Considering how upset she’d been when she left and how protective they’d seen Ethan be over her well-being, both brothers gave in to her demands. They also apologized and admitted they were wrong. She took the win. It wasn’t often her siblings groveled.

The rest of the family? Well, Olivia apologized at work. Ian grumbled his I might have been a bit over protective, and everyone else admitted they were wrong. They’d taken their cues from Ian and were sorry.

With that behind her, she turned her focus to finishing up the stadium project, and on Saturday, she’d called Avery to discuss picking up their charity work again. Avery suggested they go over to the Meridian Hotel, owned by Robert Dare, to talk. Since her father had been scarce, Sienna wasn’t worried about running into him.

But luck wasn’t on her side. She had just pulled up in her car and climbed out when she caught sight of her father.

“Sienna!” He called her name and walked over. Wearing his usual suit and tie, his salt-and-pepper hair styled perfectly, he looked like the man who’d raised her. Unfortunately she’d come to discover the father she adored was a duplicitous human being.

“Hi.”

He grasped her shoulders and looked her over. “I heard the news.”

“And yet I haven’t heard from you.”

He glanced everywhere but at her. “I’ve been busy.”

She narrowed her gaze. “That seems to be a pattern for you. Get busy with one family, forget about the one you left behind. I understand you’ve moved on again. Best of luck.” She turned and walked away, leaving him stunned and speechless behind her.

Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she headed inside, hearing him call her name, but she ignored it, realizing for the first time how her half siblings really must have felt over the years. Betrayed, hurt, devastated… It was a wonder they’d all managed to forge relationships with each other at all. Certainly, it was no thanks to their father.

She rushed into the hotel, wishing she and her sister had decided to meet anywhere else, and caught sight of Avery at a table outside on the patio.

She walked through the restaurant and joined her half sister, who looked up from her phone. “Oh, hi!”

“Hi.” She slid into a chair and let out a breath. “I just ran into Dad.” She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t cope. And now that I experienced everything you once did firsthand, I feel even worse.”

Avery smiled sadly. “Listen, he’s our father. That doesn’t mean we have to have anything to do with him, but I think it’s a decision each of us needs to make on our own.”

“Well, I pretty much just told him to have a nice life.”

“If you weren’t pregnant, I’d say let’s drink to that,” Avery muttered. “Instead, let’s change the subject. What did you want to talk about?”

“Charity. Doing another cancer-related event like we did around prom time.”