Isabelle eyed the tray. Surprisingly enough, the food did look good. There were two big bowls of stew, some bread, and coffee.
They ate in silence. Isabelle knew that Sarah was thinking about what Quincy had said, too, but they did not mention it. For a little while, they simply enjoyed the food. Isabelle wasn’t sure why Quincy was treating Sarah better. Maybe he wanted toimpress her, but he was far too late for that. A man like him didn’t deserve a child, and he showed that he did not deserve to be forgiven for what he had done. The only thing he deserved was justice. Unfortunately, there were far too many men like him out there, and many of them never got caught or paid for their crimes.
Despite the fact that both their bowls were full, Sarah finished hers long before Isabelle. Isabelle was about halfway done. When she pushed her bowl toward her daughter, she knew what it felt like to be with child and to have cravings.
Sarah shook her head. “No, I’ve had enough. That is yours.”
“You don’t have to pretend with me,” Isabelle replied with a laugh. “You know I never eat much, and you need it much more than me.”
Sarah eyed the plate but eventually gave in. When she was done eating, they had the coffee and then sat back on the bed, resting their backs against the wall.
“You think when she was talking about getting married?” Sarah asked, her voice quivering.
“Honestly, I’m not sure, but I think so.” Isabelle ran a hand through her daughter’s hair. “He said he’d speak to you about it later. Maybe you can ask him what exactly he had in mind.”
“I’m too scared to know.” Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Last time he spoke about going away with me. I don’t want to go anywhere with him. I just... I can’t stand the idea of being forced to marry him and live a life at his side.”
Isabelle felt horribly hopeless. She had always dreamed of a wonderful life for her kids, and this was the exact opposite of that.
“I’m so sorry, my baby. You shouldn’t have to be dealing with any of this.” Isabelle didn’t know what else to say. There was nothing she could do to make things better.
A couple of hours later, Quincy arrived and took Sarah away again. Isabelle had no idea how long they would be, and she tried really hard to stay calm, but it was getting more and more difficult by the day. This time around, they were away for what felt like hours. Quincy didn’t say anything when he brought Sarah back. He simply locked the door and walked away. Sarah gave Isabelle one look and burst into tears.
“What happened?” Isabelle asked, rushing over to her daughter.
“He wants to get married,” Sarah replied as she held on to her mother. “He didn’t forget about it. He said he’d been planning everything.”
“I told him that I want you to go with us, that I won’t marry him if he leaves you here.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me that I’m grown up now and that I shouldn’t worry about you anymore. He said that he doesn’t trust you enough to take you with us and that I don’t need you anymore because I’ve got him.”
Isabelle felt like screaming, but instead, she simply held her daughter tightly. She had always known that Quincy was the worst of the worst. Only an evil man would do the things he’d done, but this might be the worst thing yet. Taking Sarah away from Isabelle when she needed her the most was such a horrible thing to do. There was no reason why he needed to separate them.
“Did he tell you anything else about his plans?”
Sarah shook her head as she pulled out of the hug. “No, he got really angry at me after I said that. I want you to go with us. He told me that I’m ungrateful and that I don’t get a say in any of it.”
Isabelle did not doubt that Quincy would go ahead with his plans.
Soon enough, he would take her daughter away from her, and Isabelle would be left alone, never knowing what happened to Sarah or Rider.
Up until then, Isabelle had tried to stay strong for Sarah, but she couldn’t do it anymore.
She broke down in tears.
Chapter 31
Quincy couldn’t believe how ungrateful Sarah was being, especially after going through all that trouble to make the meal requested. Isabelle was a horrible woman who had convinced her daughter that Quincy was a bad man. Sure, he had done some bad things in his life—he’d be the first to admit that—but he’d been trying to be good to Sarah. He had told her that he would take care of her and their baby, and he meant every word. He had to get Sarah away from Isabelle so that she could stop talking nonsense about him behind his back. She was obviously trying to convince Sarah that she needed her and not him. That did not sit well with him.
No, it was time for them to go. He could see Sarah’s belly growing. It was still small, but he wanted them to be settled in the new house before she grew too big. He needed to speak to his men, though. He couldn’t simply leave. Quincy went from one area to the next, telling them all to meet in the living area in the next twenty minutes. He didn’t want to put it off any longer, and they needed to know his plans.
He didn’t have to wait long, and soon enough, they were all gathered around the table. He had set some glasses down for them and a bottle of expensive whiskey.
“Drink,” he instructed once they had all poured some into their glasses. “Life is good, and we need to celebrate.”
He got some curious looks, but all of his men started drinking. None of them was the type to say no to alcohol.
