“Not used to being married?” I ask.
“Not used to being… owned,” she says, and the word hangs between us.
I turn to look out the window to hide my…anger? Disappointment? “You’re not owned,” I say. “You’re protected.”
“By who?” she asks, and there’s a heat in her voice I haven’t heard since the contract signing. “By you? By your cousin? If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have to be protected in the first place.”
I exhale slowly. “We didn’t create this situation. Your father did.” The way her head hangs at those words makes me wish I could take them back.
“But you didn’t have to take advantage of it,” she mutters, but then she covers her mouth with her hand, eyes wide as they stare at me. She fears my reply, and my chest aches.
I grab her hand and move it away from her face. “I will not hurt you because you mouthed back at me,” I say.
She glances up at me, surprised, and then looks away.
“How are you feeling?” I ask.
She snorts again, but this time there’s less defiance and more exhaustion. “Like I’ve been hit by a truck. Like I just…,” she trails off.
“Like you just signed away your life,” I finish.
She’s silent for a second, then nods, so small it’s almost imperceptible.
“I didn’t…” she starts, then stops.
“What?” I prompt.
She turns her hand, looks at the rings again, the way they sit on her finger, the way they catch the light. “I didn’t think I’d be… married to someone like you. I didn’t think I’d be married at all. My plan was to go to college.”
I know about her college acceptance. Danyl had her online accounts and email hacked during his vetting process. I know she wants to go to law school. “You can still go to college. Probably not this semester. But someday.”
“You don’t get to promise me that,” she says, but her voice wavers. “You don’t get to sit here and tell me you’ll ‘fix it’ when you’re the one who bought me.”
I flinch because she’s right.
“I didn’t buy you,” I breathe. “I agreed to a deal, just like you. You negotiated for the best deal you could, and I accepted even though Danyl was against it.”
She leans her head back, like she’s too tired to hold it up. “Am I supposed to thank you for your kindness?” There’s a sneer in her voice.
“I’m not kind,” I say. “I’m just stating facts. I saw you stand up to Danyl and me even though you were shaking. You said no, negotiated a better deal out of a shitty contract, and then said yes, because you understood you had to. I’m proud of you for that.”
She blinks. “You’re… proud of me?”
“Yes,” I say. “You handled that better than most people would. Better than I would, maybe, if someone held my family over my head and called it a contract.”
She’s silent for a long moment. Outside, the city flicks past, buildings blurring into each other. The car turns onto a wider street. The skyline sharpening.
“I hate this,” she says finally. “I hate I did this. I hate that I’m married to you. I hate that—” She stops, chest hitching. “I don’t even hate you, that’s the worst part. I don’t hate you. I just hate what you are. And what I’ve become because of you.”
The words are sharp, but they’re honest. I take them.
“You’re not a different person,” I say. “You’re still Rose Morgan. You’re still the girl who works too hard, and cares too much about her father even when he doesn’t deserve it. That doesn’t change.”
She huffs a breath, half -laugh, half -sob. “He doesn’t deserve it,” she says, and there’s a crack in her voice. “He doesn’t. He’s weak. He’s selfish. He’s?—”
“He’s your father,” I say. “But he’s no longer allowed to ruin your life.”
She looks at me, eyes wide. “You’re going to tell me you’re going to protect me from him, aren’t you?”
