Entitled Brat
Chapter 59
Tandy’s POV
+8 Point
I watched Valerie leave the house shortly after Holden. I hope she does what she said she
would and apologizes to Addison. We don’t need the already stressed situation to get worse. I
was feeling a tremendous amount of guilt at the moment. We have always protected Valerie,
but she has disappointed us in recent years. Garrett was right. We had created an entitled
brat.
I know that Russell had gone up to smooth things over. But Garrett refused to speak to him or
- me. I didn’t want him to go. I loved my son, and I wanted to take care of him. I have the habit
of still defending Valerie. She now expects it, as we did it too often. Garrett called me out on
my double standard, and it hurt because he was right. I don’t know how to fix it. I felt my eyes
burn with tears as I watched my two youngest speaking to Addison and Phillip. From all
appearances, Addison was glad to see Holden. She was not pleased to see Valerie.
“Don’t cry, Tandy, we can fix this. Garrett was right. We babied Valerie. We need to talk to her
when she returns. She was the one in the wrong here. She needs to apologize to Garrett, too.
We should warn her not to go out unless she is with us or her brothers. Tammy is still out
there. She is getting to the end of her list. Her attacking Garrett was sending a message to us.
She could have dealt with us first, but she has probably figured out how to get at us. She took
Garrett out and will be coming for us soon. We need to have a family meeting to be prepared
for it,” Russell told me.
He held me against his chest as I cried. “I was just trying to protect our little girl, Russell. I don’t like the person she’s become either. She is waiting to get her trust, and I know she will
waste it. She isn’t grounded like the boys. This isn’t what I wanted for her. I heard her on her
phone last night when she came home. She wants to become a trophy wife. All those years
spent in college, but she has no real ambition. You’re right. We should have punished her. We
should have grounded her for the whole summer after discovering what she did. That is on
me, as I protected her for too long. It shouldn’t be too late. I am going to speak to her privately.
She has to realize that she needs to have goals beyond marrying a wealthy man. I know
Garrett and Holden will be fine, but I’m worried about her,” I admitted.
“Valerie is spoiled, but she can make changes. Speaking to her and pointing out where she
needs to change her life is a good idea. Tammy is very manipulative. She tricked Valerie into
agreeing with her lie and fooled Garrett as well. I wish I’d never let Tammy into our home.
Addison is a thousand times better than Tammy. I’m still hoping Garrett can get Addison to
1/4
+8 Points
Entitled Brat
fall back in love with him. I want her to be our daughter–in–law. I want more access to our grandson and watch as their family grows. I just hope that Garrett hasn’t done too much damage. I don’t know if he can overcome the mess he put himself in,” Russell replied.
He gently rubbed my back as I calmed back down. “We need to find Garrett as soon as possible, Russell. He’s furious, and it’s my fault. I pushed him too far. He needs to stay here until he can take care of himself. See if you can get him to agree to dinner with us. I caused the problem by blaming it all on him. I will fix it today. I’d been angry with him for so long. I guess once the dam broke, it all came out. I’m still scared of being cut out of Corbin’s life. It would break my heart,” I told Russell.
It would hurt us both not to be able to see Corbin as much as we have. I was hoping that with Addison next door, he could come over to get to know the whole family. Garrett would get to see him, and he could meet his aunt and uncle as well. I still had hope that Garrett could win her over again. She’s a good person, and I’ve loved her from the moment she was born.
Russell knew why I was worried, as Alexandra was furious. This wasn’t over by a long shot. Russell pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and turned to call Garrett. “Tell him that I will apologize to him. That I’m sorry. I was just upset. I am worried that Alexandra might try to keep Corbin away from us. I took it out on him.” I called after him.
Russell nodded in acknowledgment before heading out to speak privately. I went too far last night, and it’s blown up in my face. We messed up. When I agreed to Alexandra’s rules, I wanted to be in my grandson’s life so much. I would have agreed to anything to be a part of his life.
The front door opened quickly and then slammed shut. “Why are you slamming doors, Valerie? You need to have more respect for our home than that,” I told her. Since we are alone, it’s an excellent time to speak to her now. Her behavior can’t continue, especially if Garrett is willing to return home. She started going off before I could even ask her to sit down.
“Addison thinks she’s so f*****g great. She’s an overweight, single mom. What’s so great about her? I have no idea how she got such a hot fiancé. She was so rude to me, Mom. She threw my apology right back in my face. She was lucky I even apologized to her in the first place. Her boyfriend was rude to me, too. I didn’t do anything wrong. I supported a friend. That’s what a good friend does. Garrett should have asked Addison what happened instead of just shunning her. That’s on him, not me. You see what I’m saying, Mom, right?” Valerie asked me. Her chest was heaving in anger, and she looked furious.
I stepped back and glanced over to look at Addison’s porch. She and Phillip were still there and speaking to Holden. Holden looked embarrassed, and my anger exploded.
49 Point
Entitled Brat
“Did you apologize to Addison like you meant it, Valerie? Or, like you are right now, with a horrible attitude. Garret was right. You caused this whole mess. Your father and I are to blame, too. I ensured you were safe and protected when you went to school. Who would bully you with two brothers to protect you? I was wrong in allowing this to go as far as I did. You need to stop with the attitude. You need to pray we can get Garrett to come back home. If he does, you better keep your mouth shut around him. You do that until you realize you owe him and Addison a real apology. You get me?” I snapped at her. My blood pressure is sky–high now
because of her.
“Why do I have to apologize again? I already did it. I might tell Garrett that I’m sorry, but not
Addison. She is a rolling b***h, and acting all smug because her broke–ass boyfriend is hot. So
what? I’m dating attractive guys, too. I am about to interview for a position at Ana and Alex in
just two weeks. They have two sales positions available. I need to get my foot in the door. I
plan to mention my degree in design during the interview. I’m a shoo–in for getting one of
them. My brother is an NFL player, so I am accustomed to being around athletes. Once I get
the job, I can find someone worthy of me,” Valerie announced proudly.
It hits me just how much I screwed up in raising her by hearing her comments. She was so
happy with her plan. I’d wanted her to stand on her own two feet. To build something that she
could be proud of. Like how Russell and I built his company from the ground up. At the start, I
did all the office work and helped him get the orders out to ship. He was the face of the
company, and he handled everything else. We are even prouder of what we accomplished as
we did it ourselves. It helped that he had former teammates willing to share our athletic wear
on their social media. The business took off and was still growing.
I just wanted to love and protect my daughter. I tried to drill the importance of finding a career she would love. I supported her getting a degree in design. We watched as Addison did very well for herself as a designer. I was not going to mention who Addison was to Valerie. There’s no sense in causing trouble earlier than necessary. I was sure this was not going to end well
for her. We had not seen her since winter break. I could barely recognize the woman standing
before me now as my daughter.
She would not be getting the opportunity she wanted. She really thought that she was just going to be handed a dream job without having the work experience to get it. She was willing to ride Garrett’s coattails to get what she wanted. I am almost speechless with
disappointment.
“I’m going to go up and call Summer and see if she wants to go out to the club tonight,” Valerie said before she turned and headed upstairs. I sat on the nearest chair, upset by what Valerie told me. Had I turned her into an entitled brat? It was apparent to me now that I had. Valerie has disappointed me. I heard the door open again, and Holden slipped into the house.
3/4
+8 Point
Entitled Brat
“Holden, did Valerie come over and cause an issue between Addison and our family? I told her she needed to apologize sincerely to Addison,” I asked. I already suspected the answer, but I needed to know.
“Um, Mom, did Valerie tell you what Addison said?” Holden asked in surprise.
“No, she just said that Addison refused to accept her apology. I am pretty sure she went over
there and made things even worse,” I replied with a frown. It seemed like whatever Valerie did,
in Holden’s opinion, would be an issue.
Holden hesitated momentarily before saying, “Valerie was rude and abrasive. She insulted
Addison and her fiancé. Addison told me to tell you and Dad that she had been considering
letting Corbin spend the night over here. She wanted her son to get to know us better, but she
didn’t want Valerie to be around him. She was serious, Mom, and mentioned Valerie bullying
her. Valerie was rude and even hit on Addison’s fiancé right in front of her. It was so
embarrassing. She apologized, but I could tell that she didn’t mean it. Then she started an
argument, acting like she was the victim.”
I was glad I was sitting because I would have fallen if I had been standing. How could Valerie
go over there and do that? I told her we needed to stay on Addison’s good side before she
went over. She isn’t going anywhere tonight. She is staying home, and we are hashing this out.
I will not allow her to cause problems with Addison again. I won’t let Valerie ruin Garrett’s relationship with Corbin. It’s well past time she got an actual dose of how the world really.is.
