His Unveiled Passion

That night, Tessa returned to the Yates residence after being buried in work the whole day. Marianne came out to greet her after she parked her car.

She had a troubled look on her face as she pulled Tessa to the side and whispered, "Tessa, your father found out about you getting back together with Stephen. He's stewing in anger in the living room at the moment.

"If you don't want to deal with him now, you should go home for today. Come back a few days later after his anger has subsided."

Tessa's heart dropped to her gut. She didn't expect Samuel to find out so quickly. Her eyes lowered as she mulled over her thoughts for a moment. She said, "It's alright, Ms. Connors. I'll go in and face him. This is something that I'll have to deal with sooner or later. I can't keep running forever."

Marianne sighed. "Alright, then. Have a good talk with your father. He loves you a lot. If you explain the situation properly to him, I'm sure he'll come around and support your decision."

"I understand. Thank you, Ms. Connors."

Tessa sucked in a deep breath before she headed into the villa. She made her way up to the first floor, to the hall where she knew she would find Samuel. As Marianne said, Samuel was sitting on the couch with a hardened expression.

"Dad," Tessa called as she entered.

Samuel shot a cold look at her. His tone was unkind when he said, "So, you still acknowledge me as your father, do you?"

"Of course," Tessa replied, keeping her expression neutral. "Why wouldn't I?"

She walked over to the armchair and sank into it.

"When did you get back together with Stephen? Why didn't you tell me?" he asked icily.

Tessa calmly took a sip of her tea before she answered, "Well, I was planning to tell you today. That's why I'm here."

Samuel scoffed. "Would you have told me if I didn't ask?"

"I can't tell you anything if you never ask in the first place," Tessa shot back with a smile.

"Stop playing your word games with me." Samuel glared at Tessa. He sounded indignant when he exclaimed, "As your father, why did I have to find out that you're currently in a relationship from someone else?"

Tessa wasn't going to take the bait. "But isn't that always the case? There are so many people and sets of eyes in the outside world. It's not like I can tell all of them to stop looking at what I'm doing, isn't that right?"

Samuel exhaled sharply, looking extremely displeased. "You're trying to anger me on purpose!"

"Of course not," Tessa replied, grinning from ear to ear. "Why would I intentionally anger you? I just hadn't thought of the best way to tell you yet."

Beyond furious, Samuel spat out, "Break up with him!"

Tessa immediately sobered up. "No," she said coldly.

Samuel was so infuriated by her response that he leaped to his feet. His voice had risen several pitches when he said, "Haven't the Jacobsons wronged you and our family enough? You nearly died, but the only thing you care about in that head of yours is romance!"

"Jason and Jacqueline were the ones who wronged me in the past. They're no longer a threat now that the law has dealt with them accordingly," Tessa explained. Why can't get back together with Stephen? You shouldn't blame him for Jason's and Jacqueline's wrongdoings!"

"If I can't blame Stephen, I can at least blame the Jacobson family, can't I? I will never agree to becoming in-laws with them!"

"If Stephen hadn't protected me from Susan's knife attack during the engagement party, I would have been dead a long time ago."

Samuel's rage seemed to burn even more upon hearing her words. "If it wasn't for him, Susan wouldn't have tried to stab you in the first place!"

"That has nothing to do with him," Tessa countered. "He can't control another person's thoughts or actions. Susan loved him but could not have him, so she decided to take her frustrations out on me. How is that his fault?"

Samuel's expression remained frigid. "I don't want to hear that sort of nonsense from you. The bottom line is you can't be with him. You can date anyone else but him."

Tessa's lips twitched before a sneer stretched across her lips. "I don't want anyone else but him."noveldrama

"There are so many good men in the world!" Samuel yelled angrily. "Would you die if you didn't have him? Why must it be him of all people?"

"I've already found the one I love," Tessa replied. "There's no space in my heart for anyone else."

"Once enough time has passed, you'll be able to forget all about him. There's no person in the world who can't be forgotten with the passage of time."

Tessa didn't respond to his last statement. She only stared unblinkingly at him, a forlorn look in her eyes.

Samuel belatedly realized what he had said. His expression twisted as he also fell quiet.

A dead silence blanketed the living room. A few moments later, Tessa murmured, "Just like how you forgot Mom, right?"