Prodigal Daughter
Copyright© 2025 by DB86
Chapter 1
Elise Olson kept accepting drinks from the guy she was with until she felt emotionally numb. Alcohol was the only way she could cope with her life’s situation.
She was at a club, in a town close to Middletown, hoping her father would help her—a father who had disowned her after she’d mistreated and deeply hurt him.
Paul Olson had never forgiven Elise for choosing her mother’s new husband, Dr. Richard Cavanaugh, and all of the things he provided, over him after the divorce.
Her stepfather, a wealthy surgeon, had bought Elise’s affection with expensive gifts. As a teenager, Elise had been blinded by vacations to exotic destinations, designer clothes, fancy shoes, a brand-new car, exclusive clubs, and the glamorous lifestyle of the rich and famous.
In contrast, her visits with her father felt dull, unexciting, and boring. Eventually, she told him she didn’t want to see him anymore. Elise had started to believe her father was a loser—just like her mother claimed every chance she got.
The last time Elise saw her father, it hadn’t ended well. She had gone to Middletown to ask him to pretend they still had a relationship—just for her wedding. Unsurprisingly, he refused. Dr. Richard couldn’t walk her down the aisle because he had slept with her fiancé’s mother, which caused Scott’s parents to divorce.
Her marriage to Scott lasted only two years.
Scott didn’t lead the wealthy lifestyle she was used to, and all her efforts to ‘correct’ him failed. He was a good man, but not ambitious enough for her tastes. Her mother started whispering in her ear, telling her she’d settled for less and deserved better.
Scott wanted Elise to find a job, instead of maxing out credit cards on designer clothes and expensive jewelry or spending all her time at the club with shallow friends.
Eventually, Elise’s husband grew tired of trying to reason with her and canceled all her credit cards.
“The money train has derailed, Elise. I work all day just to fund your whims!” he yelled at her. “And when I come home, you haven’t even made dinner. Hell, some days you’re not even here—you’re out partying with your friends. From now on, if you want something, you’ll have to work and pay for it yourself.”
“How? I don’t have a job!” Elise protested.
“Duh, get one, genius! Have you ever worked for anything in your entire life? You have a college degree. In the meantime, you could at least learn to cook and keep the house clean.”
But Elise’s degree in art appreciation didn’t qualify her for much.
“Work? Cook? Clean the house like I’m some kind of maid? Scott, are you crazy? Do you have any idea what my friends at the club would think of me? I’ve never had to work a day in my life!”
“Don’t you think it’s time to start?”
“Maybe if you can’t keep me in the lifestyle I’m used to, someone else can,” she growled.
“Go ahead. But if you cheat on me, we’re done. Remember the prenup.”
“I’m not a cheater, asshole!”
“Well, your mother is. And your stepfather, too. He’s a cheater who wrecked my parents’ marriage. Too bad I didn’t know all that before the wedding—there wouldn’t have been a wedding at all.”
“What are you implying?”
“I’m not implying. I’m saying it—you hid too many things from me before we got married. Makes me wonder what other secrets you’re keeping.”
Their arguments became a daily ritual—a dance of challenge and counterchallenge. Elise began using sex as a weapon to get what she wanted. The cracks in their marriage became irreparable.
Scott started staying away from home, even on weekends. He preferred solitude over dealing with his spoiled wife.
One weekend, Elise moved out to teach Scott a lesson. She moved in with her mother and stepfather.
“You did good, baby. He’ll come crawling back, begging for you to return,” her mother said, confidently. “He needs to learn how to treat you like a princess.”
A week later, Elise was served with divorce papers. She signed them immediately, thinking freedom would help her land a wealthier man.
What she didn’t know was that her mother’s marriage was also falling apart. Her stepfather was cheating, and her mother had found herself a young lover. The divorce between her mother and Richard was long, messy, and Elise was caught in the middle.
When the dust settled, Elise was left with nothing—no husband, no home, no job, a useless degree, a car she still owed money on, and a small divorce settlement in her account.
Her so-called friends turned their backs on her. Her mother’s scandalous divorce had aired too much dirty laundry, and no one wanted anything to do with her.
Elise’s mother had signed a prenup before marrying Richard, so she didn’t fare well in the divorce. Richard had plenty of evidence she was cheating—she had none.
The last time Elise spoke to her mother, she said she was working as a nurse again and living in a small apartment. There was no room for a divorced daughter, and no money to support her. Elise suspected her mother was already on the hunt for a new surgeon boyfriend and didn’t want her young, attractive daughter around.
Her stepfather had requested a transfer to another hospital and wanted nothing to do with her, either.
“You’re an adult, and you’re not my daughter. I have no obligation to take care of your lazy ass,” were Doctor Dick’s parting words.
Elise was alone. On her own. And she was scared.
She had spent most of the divorce money on renting a new apartment, but the bills were piling up. Sooner or later, she would be broke.
When she was evicted, she thought of her father and started driving to Middletown hoping he would help her.
Her life was a wreck, and it was all her fault.
“You can’t sink lower than this, Elise,” she muttered to her reflection in the mirror.
When Elise left the club that night, she could barely drive, but she pulled out of the parking lot anyway. As she did, she clipped the rear bumper of another car.
A couple of hours later, she found herself in the middle of nowhere, too drunk to even think about checking the GPS on her phone.
She squinted at a road sign indicating the exit to Middletown and veered right, leaving the highway.
Her headlights carved twin beams through the inky blackness of the deserted road. Elise gripped the steering wheel with white-knuckled desperation.
Her glazed eyes darted between the blurred lane markers and the dark fields stretching out on either side.
The speedometer needle edged into the red zone, but Elise barely registered the danger.
The rhythmic thrum of the engine and the wind whipping through her hair became a symphony of freedom, drowning out the nagging voice of reason.
Middletown—a sleepy constellation of lights on the horizon—beckoned like a forbidden oasis in the desert of her growing intoxication.
Tires screeched as she took a corner too fast, sending a group of teenagers sprinting for the sidewalk. Elise gave them a careless wave, her laughter tinged with recklessness.
Out of nowhere, sirens blared. Blue lights flashed in her rearview mirror. All she could think was that she was about to be arrested for drunk driving. What a way to end the night.
Pushing her car to its limits, she lost control. The tires skidded, the car lurched, and in a dizzying spin, it clipped a curb. With a sickening crunch of metal and splintering wood, the car slammed into a white picket fence bordering a front yard.
The crash woke the entire household. The man of the house rushed downstairs and flung open the front door, his wife, Mary, close behind.
“Be careful, Paul,” Mary, warned.
The headlights illuminated a mangled car wedged into their fence. A figure slumped behind the wheel, groaning weakly.
A young girl in werewolf pajamas appeared in the doorway. “What was that noise, Dad?”
“It looks like a car hit our fence, Maggie. Stay inside with Sabrina. I’ll check on the driver.”
As Paul approached the wreck, he saw the twisted heap of metal where his flower garden had been.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.