Chapter 218

Tessa’s POV

My mouth fell open upon seeing Joseph.

I had no idea he was going to be here today, and I wasn’t quite sure if he knew I was going to be here either. We hadn’t really spoken in the last couple of days and when he returned, we didn’t talk much.

He certainly seemed surprised to see us; all of us.

His eyes remained on my father’ and I could feel my father’s rising anger as he glared at Joseph.

“Why the hell are you here?” My father asked again, his face red with fury.

“Dad, he goes to this school,” I said quickly, not wanting him to know that Joseph was actually a professor at this school.

Not just any professor though; my professor.

He would be furious if he knew that information.

“Rick, it’s how they met. Remember?” Penny said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to calm down.

“I don’t want him anywhere near my daughter,” my father seethed.

Joseph raised his hands in front of him like he was surrendering.

“I don’t want any issues with you and your family,” Joseph said, keeping his eyes on my father’s. “I’m only here to get some last-minute things done before graduation tomorrow.”

“Haven’t you done enough to destroy my family? Why do you have to be here too?” My father asked, shocking me.

“He’s just passing through, Dad,” I tried to tell him.

“Are you still seeing this monster, Tessa?” My father asked, turning his glaring eyes in my direction.

“What?” I asked breathlessly.

I couldn’t deny the fact that I was hopelessly in love with Joseph. Even if I were to lie to my father, he’d be able to see it all over my face. He saw it before I even answered because his eyes instantly narrowed, and his lips curled upward in disgust.

He whipped his gaze back at Joseph and before I knew what was happening, my father was lunging at him.

“You son of a bitch!” My father growled. “Haven’t you taken enough from me?! You can’t have my daughter too!”

Joseph’s eyes widened as my father attacked him.

I gasped, covering my mouth to keep myself from screaming too loudly as my father threw a punch at Joseph.

Joseph was able to block each attack with ease and he made no effort to attack back. I knew if Joseph tried to attack my father, he would hurt him. Joseph was way too strong for his own good.

“I’m going to get campus security,” Ruby said, taking off down the hallway before I could stop her.

“Rick, stop this,” Penny cried frantically.

I couldn’t just stand by and watch my father attack my boyfriend, I had to do something. It was probably not in my best interest, but I wasn’t really thinking clearly.

I ran toward them, my eyes fixated on Joseph and Joseph alone. My only thought was getting to him and protecting him from the wrath of my father. Joseph continued to dodge each attack with ease, and I yelled for my father to stop and to leave Joseph alone. I threw my body in front of Joseph’s and my father’s movement was so fast, I could hardly grasp what was happening until his fist was only inches from my face.

I felt the breeze of his knuckles across my chin and then it halted when Joseph caught the fist in his hand before it actually hurt me. I was nearly knocked to the ground by the impact and my father whimpered as Joseph’s hand crushed his fist.

“Tessa! Oh my god,” Penny said, falling to the floor beside me. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” I said, rubbing the part of my chin that my father’s fist grazed before Joseph stopped it. “It could have been a lot worse.”

My father screamed in pain.

“You can attack me all you want and I will let you. But the second you come even an inch to hurting Tessa, that’s when I’ll attack back,” Joseph said through his teeth as he watched my father crumble to the ground in pain.

I knew his hand was most likely sprained if not broken.

My father’s eyes flickered to me, and recognition flashed through them. Joseph released his crushed hand and my father flopped to the ground in agony.

Penny sobbed as she ran to comfort her husband, wrapping her arms around his body and whispering to him that it was going to be okay.

“If you had struck her, I would have killed you without hesitation,” Joseph said without any remorse in his tone.

I heard the shuffling of feet in the distance and when I looked in that direction, I saw Ruby returning with one of the campus security officers.

“What’s going on here?” He asked, staring at the scene in front of him.

I scrambled to my feet and ran to Joseph, throwing my arms around him and burying my face in his chest. I didn’t realize how badly I was trembling until Joseph’s arms wrapped around me.

“He needs to get his hand looked at,” Joseph said, motioning with his head to my father.

The security officer looked at my father.

“Is there an issue here?” He asked.

“I think his hand is broken,” Penny cried. “Please help him.”

The security officer nodded and grabbed his walkie-talkie, asking someone on the other end to call for an ambulance.

The security officer went to help my father stand to his feet.

I looked over at my father with tears in my eyes, fury was filling me. I can’t believe how close he came to actually hitting me. I can’t believe how badly he lost his mind.

I knew now that I couldn’t trust my father. This gut intuition that’s been sitting in my stomach was right; I needed to be wary and now I understood why. I couldn’t trust him; at least not now.

Maybe not ever.

Before the officer could walk with my father away from us, I broke my embrace with Joseph and stepped toward them.

“I don’t want you near my graduation, Dad,” I said through my teeth, trying to keep myself under control.

Penny lifted her tear-filled eyes at me.

“Tessa—” She began to say, but I held my hand up, silencing her instantly.

“No,” I said firmly. “I want you both gone. Don’t bother coming tomorrow.”

On that note, I grabbed Joseph’s hand and pulled him away, not wanting to spare my father another look.

By the time we got outside, Joseph stopped me from walking any further, we stayed in the shaded area, and he wrapped me in his arms. I felt a blanket of warmth and comfort surrounding me as I buried my face in his broad chest.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose my cool in there,” Joseph said, shaking his head. “But when I saw that you were in the striking zone, something inside of me snapped. I couldn’t believe he would almost hurt you, even if it was intended for me.”

I shook my head, tears falling freely from my eyes.

“My father had lost his mind,” I whispered. “He’s never acted like that before. I don’t know what has gotten into him.”

He held me even tighter and buried his face in my hair, feathering small kisses around the top of my head.

“It’s because he dislikes me. He thinks I’m responsible for the death of his wife… your mother,” he breathed. “I might not remember what happened, but I can’t fathom the thought that I would kill someone innocent for my own gain.”

I looked up at him and he used his thumbs to wipe the tears off my cheeks.

“I’m sorry you were put through that,” he whispered, kissing my forehead.

“I’m sorry he attacked you,” I whispered in return. “What are you even doing here?”

He looked surprised by my question.

“I was telling the truth; I had a few things to do to prepare for graduation tomorrow,” he answered. “What are you doing here? I wasn’t really expecting anyone here.”

“I’m helping the committee prepare for graduation,” I explained. “But I don’t think I can face my father right now. Can we just go back to your house?”

He nodded.

“Of course,” he said, entwining my fingers through his. “I just have to grab my cloak and laptop from my office.”

I nodded and I reluctantly went with him back into the school where Ruby was rushing toward me.

“Tessa, are you okay? That was intense,” she said, wrapping her arms around me.

“I’m fine,” I murmured. “Thanks for getting the security officer.”

“Of course,” she breathed. “I was worried it was going to get bad. I think they are waiting for the ambulance. Your father is arguing that he doesn’t need one, but Penny begs to differ. His hand is definitely broken.” Her eyes flashed to Joseph. “You are really strong.”

He shrugged casually.

“Practice,” he told her.

“I’m going to see if they need anything in the auditorium. But I understand if you want to just leave,” Ruby said and I nodded, hugging her again.

“I’m not sure when my father and Penny will be out of the hospital, but can you give them the spare key so they can get back into my apartment if they return before me? I’m spending the night at Joseph.”

“Yeah, of course,” she said. “I’ll run to catch up with them before they leave. Call me later!”

She took off without another word.

I went with Joseph across the school and up the stairs until we reached his office. I waited while he grabbed a few things, including his laptop and a cloak. He sighed as he looked around the office; I was much emptier than it had been last week, and my heart squeezed in my chest.

This was why he was here; he was cleaning out his office because he wasn’t returning here. I already knew that this was his last semester, and I was graduating tomorrow anyway so it did really matter, but seeing his office as empty as it was, made it all so real and I suddenly felt sad.

“You okay?” He asked curiously from across the room.

I blinked a few times, trying to snap myself out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, sorry,” I murmured. “Just lost in thought I guess.”

He frowned and strolled over to me, wrapping me in his arms.

“Because of your dad? Or because of me?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and decided to just be honest with him.

“I guess both,” I admitted.

His brows furrowed together, and I saw the worry in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, dropping his voice to a whisper.

“I guess watching you pack like this is making me a little worried about our future,” I told him softly. “When you move back to the mountains, will I move with you? Or is this going to be it?”