Chapter Three

"Absolutely not; I forbid it." She had no more than uttered her chosen profession to her "father" when he started trying to control her life.

"I don't think you have fully realized what my turning eighteen in two weeks time means, Cowboy Bob," Alyss replied smoothly. "You have no say in what I will do when I'm eighteen; when I am legally an adult. The only reason I am here is because my mother died. I have a house of my own waiting for me back in Ohio and I will be in debuting there on my birthday. There is nothing you can do about that. Mr. McMahon has the rights to my promotional videos and they have been playing for two months now. I am the new mystery diva, as they call me. My mom signed the release for those videos and there is nothing you can do."

"I am your father."

"No you're my sperm donor. A father is someone who is there for their children when they need them. Someone who is there for their child's first word, their first step, the first time they rode a bike without training wheels, for their daughter's first date to threaten the boy she is going out with. You were not there for any of that. You sent money and cards but you weren't there. So no, you have no say in my life. That's the path you chose."

"I did what I thought was best; what your mother thought was best."

"No. Don't you dare bring her into this. You were a coward who didn't want to risk your marriage. You tricked her into having an affair with you. You decided that it was 'best' for you to stay out of my life. Best for whom? Because it wasn't the best thing for me or Mom. The only one who benefitted from your little arrangement was you. You got to keep your family and have one on the side. You have no right to talk about her."

"You are not going; that's final."

"Since when do I have to listen to you when comes to my life? I may be staying here for two weeks, but that wasn't my choice. I am going to be at Raw tonight. I need to discuss things with Mr. McMahon. He's expecting me and he's not likely to not notice his newest diva's absence."

"Then I'm going too."

"Like hell you…"

"Mom, Dad," Randy Orton's voice came from the doorway. "Thought I'd stop in before the…Alyss? What are you doing here?"

"And this just keeps getting better and better," Alyss muttered sarcastically.

"Alyss." Bob Orton said in warning.

"Wait. How do you two know each other?" Randy was as confused as he could get. How had the young diva-in-training that he had trained, along side with Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Beth Phoenix and John Morrison, met his father?

"Randy, you remember me telling you about the wrestler that happened to be my father; the father I had never met?" she asked him, her sentence clicking things into place.

"No." One sentence filled with so much disbelief, like his world was shattering.

"Apparently so."

"Randy, when did you meet Alyss?"

"He's one of my five trainers," Alyss replied like it was old news. "Ironic isn't it? You tried so hard to keep me off the radar for so long that you failed, not only as my father but to keep me away from the family you were trying to keep. My half-brother helped train me for the career you never wanted for me. This just keeps getting better and better."