HOW TO LOSE YOUR SPONSOR

Rachel's POV

"Can you hear yourself, Pamela? He wants to be there for his daughter now. Why didn't you ask him to sponsor the wedding then? He never paid her school fees, he never gave her anything for her birthdays, nothing; now he wants to be her dad for a wedding I virtually sponsored. I have been watching you all through this wedding, treating me like I'm the donkey to carry all his responsibilities. For goodness sake, even the guests I requested on the list were reduced from twenty to three for a wedding I'm virtually paying for. Are you fucking kidding me?!" He yelled in anger.

"Please stop yelling! All you think about is your money! Francis is just trying to be there for his girl; why can't you understand that?!"

"I've never asked for anything but to walk Rachel to the altar, and that's difficult for you to give me. What has Francis ever given you except your wonderful daughter I virtually raised for him? How dare you tell me I only think about the money? I never saw you complain while enjoying the comfort the money gave you in our fourteen years together. I know you bought the fucking suit Francis is wearing to that wedding with my money too. If not for my money, you wouldn't invite over a hundred guests and give me only three slots. And I thought we agreed you were going to stop seeing Francis. You know what? I've had it with you." He pointed out as he started walking towards the door.

"Well, the fact still remains that he's her real dad even though he's not wealthy," My mom responded.

"In that case, let the real dad pay for the rest of the wedding. I'm not giving even a cent to this wedding anymore." He said as he stepped out of the room. My mom and I ran after him as he rushed into his car and drove off.

"Come back here! You can't do that!" My mom yelled as he drove off, ignoring her as she sobbed.

We watched silently as my stepdad's tail lights disappeared down the driveway. I had never seen him so angry. For a patient person, my stepdad went from zero to a hundred faster than any wolf I knew.

I didn't blame him at all for his reaction, my mom had been a real bitch to him for a while now, and I knew it was just a matter of time for this to happen. I held her and guided her back into the house as she continued to sob.

My mom was a stubborn woman, and she never owed anyone apologies. Her sobs didn't fool me. I believe she was sobbing because she knew when my stepdad said he was not sponsoring the wedding anymore, he would definitely go through with his statement. He was never the one to back down when he made hard decisions like this. Her tears were likely prompted by the realisation that finding a replacement sponsor for our extravagant wedding would be nearly impossible.

When we got back into the room, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and chuckled when I noticed I ran out with my wedding dress. I found myself replaying my actions in my mind, recalling my stepdad's joke about the runaway bride. A smile crossed my face as I reminisced, but my mom noticed, and her mood shifted to one of discontent.

"Oh, you think this is funny. I wouldn't be surprised if you planned this with him". My mom accused me.

"Oh yes, I orchestrated the whole situation with him. I had you as my puppet, then tied strings to control you and your decisions, making you do something as stupid as buying your ex-husband a suite with your husband's money. Oh, I also controlled you to make awful decisions on your guest list by giving your ex-husband more priority in a wedding being bankrolled by your husband, even if your ex-husband, who, by the way, is my father, has been a ghost all my life and didn't make any contribution to my wedding. You are so right. I'll cut my strings now," I said, mimicking the act of cutting strings with a gesture.

"Don't disrespect me, child," She snapped. "Everything I've done has been for you, so stop smart-mouthing me. Do you know what I've gone through for you?"

"Yes, Mom, but I bet you'll remind me all the same," I replied, and like clockwork, she started her long heroic stories of what she had done for me. `I rolled my eyes and put my face in my palms as she spoke. She was always unbearable. I felt like tearing my ears out so I wouldn't hear her nagging any more. With her marriage in danger, I wondered how she would make such a stupid mistake as to get my Francis involved in this wedding. She must have a lot of confidence in this forced marriage.

I could call Dad to intervene, but I didn't want to because the situation favoured me. Custom dictated that the bride's family pay for the wedding, even if the groom's family was wealthy. If my stepdad refused to pay, the budget would plummet, causing embarrassment for our esteemed pack. He didn't care about appearances, but my mom thrived on the admiration of her pretentious wealthy friends. If this wedding didn't meet her high standards, she might just have a heart attack.

She picked up my phone and started to call my stepdad, but he didn't respond. This worried my mother more. She was now in panic mode, intensifying her worry, and I was not too fond of her being that way. Despite her infuriating behaviour, I loved her dearly.

The only person I could talk to was Jeremy, but I knew that was a bad idea. Jeremy and I were not friends in any way, and he would use any misfortune I had to drag me in the dirt. He wasn't good for my self-esteem, and I wasn't in the mood for his shit. I took a deep breath, called him, and asked if he had seen his dad.

"I don't know", he replied. "He just walked in, packed some things and flew off in his helicopter. At first, I thought he had a serious meeting somewhere else. Still, he seemed really upset about something but refused to say anything to me. The only thing he said was, I'll see you soon. What did mother do to him?" Jeremy asked, knowing only my mother could upset him this way.

I recounted the confrontation between Mom and my stepdad, and Jeremy became worried.

"This is bad," he said. "Dad never backs down once he makes a decision like that. There are outstanding payments; what do we do now?" He asked.

"I don't know; I was hoping you could talk to him," I replied, and he was quiet for a few seconds.

"What do you mean? What do you want me to do, sister? All your mother knows about is gold-digging, but apparently, keeping a man is not her strength. I hope she doesn't ruin this for me because the sooner you are out of our lives, the faster she'll follow because, apparently, the only reason she is still with my father is because of you." Jeremy said with venom in his speech.

"You better talk to Dad; he would normally listen to you even before me. Hopefully, that'll change after you are married to James." He continued and dropped the phone abruptly after that.