Chapter 81

Phil's eyes followed Susanna's stare to the floor.Holy cow!

If Susanna hadn't been standing right there,Philwould've never guessed the crumpled figure wasEvelina.

"Marissa,did you really do this?"Phil's face turnedhard as stone,his voice sharp.

"No way."Marissa jabbed a finger toward Susanna,then at Evelina sprawled out."She's the one whoclocked Evelina with a stool."

She'd only meant to kick Evelina out,not knock herlights out.

"This is on you!If you hadn't used her as a humanshield,I wouldn't have hit Evelina,you snake!" Susanna spat.

With Phil in her corner, she shot up, claws out,itching to scratch Marissa's face.

She loathed that face with every fiber of her being.

"You heard her, right? I'm in the clear." Marissa locked eyes with Phil, not bothering to explain further.

Phil's temple pulsed like a ticking bomb. He grabbed Susanna, barking, "Enough! We need to get Evelina to a hospital."

They couldn't afford to miss tonight's banquet!

If Evelina couldn't make it... Phil's gaze swung back to Marissa.

"Marcel, get them to the hospital." Phil made the call,quick and firm.

What?

Marcel looked up, totally thrown. Dealing with Susanna was way above his pay grade. But he just nodded, flashing a practiced smile. "Got it,Mr.Fletcher."

"You're not coming?"Susanna's voice was ice,hereyes narrowing at Phil.

"I've got business to handle."Phil's tone was clipped,patience wearing thin."Don't make a scene!"

Was he seriously raising his voice at her?

Phil's attitude hit Susanna like a slap,and she wasready to blow.Ignoring everyone else,she yelled,"Evelina's hurt,and you don't give a damn?"

This woman was impossible!

Phil's eyes flickered with restraint.He took a deepbreath,softening his voice."Go on ahead.I'll bethere soon."

"No chance!"Susanna wasn't buying it.She glared 'I'll call you later."

His bossy tone rubbed Marissa the wrong way.

She raised an eyebrow, not in the mood to play along. She sized Phil up. "Don't bother."

Were they here to prep for the Curtis family's banquet?

Marissa crossed her arms, a spark of curiosity flaring. She couldn't wait to see their faces when they ran into her at the party.

After a quick thought, she offered, "How about I try acupuncture on her?"

"Since when do you know that?" Phil's eyes narrowed,skepticism all over his face.

He didn't recall anyone mentioning this about Marissa.

Phil felt like he was losing his grip on her, bit by bit.

He wanted to dig deeper, but not with all these people around.

"Why's that your business?" Marissa's words were sharp,no trace of warmth for Phil.

"Marissa!"Phil's temper flared."I'm your father!"

Susanna was about to pile on,but Phil shot her a lookcold enough to freeze,clearly done with hernonsense.

"Then how come you know so little about me?"Marissa fired back,her voice dripping with disdain.

Twenty years under the same roof,and he nevereven knew she studied medicine.And he had thenerve to call himself her father.

That was laughable.

Phil was left speechless.

He had to admit—he'd never really paid muchattention to Marissa before.Work always came first.Still,she was his daughter.Shouldn't she be moreopen with him?

His tone was deeply remorseful."I apologize.I havebeen an unfit father." Phil could be pragmatic when he wanted to be,setting aside his pride with ease.

It was,in truith,a smart move.

People were used to seeing domineering parents.Areasonable one—especially a father who apologizedto his daughter—was rare.

It was a clever move on Phil's part.

Marissa,however,remained unmoved.She clickedher tongue softly,unimpressed.

If she hadn't seen firsthand how he treated Evelina,she might've bought the idea that all dads kept theirdaughters at arm's length. Phil had never been fair to her,and now he wasputting on this fake loving-dad act,

"Quit yapping and get Evelina to the hospitalalready!"Susanna snapped,her nerves frayed.Shewas terrified Evelina's head injury was worse than itlooked,and Phil's focus on anything else made herwant to tear into him.

"Wanna come along?" Phil crouched down, scooping up Evelina's frame like it was nothing, thanks to his gym habit.

"No way," Marissa shot back, not even bothering with an excuse.

Phil blinked, caught off guard by her defiance.He wasn't used to Marissa pushing back like that.

"Behave yourself," he coaxed, his voice syrupy sweet.

That tone-it made her skin crawl.

Did he think she was someone else? Her birth mom,maybe?

Marissa's face darkened, and she fired back, "Mr.Fletcher, watch how you talk to me."

Susanna's expression wasn't any better.

She'd always thought Marissa was a spitting image of Phil's old flame, Corrine. She wanted to sling a few sharp words but bit her tongue, worried that if Phil realized Marissa knew about Corrine, it'd stir up a hornet's nest.

Susanna wasn't dense-far from it. Her quick thinking had dodged plenty of trouble before.Especially when things smelled like bad news,her gut kicked in to steer her clear.

She pressed her lips together, scheming on how to keep Phil from showing up at the Curtis family's bash tonight.

Something in her gut twisted, a nagging feeling that something bad was brewing at that party.

Susanna's chest tightened, like the air itself was suffocating her.