“Father would have laughed at it.” The moment the sentence left my lips, I was filled with regret. Bringing up my father wasnot the best idea, since he vanished when I was a child and my mother had been cold-hearted ever since.
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t sleep well last night,” I reassured her, trying to lighten up the mood again.
How was I supposed to endure a marriage with someone I didn’t love?
Shouldn’t a woman be happy when she trailed down the altar?
“Was it a bad dream again?” she asked, like she had missed the countless sleepless nights I had suffered since I was a little girl. Not that she ever cared about it.
“I always dream of the same place, isn’t it normal to dream of different things?”
“I don’t know,” my mother stated flatly, staying silent for a while until she spoke again, her words filled with seriousness, “I’m aware that we never really talked about this, Gwendolyn.” Her gaze now fully directed at me. “Alexander might have other options, but you don’t. Womenneverhave. Someday, you might understand that this wedding will be the best option for us.”Us.The way she said it, it was obvious it was the better option for her, not for me.
Alexander might act very charming toward the people he could take advantage of. However, it was widely known that he was unfaithful to every woman he courted and treated most of them very poorly. He had been in a brief relationship with one of my neighbors and had slapped her the moment she started to talk against him. Her family wasn’t influential enough in society that they could have allowed themselves to publicly speak ill of a Wright son. So, they had stayed silent. My father always said whoever hit a woman or a child, was meant to endure all nine circles of Dante’s inferno, whether he only portrayed one sin or all of them.
As soon as we arrived, the coach man opened the door, announcing, “Mrs. and Miss Revelir, come along, please.” Mymother exited the carriage first, and then I followed.
From far away, I could already make out the Wright Mansion, a beautiful white castle-like building with a garden that would fit right intoVersailles. Every year the Wrights arranged spring garden parties to show off their enormous wealth and build new business relationships.
As soon as I entered the garden, I should have smelled its flowers, but the familiar scent of sage, moon flower and musk drifted near.I knew my angel was close.
“Gwendolyn, my dear. You and your mother both look wonderful today,” a man said behind us. As I turned around, I noticed Brant Wright approaching us. His generous and kind-hearted spirit lightened my mood. He never cared about the status and money of his family, and he was always friendly to everyone, even odd ones like me. Following the traditional order, Brant should have been the first in line to inherit his father’s business, as he was the oldest of his brothers. But his introverted being and the preferred companionship of men had not met the requirements for becoming the next leader of the Wright Company.
Charles, the middle brother, had spent most of his time sailing the world on a ship, where he never got used to the aristocratic behavior a leader of a family empire was required to have.
And Alexander… Well, with his honey-blonde curls, rich brown eyes, and charming attitude, he had always portrayed the image of the perfect son. That was one of the reasons why Bradley trained Alexander from an early age to be social and outgoing, making him the perfect choice for taking over the family empire.
“Thank you, Brant. It is such a shame that your younger brother has beaten you to marriage.” My mother’s reply really made me wonder if she knew about his sexuality or if she really considered marriage just a price.
“Well, I cannot see myself getting married anytime soon. But Iam so happy that Alex found someone as beautiful and generous as Gwendolyn.” I smiled at Brant and wanted to say something nice to him, but we got interrupted by his parents—my soon-to-be parents in-law. Mira and Bradley, or in other words, theice queenand her servant.
My mother said Mira used to be the most admired girl at school. She had these dark green eyes and golden blonde hair, giving her the nicknameHoney. Although my mother debated if she was more like an ‘ambrosia,’ beautiful and dazzling on the outside but dangerous on the inside. Bradley was very much like Brant, friendly and humble. He grew up in a poor household and carried local newspapers to rich families on Sundays with the aspiration to become one of them one day, and with his ambition he did.
“Gwendolyn and Julie, you both look exquisite. It seems like you finally began to accommodate our style of dressing, which isdelightfulto see. It is essential that Gwendolyn fit into the standards of our family,” Mira said. The fact that she used the short form of Juliette, my mother’s first name, just underlined that they knew each other from a young age and that Mira was very much aware of their different upbringings.
“Mira and Bradley, we are very pleased with the preparations you made for us; thank you so much,” my mother replied. The tone of her voice was even more false than her smile. Even though my mother approved and supported the marriage, shedespisedhis parents.
Bradley nodded as his gaze wandered over to his wife, almost like he was waiting for some kind of invitation to speak. “We are just incredibly happy to finally find some time to travel.”
“Yes, Bradley wants to take me to Paris for a few months, so we require Alexander to be married in order for the company to have a serious representative,” Mira added. From the beginning, I was very much aware that Alexander did not love me and thathe only needed a wife for his social reputation. But hearing her say that while attending our engagement celebration only made it worse for me.
I needed to keep it together, to not run away. But where would I even run away to? It wasn’t like an actual white rabbit was waiting for me.
To escape the other people’s attention, I excused myself and wandered through the garden, which was a labyrinth with many rose hedges and gold-furnished fountains for the birds. I did have to admit, the garden of the Wrights was absolutely beautiful and the perfect place to spend your time with daydreams, at least until I noticed two girls from my neighborhood approaching. Constance and Phoebe—the latter known for being in love with Alexander for about five years.
“Congratulations, Gwendolyn. You can call yourself lucky. No wonder Alexander wants to wed you. You are beautiful and quiet, and when he cheats on you later, you won’t even cause a scene,” Phoebe said and grinned as maliciously as someone could.
“But wasn’t her dad some kind of psycho who ran away? Wonder why one of the Wright men wants to marry into that kind of DNA?” Constance asked, laughing.
“I’m sorry that your life is so boring. All you can do is talk crap about people who do not even have time to think about you,” I replied coldly, turning to leave when Phoebe yanked my hair back. The daisy flower pin of my left strand fell to the ground.
“Who do you think you are, you little bitch, to talk to us like this? You and your family are nothing… I want you to rememberthiswhen Alexander proposes to you.”
Before I could react any further, a raven appeared out of nowhere and started picking at Phoebe’s head, causing her to scream loudly and run away.
“You are such a freak!” Constance screamed in my face beforeshe ran after Phoebe.
The raven was still nearby, sitting on a branch, its gaze following me. It was shiny black, its feathers gleaming violet in the sunlight, and on its left wing it had a single red feather. Its eyes were a shade of a deep red, which was unusual, but everything surrounding me seemed to be unusual.
