Page 13 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

Wednesday

I wasn’t even sure why I’d said it. Mentioning not being ready to get married again? Seriously? What the hell was I thinking? Yes, I wanted to marry Penny. One day. But not today. Why hadn’t I kept my mouth shut? I needed to get control of this conversation.

"Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, please just let me explain. I would never put your daughter in a position like that. As far as I'm concerned, my relationship with my ex-wife was terminated as soon as I filed..."

"You put her in a terrible situation," her dad cut in. "You're her professor. You were her married professor."

"Yes, I was Penny's communications professor. And I realize that I crossed the line. I completely understand why you're upset. But my marriage really has nothing to do with this."

"I was the one that crossed the line," Penny said.

I was not expecting her to say that.

"You shouldn't be mad at him, you should be mad at me." Her phone started to make a buzzing noise, but she ignored it.

"We are mad at you," her dad said. "But we will deal with you later."

This was ridiculous, she wasn't a kid anymore. What were they planning on doing? Grounding her? Banning her from seeing me? She was practically living with me.

"It was my fault,” Penny said. “I fell in love with my professor and he told me to stay away from him.”

Oh, Penny.

“I didn't listen. You two met and fell in love in college. This isn't any different than that. You were my age when you met. You should understand better than anyone."

"Those were completely different circumstances," her dad said.

"Were they that different?” asked Penny. “Yes, you were the same age, but you were both as young as me. You have to at least accept the fact that I'm in love with him. And he resigned for me. So that we could be together."

"Did he get divorced for you too? Was he cheating on his wife with..."

"It wasn't like that," I said. "I would never cheat on someone." I thought back to high school and my first girlfriend. Rachel had kissed one of my best friends. Maybe they’d done more. I never really found out the truth. I knew I could be distant. I knew when I was spiraling I was hard to be around. But I’d never cheat because I knew how it felt to be cheated on. Like being held down in the water when you were already drowning. And yeah, maybe I was sick in the head, but I wasn’t a dick.

"You have a very strange sense of morals, James," her dad said.

I clenched my jaw again. It was like he was asking for me to punch him instead of the other way around. He didn’t know me. He didn’t know what I’d been through. And he certainly didn’t know how much I loved getting into fights.

Breathe. "I would never do anything to hurt Penny," I said, as calmly as I could. And that meant I also wouldn’t punch her dad in the face. Even if he fucking deserved it.

"You already have,” her dad said. “What's going to happen when other professors find out? And students? Can't she be expelled for this?"

"We talked to the dean this morning when I resigned,” I said.

“Penny got two strikes on her record, but other than that, nothing.

The news is circulating fast and I assume most of the college already knows.

That's why we're here. We wanted to tell you before you found out from someone else.

Despite my loose morals, I respected you both enough to want to tell you the truth in person. "

Mr. Taylor didn’t seem at all placated by my words. “And what now? You just quit your job. You're divorced. You probably have alimony to pay. And you're dating a college student. What kind of future could you possibly have? You're just going to drag her down with you."

I lowered my eyebrows. "I'm starting a tech company."

Penny’s phone kept buzzing incessantly, but she still ignored it.

"A tech company?" He laughed. "And where are you going to get the startup money for such a venture? I was wrong about you. You're not an adult. You're just as immature as any college student."

"Dad!" Penny looked horrified.

Did her father not usually make rude, snap judgements about strangers? Just me then? Great.

"He's probably here to ask us for money," her dad huffed.

What the actual fuck? I didn’t need their money. I didn’t need anything from them. I came here out of respect for their daughter. But I could only take so much. "I have the necessary funds to start the company," I said through gritted teeth.

The house phone started ringing. When no one answered, it automatically switched onto the voicemail recorder.

"Hi, I'm trying to reach Penny Taylor or the parents of Penny Taylor. This is Ellen Fitzgerald with..."

Penny stood up so fast, her chair almost toppled over behind her.

I grabbed her arm. "Penny, don't. It could be the media."

"It's not." She looked like she wanted to throw up. She went to grab the phone, but her dad beat her to it.

"Hello, Ellen. This is Penny's father speaking."

"Who is it?" I whispered to Penny.

"She works for the First State scholarship committee."

Oh shit. There was only one reason for her to be calling. Penny was going to lose her scholarship. I knew she’d been worried about that. Her dad was already upset. This was going to make it so much worse.

"Allegations?" her father asked.

This was really fucking bad.

"There are no allegations..." he went silent and looked over at Penny in me. "The Delaware Post? I don't even know what you're referring to."

Silence.

"Penny has successfully maintained the 3.5 average."

Silence.

"I don't see how this is a behavioral issue. Her professor clearly..."

Silence.

"Ellen, I really don't see why..."

Silence

"How dare you insult my daughter?!"

Silence.

"You'll be hearing from my lawyer." He slammed down the phone. His face was visibly red.

"Peter?" Penny’s mom said. "Peter, take a deep breath."

Instead of acknowledging her, he turned toward me. "Get out of my house!" he yelled.

I quickly stood up. "Mr. Taylor, I don't know what you just heard on the phone, but..."

"There's an article in the Delaware Post about this mess? Why didn't you two start with that?!"

Fair point. I probably would have remembered to mention it if he hadn’t been throwing insults at me though.

"Dad, what did Mrs. Fitzgerald say?" Penny asked. Even though it seemed pretty obvious.

"She said you lost your scholarship because you're sleeping with your professor." He pointed at me. "Didn't you think about that, Penny? Did either of you think of any of the consequences?!"

"I can get a job, Dad. I can pay the difference. I'll figure it out. Please just calm down."

"You know how we feel about you working during school. It's out of the question. You need to focus on your grades. Something that you've clearly put on the back burner recently."

Penny looked like she was about to cry. And I really hated when she cried.

"Mr. Taylor, the scholarship isn't an issue," I said. "I can pay the difference. I'd like to pay the difference."

"So you're going to start a thriving tech company and pay for my daughter's education? Do you have the necessary funds for all that? What, do you have a wealthy family to fall back on?”

It felt like he’d slapped me. My whole life people had assumed I was handed everything.

They had no fucking idea how hard I worked.

I didn’t take a cent from my parents. I didn’t even want to ever fucking see my parents again.

And I didn’t need to be reminded of a past that Penny’s father knew nothing about.

I pictured standing in the kitchen of my childhood home, asking my mother if I could play football with Matt and Mason.

How unkind she’d been. How judgmental. This conversation today wasn’t the first time I’d been made to feel like I was nothing.

Like I had no future. Like I was the scum of the earth.

Like I couldn’t have what I wanted. But I was no longer a kid wanting my mom’s approval.

I got what I fucking wanted now. And I wanted Penny.

Penny’s dad glared at me. “Are you just some rich, entitled kid that never grew up? That goes around screwing students because you think there are never any consequences? Well, we don't want your money. We don't want anything from you. Haven't you done enough?! Get the hell out of my house!"

"Dad!" Penny stood up beside me. She looked truly horrified by her father’s words.

I knew being defensive was the wrong move. But something inside of me snapped. It wasn’t just Mr. Taylor’s words to me. It was how they were affecting Penny. I hated seeing her upset. Penny was the love of my life and I was the one taking care of her now. Not him.

"Mr. Taylor, you don't know anything about me.

And it does not appear that you want to.

Yes, I was your daughter's professor. Yes, I got divorced yesterday.

Yes, I am not ready to get married today or tomorrow.

But I have every intention of marrying your daughter.

And I will provide for her. I want to provide for her.

You don't have anything to worry about. Her future is secure. That is all you need to know."

Every word out of my mouth made Mr. Taylor’s face even redder.

I was done with this conversation. I needed to get out of this house. But it wasn’t as simple as that. Because Penny had to come with me. And I didn’t know if she would walk away from her parents.

"How could it possibly be secure?" her dad pressed. "You just ruined her education. And you ruined your own career. This is a scandal. No one's ever going to want to hire you or her."

For Christ’s sake. "I don't need anyone to hire me. I told you, I'm starting my own company."

"You have no tech background. You're a communications professor."

"Working at the University of New Castle was not my career. I wanted to give back. It was never a permanent situation. I just needed a break. I needed to start over. I was doing a good thing there."

"A good thing?" her dad scoffed.