned horrified when he shrugged and gave me his signature smirk. 

"Why? When are we going to talk about it? Tsk.tsk.tsk. I know you're married, Belle, but don't worry, I'm not mad just because you didn't inform your old father about your marriage."

"Daddy?"

He laughed at me when he noticed me blushing in front of him. I also couldn't form any word except than 'Dad' and 'Daddy'. And he laughed even more when I lowered my head to hide my face from him. 

"I want to meet him."

"What?" My head snapped towards him and I gulped seeing the seriousness in his face. 

"Your husband. I want to meet him, Belle."

And that made me even more speechless. How would I explain to him our real situation? That I married Daniel only because of Joseph, and Daniel married me just because he needed a fake wife? And it was just a deal, a year contract, an agreement that soon to expire in a few months. 

"I will listen and I promise to understand whatever your reason on marrying him."

I stared at him for I don't know how long. Does he know the truth? 

"Uhm... Dad..."

"Hmm?"

"It was just a marriage of convenience." And I started to explain everything to him, but I escaped telling him about my feelings for Daniel. 

He remained silent for a few seconds before he surprised me with his words. 

"But you fell in love with him."

I looked at him not knowing what to say. It's not even a question. It's a statement that he knows what I feel. 

"Haist! My baby is now a grown-up woman. I remembered when you were five years old, you kept asking me what boyfriend and girlfriend mean and why does your cousin has a boyfriend and you don't?"

I smiled as I also remembered those memories. 

"But now look at you, you're married. Yes, it's just a marriage of convenience but it's still marriage. And on top of that, you're in love, so I don't have to explain to you why you don't have a boyfriend because you already have a husband."

"Yeah, I love him, but he doesn't feel the same." I sighed, lowering my head. 

"What if he felt the same? You just assumed he's not because that's what you believe in."

I just shook my head. I also didn't tell him about Daniel harsh words and judgements about me. 

"I don't think so, Dad." And we both fell into silence. 

"Belle, someone had already bought the company."

"What? That's so fast!"

Yesterday, he told us about the crisis that the company is dealing and he wanted to sell it rather than give the rights and ownership to De Luccas. 

"Well, Benjamin informed me this morning and he said that someone set up a meeting regarding the signing of doc.u.ments. He also added that the buyer has already transferred the amount to my bank account."

(Benjamin is his friend and personal assistant)

I couldn't help but furrowed my eyebrows while listening to my father. It's not even 24 hours since they publicly announced their decision of selling the company. Well, it's not a huge company, but what I am confused about is who would be interested in buying a small and struggling company that is no longer profitable and in just a short period of time? 

What would the new owner do to that small sausage company? 

I just loudly sighed and looked up the sky when I could no longer think of possible reasons.