Daddy Issues

The following chapter is written in 3rd Person POV, following Becca.

“Cassie? What are you doing here?” Becca asks in confusion, as Sylvie opens the front door.

“Oh!” Sylvie reacts with amusement, laughing proudly, and telling Becca she’s flattered to still be confused for her daughter at her age.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You must be Sylvie, Cassie’s mother.” Becca corrects herself. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Becca greets her properly. Sylvie gestures to her to come inside, before leading her to the living room where her father and Cassie are waiting.

“Good evening, Cassie.” Becca greets Cassie, who is sitting on the sofa with her arms and legs crossed, and has her brows furrowed; looking like she’s thinking a million thoughts a minute.

“Becca!” Cassie shouts upon seeing Becca, standing up from the sofa to give Becca a warm hug; taking Becca by surprise at first, before she finally returns it.

“It’s nice to see you again too, Cassie.” Becca tells her genuinely, but it makes Cassie realize how she and Becca aren’t exactly close, and proceeds to break away from her.

“Oh! Sorry! I don’t know why I did that. It just seemed… right?” Cassie tries to explain, obviously embarrassed at her actions.

“It was.” Becca assures her, looking at her eyes for the first time. “Have you been crying?” Becca then asks Cassie, noticing her eyes are somewhat still red from her earlier interaction with Mr. Hoffman.

“Oh! It’s nothing. I’m fine now.” Cassie tries to dismiss Becca’s concern.

“Did my father do this to you?” Becca asks Cassie, not letting the topic go.

“It doesn’t matter, Becca. He told me what he was up to yesterday. Are you alright?” Cassie asks Becca.

“I’ll be fine, Cassie. Don’t worry about me.” Becca assures her.

“Are you sure about that, child?” Mr. Hoffman asks smugly from the La-Z-Boy.

“It’s called an illegal dismissal, father. I committed no such acts that would merit my firing from our company. That is, if you decide to push through with this nonsense.” Becca responds analytically.

“My company, dear. Never forget that.” Mr. Hoffman corrects her. “Also, you speak as if it’s not yet final. As of this afternoon, your position on the Board has been vacated by a unanimous vote; and effective tomorrow, you are removed from your post as COO of Hoffman Hotels and Restaurants. What more do you need to accept that, dear?” Mr. Hoffman condescendingly asks. “You think a suit for illegal dismissal is going to make me change my mind?” Mr. Hoffman just laughs at the thought.

“I know it’s your company, father. That’s why I know this course of action is not yet final. I assume the Board just followed your directive to remove me from it in that emergency meeting, and even your decision for immediate dismissal that breaks the 30 day notice in my contract can be overturned if you say so. Hence, it’s still up in the air until you and I negotiate. Otherwise, our dirty laundry becomes public… and you know that. So don’t insult me by laughing at my mention of a suit, because you and I both know that’s not what you concern yourself with. You’re more concerned that the world will know the image of the Hoffman family dynasty you’re building isn’t as pristine as you want them to believe… and that’s why you and I are both here.” Becca breaks it down, and her father shifts his hands from having his fingers interlocked and resting on his stomach to where his finger tips are touching each other like a steeple.

“So let’s not prolong this any further. What are your terms?” Becca asks him bluntly.

“There are no terms this time, Becca. You’ve made your bed, and now you have to sleep in it.” Mr. Hoffman answers her.

“How exactly did she make her bed? You’re doing this out of spite and you know it!” Cassie shouts at him accusingly, before Sylvie steps in again to try and hold Cassie back, telling her that this isn’t her fight to interfere with.

“Yah-weh nā-ṯan, Yah-weh lā-qāḥ.” Mr. Hoffman smugly quotes the Torah, cementing to Becca that all her hard work trying to prove herself in her position in the company was not seen by her father as earning her stripes, but a gift she was given just because of their relation. Becca clenches her fist in anger at herself, for being so naive all these years that it was anything different.

“So why am I here if not to negotiate?” Becca asks her father, cutting to the chase again. Mr. Hoffman just laughs in reaction.

“Is that it, Rebecca? No longer putting up a fight?” Mr. Hoffman asks.

“I’d ask you the same question, father. If you think losing my position in the company temporarily is something I’ll grovel over, then you are sorely mistaken.” Becca tells him defiantly.

…

“If you have nothing else to say, then I think we’re done here.” Becca announces, after Mr. Hoffman remains unresponsive to her earlier statement.

“You can’t be serious, Becca. You’re just going to allow him to take everything you’ve worked for?” Cassie asks her.

“Not everything. Like my father said, he’s only taking what he gave. Fortunately for me, I’m more than what he gave me.” Becca tells Cassie. “Speaking of, did you really think you could buy my partners to betray me? So that you could kick me out of the same businesses I helped start? How’s that strategy working out for you, father?” Becca smugly asks him.

“Aw~, don’t take that personal, Rebecca. It’s just business.” Mr. Hoffman replies, and Becca clenches her fists once more, her fury seething to the surface. “Besides, I’ve only just given them the initial friendly offer.” Mr. Hoffman adds menacingly, as Becca knows full well what that means. “Since they refused, well, you worked for me. You know what comes next.” Mr. Hoffman threatens her with a smirk.

“What’s he talking about Becca?” Cassie asks.

“He’s going to blackball my businesses. Going after suppliers, our clientele, etc. Basically, he’s going to make running the businesses miserable until his initial offer, that he’ll then lower just to insult you, becomes the only viable option.” Becca explains.

“Look at that. You did learn something from me.” Mr. Hoffman says with an evil chuckle.

“Wait, doesn’t that mean… Viv’s restaurant!” Cassie says in realization.

“It’s such a shame for such a wonderful establishment to suddenly lose its legs before it even officially opens.” Mr. Hoffman threatens.

“You promised you’d stop messing with our relationship!” Cassie shouts, accusing Mr. Hoffman of hypocrisy.

“Is that what I’m doing, dear? I’d have to disagree. Technically, Becca’s stubbornness will interfere with your relationship. Not me. All she has to do is sell her shares to the company and the entirety of her LLC to me, and Chef Nguyen will have nothing to worry about.” Mr. Hoffman explains to Cassie, who grabs Becca by the arm to grab her attention away from staring daggers into him, before getting closer to her so she can whisper into her ear.

“Becca, this isn’t just about you anymore. This involves Viv now too, which means it will eventually involve all of us all over again. We just need him to be supportive and maybe we don’t have to worry about this.” Cassie whispers to her, getting Becca to close her eyes to think.

…

“Would I be correct to assume I’ll just call a cab since Frank’s your mole? That would explain how you didn’t need to do anything, other than talk to him, to find out where Ms. Jones was hiding.” Becca asks her father, who is still remaining silent, but his smug smirk basically confirms Becca’s assumptions.

“What?” Cassie asks Becca in confusion, as Becca completely ignored her advice. “Also, I thought you trusted Frank!?” Cassie then asks, as it was Becca who suggested for Frank to be the one to watch over her mother.

“I did. I only realized it once I got here. I only told him to take me to my father, and he brought me here without question. It explains why my father’s first move was to come after me and not your mother, Cassie. He already knew of my involvement the moment I told Frank to look after your mother.” Becca explains, but still completely ignoring Cassie’s original argument.

“He did look after me. Frank’s a good guy, Cassie. He’s been really nice. He was just doing his job.” Sylvie says in defense of Frank, after seeing Cassie’s look of anger at Frank’s double agent status.

“Yes. Doing his job for my father, when he should have only been working for me.” Becca retorts at Sylvie’s sentiment.

“It’s paranoia inducing, isn’t it? Not knowing who to trust?” Mr. Hoffman asks Becca smugly.

“I won’t allow you to make me doubt the people I put my trust in any further, father.” Becca tells him adamantly. Despite her words though, her mind can’t help but race through the number of people that she has placed her faith in that may actually be in her father’s pockets, and it makes Becca clench her fists to prevent her from letting her mind go down that road.

…

“We’re done here.” Becca finally tells her father, before turning away towards the door, causing Cassie to shout after her and grab her once more to prevent her from walking away, but Becca refuses and continues to make her way out.

“Such a disappointment.” Mr. Hoffman says from the La-Z-Boy, clearly baiting Becca to fight back, just so that he can dish more punishment. Becca takes the bait though, and stops herself from walking out. She turns around to face her father once more.

“I’m only a disappointment because you box your perception of me to be one.” Becca tells her father. “A mistake you’ll regret father, because if you try and take everything from me just because I defied your wishes once, then I hope you realize I have no reason to hold back my response.” Becca adds threateningly.

“I can forgive miniscule disrespect, child; but I do not take kindly to my children choosing anyone over our family.” Mr. Hoffman replies.

“You mean choosing anyone over you.” Becca corrects him. “Ms. Jones not following your command. Cassie not immediately learning to ask ‘how high?’ when you tell her to jump. Then there’s me… colluding with them against your wishes. It must pain you to realize that you are not the center of our universe.” Becca adds. “So if you really cared about this family, father; I suggest you end this pettiness before I do something I don’t actually want to do.” Becca gives her final warning to her father.

“You’re bluffing.” Mr. Hoffman immediately scoffs at Becca’s threat.

“Tell me, father, how do you think this plays out when mother finds out about Cassie?” Becca asks her father, who immediately sits up from his reclined position. Becca only gives him a raised eyebrow as a response, signaling to him she’s willing to do exactly what she threatens; forcing her father to stand in front of her for the first time and talk to her as an equal.

“You would really destroy our family over this, Rebecca!?” Mr. Hoffman asks in a shout, unable to hold back his emotions like he normally could.

“Our family? OUR FAMILY!?” Becca matches her father’s emotions. “You don’t even care about our family! Don’t pretend that your concern is for anything other than your precious company and your bloated ego! That’s all you’ve ever cared about!” Becca shouts at him.

“I don’t think we should be here, Cassie.” Becca hears Sylvie tell Cassie, but Cassie stands firm and doesn’t allow her mother to move her from her spot.

“What happens when your mother finds out about me, Becca?” Cassie asks Becca, but her tone is one of calm and not one out of curiosity. Almost as if she asked just to allow Becca to verbalize her threat and have it hang over her father.

“Whereas, if either party to this agreement is found to have committed adultery, for the benefit of the aggrieved party in the proceedings for dissolution of marriage, the offending party’s declared separate property herein shall form part of the community property, and entitles the aggrieved party to half of the assets therein, as set forth in this prenuptial agreement.” Becca quotes the infidelity clause in her parents’ prenuptial agreement, to the obvious rage of her father, and to the returning confusion of Cassie. “In case both parties —” Becca tries to continue, but her father cuts her off.

“Enough!” Mr. Hoffman shouts.

“Should we pretend we understand what that means?” Becca hears Sylvie quietly ask Cassie in a whisper.

“To put it simply, if my parents get divorced, half of everything my father owns, including his shares in his company, that are solely in his name… stop… being… his… and become the property of my mother.” Becca explains for the benefit of Sylvie, who still has her mouth open in confusion. Meanwhile, her father seems to be contemplating **** with his eyes.

“Let’s face it father, the moment she gets those shares, what do you think she’ll do with them? Who do you think she’ll sell it to between you and me? Half of your shares, combined with hers, combined with mine? That would make me the majority shareholder, no? And if I’m out of the company… Well, I’ve been meaning to ask this anyway; would you be willing to teach me another business lesson, father? Can you please define ‘hostile takeover’ again for me, would you? I always had a problem learning those lessons.” Becca asks him with smug sarcasm.

“Becca, that sounds like…” Cassie starts to say, and Becca finishes it for her.

“Scorched Earth.”

Author’s cut joke for Cassie: “I was going to say *title of this chapter* but Scorched Earth works too.