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Papa’s words echoed in my mind, and I couldn’t get over the hurt and memories they brought up.

Why did I let my father get to me so much?

Mommy insisted he loved me, but Papa’s form of love was overbearing and controlling.

For such a smart man, he was an idiot who couldn’t see that his actions had now lost his relationship with both his children. My jaw clenched thinking of the jabs he’d made toward Ashur.

What more did Papa want from him? Most parents would think of him as the jackpot in the parenting lottery. Who didn’t want a child who was a war hero and had created a billion-dollar fortune on his own merit?

Tears prickled my eyes.

“Sam, have you heard a word I said?”

I shook the fog from my mind and focused on Veer. “Sorry. Say it one more time.”

He released an exasperated sigh. “Stop worrying about your father. You have too much to focus on to let him dictate your life and your decisions anymore.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Veer?”

“Your father uses his money as a way to control people, but with you he uses manipulation.”

I rested both of my hands against the back of a chair in the corner of the library as I glared at Veer. “I’m not weak minded. I told him to go fuck himself years ago and then I did it again today.”

He walked up to me and shook his head. “You still haven’t admitted it to yourself, have you?”

“Veer, my head hurts, I’m drained both emotionally and physically, and now I have to figure out what the fuck I’m going to say tomorrow. I don’t need you psychoanalyzing me.”

Why wouldn’t he let this drop?

“Pretending isn’t going to change the fact that it’s true.”

I clenched my teeth and thought about punching him. I couldn’t care less that he was a good foot and some change taller than me.

“Fine, tell me, Mr. Knows-Everything. What have I not admitted?”

“That because of Minesh Kumar, you stayed in a marriage that was destroying you from the inside out.”

I touched my chest and closed my eyes for a moment. “Dev’s making an effort to change. Hell, look what he did to get my parents here. I can’t imagine what Papa must have said to him.”

Papa used the crudest language when the public wasn’t watching. The way he’d spoken tonight was barely the tip of things he was capable of voicing.

“I’m happy you’re working it out, but that doesn’t change the truth of what I said.”

“Let it go, Veer.”

“You’re the attorney. Would you let it go?”

“You’re such a pain in the ass.”

“Give me something to make sense of it all. Samina, you are a catch any man should be honored to have. Why did you stay with Devin all these years? And don’t say love. I know it’s bullshit and you do too.”

“You don’t know anything, Veer Kiran George. Devin Camden is the only man I love and will ever love.”

“That’s not the reason you refused to leave him. No matter how much Ash and I tried to convince you to come back to Texas, you stayed. Hell, your best friend, his sister, wanted you to leave his ass.”

I folded my arms across my body. I couldn’t deny Veer’s claims.

“No woman with your education, career, or money puts up with the way you were treated unless there is a reason. I know the reason, Ash knows the reason, and sure as hell, your father knows the reason. I even suspect Devin knows the reason. Why can’t you admit the truth?”