My heart thumped so hard I was surprised they couldn’t hear it in the dining hall. I splashed more water, hoping to stop my mind from spinning, spinning, spinning, but the effort didn’t work. I couldn’t find a way out of this, not without hurting theonly person I cared deeply about. I hated,hatedhow my parents always managed to be one step ahead.
I wiped my face on one of the plush wash towels left out, probably there for decoration more than anything. Fuck it. I needed to pull myself together before heading back into the room.
I sucked in a shaky breath and turned the knob, not feeling braver or more composed when I stepped into the hallway. As I approached the dining hall again, conversation trickled my way, but with the buzzing in my ears, I couldn’t focus on the specifics.
All I knew was that the window to my future was quickly closing, and I wasn’t doing anything to stop it.
Fuck. If only I were cleverer, if I had the skills to navigate out of these situations—but instead, I ended up duped every time.
I stepped into the dining hall, where dessert had been served based on the delicate confections in blues and purples with streaks of cream on small plates. Arielle tucked into hers, not looking up. However, my father’s stare bored into me.
He’d set his expectation, and defiance would cost me.
No, Jason would be the one punished.
I walked over to Arielle, who still hadn’t looked up at me, and my heartthump, thump, thumpedso hard I could scream. I swallowed it back.
So much for the dreams of walking down the aisle with someone who brought me to life like a paintbrush on canvas. Who made me feel safe, secure, loved.
I hadn’t been born for that.
No, I’d been born in a gilded cage, and I’d head to a new one.
Frederick’s brows lifted as I sank to one knee.
Arielle looked over at me then, and her hand clapped over her mouth with a gasp.
“Will you…”
The words came out of my mouth, but my mind abandoned me as I sold the rest of my soul.
Chapter 5
One proposal, and my entire life was shifting at a rapid speed.
The house I’d grown up in would no longer be my home. A week from the fateful dinner, and I would move to the Triton Estate, since I’d been handed off to them like a prizewinning cow, all for a share in the orichalcum trade. My father and mother were thrilled, but not for me. Simply that their income would increase.
I packed up the rest of the things I wanted to take with me, which was less than I’d believed given that I’d grown up in this estate my entire life. Some clothes I’d grown attached to, a handful of comics I’d been gifted, my collection of notebooks with drawings that hadn’t been confiscated. However, my parents had chosen and restricted so many of my belongings, of my life, that I didn’t have the same attachment to the paintings on the walls I hadn’t chosen, the wardrobe they’d curated, the books on my shelf they’d deemed worthy.
No, more of my soul remained at Jason’s house, where he stored my art in his studio alongside his own.
I’d packed the basics into boxes over the past week, and they were to be delivered separately. However, today, someone was coming to pick me up to take me to the Triton Estate.
Arielle had seemed thrilled—at least based on the show she put on during the engagement—yet I couldn’t shake the dread that followed me like a cloak. The Triton family didn’t feel like they’d be drastically different from my parents. Just more cool, reserved distance from a society I’d never melded with.
“Your chauffeur is here,” my mother stated at the entrance of my room. Like always, her dark hair was pinned back, her attire pressed and neat. Her lips were pressed together in a firm, unyielding line.
My stomach dropped. Right. “I guess this is goodbye?”
She lifted a hand to her mouth and lightly laughed. “How dramatic, Elrich. We’ll be over for dinners, and likewise, the Triton family will attend ours.”
I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the stinging in my eyes. I’d shed enough tears for a lifetime hoping and wishing for their love. And yet, part of me still hoped. Still wished this might be an emotional parting on her end. That she might show some shred of caring for me.
My mother gestured toward the hall. “We can’t leave them waiting.”
“Is Angus around?” I asked, my chest tight.
My mother shook her head. “He had a business meeting that couldn’t be avoided. You know how busy it gets over at Albatross.”
