“Oh, you’re so brave because you think you have Orion now? Men like him don’t settle for whores’ daughters. You'd best remember that, Diana. Soon, he will have no use for you, and he will dump you.”
My father’s words ring in my ears, bringing coldness to this otherwise sunny day. I rub my arms, wishing to rid myself of the feeling so I can focus on the present. On my husband, who seems to think getting justice for me is his given right.
I blink when he removes his jacket and places it over my shoulders, grabbing it by the lapels and dragging me closer. “Forget whatever that fucker said to you.”
Swallowing past the bile in my throat, I furrow my brow and ask, “How do you know what I’m thinking about?”
Does he somehow listen to my phone calls?
I stifle back a laugh because how ridiculous is that? Orion isn’t some kind of stalker watching my every move.
And I try not to examine why I’m not disturbed by the idea as much as I should be if that were even the case.
“You have this vulnerable look in your eyes whenever you think about your father that makes me want to kill him.” I still at this, the air hitching in my throat when our lips brush against each other’s. “It’s unacceptable to me. You shouldn’t be afraid of anyone. They can never hurt you. You’re my wife.”
The birds chirp soundly. The sun paints everything around us in a colorful light. Yet among all this brightness…the shadows of my past remain, reminding me I should always be cautious.
I lift my left hand bearing my wedding ring. “For as long as I wear this, Orion. Once you get this property back, there won’t be a point to our marriage. We entered into a contract, remember?”
They say men think irrationally before sex and very rationally afterward, so all his words last night might not even be true.
And it’s one thing to want this marriage to be real for a limited time, and another to make it seem as if we have forever together when a legal document says otherwise.
How can a marriage that has an expiration date give me any kind of security against my father?
I know, as an adult woman, I should be able to withstand whatever he dishes out, and I can. It would be so good to have someone to lean on, though, and not feel so lonely and alone all the time.
I expect him to say something, but instead, he grabs my hand and pulls me toward the entrance. “Let me show you something.”
My heels click on the asphalt as we walk inside the tower, greeted by the scent of the roses and orchids floating in the air as the thick, concrete steps lead upstairs. Various paintings depicting gory images hang along the way. My voice echoes through the space when I ask, “These cost a fortune.” I touch the frames, made of the finest oak, and recognize the prominent painting style from the eighteenth century. “It’s a shame to hang them in the tower when no one else gets to admire them.”
It doesn’t escape my notice how most of them have some kind of beast circling his beauty, who either ignores him or pierces his heart while he lies in a pool of blood, bleeding all over her white dress.
“Uncle Joaquin believed in preserving the family wealth and loved everything antique, so instead of selling the artwork, he gifted it right along with the property to my mother.” He shrugs. “Besides, he found the fairy tale ofBeauty and the Beastuninteresting, so he wouldn’t want these paintings anyway.”
Oh.
That’s what it is.
Various scenes from the original French fairy tale, from the beast throwing a feast to him trying to woo the heroine so she would fall in love with him, to his ultimate demise. In fact, if one looks closely, it’s almost as if the higher we go, the more of the story unfolds for us. That was probably the intention all along.
If someone sold these at an auction, they could live comfortably for the rest of their lives, that’s for sure.
“So he gifted the property to your mom because he didn’t like the paintings? He must have been very rich.”
Orion chuckles as we walk up the stairs, our fingers entwined, and I wonder what could have possibly pushed Joaquin to give this all to Angelica. Wouldn’t he want to preserve it for his children? “He was very perceptive and knew about my mother’s naive nature. She met my father at eighteen and dreamed about marrying him because he convinced her he loved her. The entire family was against it, but she wouldn’t listen. Eventually, my grandparents had to accept it because Mom threatened to run away with him.” My heart hurts at the simmering rage coating his words when he speaks about his parents’ past. “By gifting her this property, Uncle Joaquin forever earned her trust, so when her marriage became a nightmare, she came to him to save my inheritance.”
I rack my brain over some research I’ve done recently on the Wright family. Despite being close, the cousins didn’t share any business because their grandfathers founded two different empires back in the day. Rafael’s grandfather was the eldest son, so, by ancient family tradition, he inherited all the property. However, he decided to be fair, and they divided the family's properties and islands by throwing a die. That’s all anyone knows about their finances. “What do you mean by that?”
“She refused a prenup and signed off her company shares to Conrad.” Oh my God. “My grandfather knew this wouldhappen. That’s why he wrote a will that gave his nephew all his family shares, which amounted to forty percent, and all his properties. It was the only way to keep them safe, then my uncle transformed them to me once I turned eighteen. My grandfather and uncle protecting me from the grave is the only reason I inherited anything at all. Conrad wouldn’t have given me a dime. One of the reasons he wrote it in his will for me to marry to get this place is because he knew my mother would beg me to keep it in the family. So he thought he’d get the final laugh at my expense.”
“I’m sorry,” I say to him, hating that he still had to play to his father’s tune, and that must be devastating to a man like him.
Conrad was an abusive asshole, and may he never rest in peace.
“I’m not.” I blink in surprise when we reach the top of the staircase, and he grabs my elbow, yanking me inside the room, and my eyes widen in shock. “Welcome to your new sanctuary, Diana.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper, stopping right in the middle of the spacious room and drinking in everything around me.
