Page 16
Story: Sold to the Beret
I can’t muster any feeling as I watch him. I feel nothing but deep, biting sadness.
No…
I refuse to believe this. My mom isn’t dead. Hot tears well up in my eyes and steadily roll down my cheeks. They keep falling as I remember the last time I saw my mother.
Did Damien know about this?
The whirring sound of the elevator reaches my ears but I remain in place, frozen in shock. I hear his footsteps and I feel nothing.
“Rose?”
It almost feels strange hearing him call my name.I guess I got used to being his princess.
My chest tightens painfully as I raise my eyes to his. A lone tear slides down my cheek.
“Ohfuck,” Damien mutters hoarsely under his breath, sitting beside me on the couch.
I turn to face him, a sense of betrayal slicing deep into me at the look of guilt on his handsome face. “Did you know?” I ask.
“Yes, I did,” he answers.
My heart clenches in anger. “Why? Why would you keep this from me?”
“Because I didn’t want to burden you with too much all at once, princess.” He tries to move closer to me, but I recoil. He closes his eyes, opens them, and in his gaze there is a wall of immense torment.
“I have to tell you how it all started,” he says quietly, his expression shutting down. “I didn’t go to the auction house for anyone else but you. Before your mother died, she knew your disappearance was suspicious and hired me to find you. I went to the auction house a week before I met you, but I couldn’t find you. A few days after that, your mother succumbed to her illness, and I made a promise to find and protect you no matter what. So, I went back to the auction house and there you were on the stage, and I knew I had to have you.”
My anger grows with every word he utters. “And you couldn’t say a word to me in all the days I’ve spent with you? You know how guilty I’ve felt for being away from my mom, and you knew she was dead and didn’t say a word?” My breath catches at the last few words.
“I’m sorry, princess. It killed me not to tell you right away, but you had just escaped from a terrible ordeal and I wanted to protect you. I planned to tell you—”
“When?” I snap, cutting him off. “When did you plan to tell me? When my mother is forgotten by the world and Jared squanders everything she and my dad worked hard to build? Or when I finally tell you how much I love you…” My voice trembles and a fresh bout of tears seeps out of my eyes.
“Princess,” Damien says in an agonizing whisper.
“No, Damien.” I spring up from beside him, turning to face him, white-hot anger spearing through me. “I’m not a child. I don’t need you or anyone else protecting me.”
I see devastation in his eyes, but I’m on a roll. “I’m sick and tired of being a pawn. I’m old enough to make my own decisions. And I’m making one now.” I sigh, suddenly drained of all my anger, but the sharp pangs of hurt and betrayal remain, cutting deeper with each passing second.
“I’m grateful that you saved me from the auction house, but right now I need space,” I say in a voice devoid of emotion.
I walk away from him before he can protest, and as I enter the elevator, I hear him muttering a long string of curse words to himself.
In the silence of the elevator ride, the death of my mother suddenly dawns on me and I feel a wrenching grief in the pit of my stomach. It’s a wave that slowly overwhelms me until huge sobs wrack my body. A few seconds later, a thought crosses my mind, taking me back to the conversation I overheard between my mom and her doctor at one of her recent appointments.
A year to live…
My brain goes on overdrive as I start to put it all together. My mom contacted Damien a few days after Jared sold me off. And with Damien’s explanation, I know I was at the auction house for a little more than two weeks. There’s no way she succumbed to her sickness without help.
Another wave of anger coils up inside of me. This has Jared written all over it, and I’ll be damned if I let him get away with it.
I step out of the elevator as soon as it stops and walk out to the busy streets. In no time, I hail a cab and slide into the back. “Beaufort drive, please,” I call to the driver, still riding on the wave of my emotions.
I watch the world speed by in seething fury. There is no way my mom, who fought an illness for as long as she did, would suddenly give up when she knows she has only a few months to live.
I refuse to believe it. And even if I have doubts, it won’t stop me from confronting Jared. If he hadn’t sold me off, my mom might still be alive. Or at least I would’ve been by her side when she leftthis world. The thought brings tears to my eyes, and they keep flowing until the cab parks in front of the Beaumont mansion.
“Thank you,” I whisper thickly, hastily wiping tears off my face. “I’ll have one of the guards pay you,” I assure the driver.
No…
I refuse to believe this. My mom isn’t dead. Hot tears well up in my eyes and steadily roll down my cheeks. They keep falling as I remember the last time I saw my mother.
Did Damien know about this?
The whirring sound of the elevator reaches my ears but I remain in place, frozen in shock. I hear his footsteps and I feel nothing.
“Rose?”
It almost feels strange hearing him call my name.I guess I got used to being his princess.
My chest tightens painfully as I raise my eyes to his. A lone tear slides down my cheek.
“Ohfuck,” Damien mutters hoarsely under his breath, sitting beside me on the couch.
I turn to face him, a sense of betrayal slicing deep into me at the look of guilt on his handsome face. “Did you know?” I ask.
“Yes, I did,” he answers.
My heart clenches in anger. “Why? Why would you keep this from me?”
“Because I didn’t want to burden you with too much all at once, princess.” He tries to move closer to me, but I recoil. He closes his eyes, opens them, and in his gaze there is a wall of immense torment.
“I have to tell you how it all started,” he says quietly, his expression shutting down. “I didn’t go to the auction house for anyone else but you. Before your mother died, she knew your disappearance was suspicious and hired me to find you. I went to the auction house a week before I met you, but I couldn’t find you. A few days after that, your mother succumbed to her illness, and I made a promise to find and protect you no matter what. So, I went back to the auction house and there you were on the stage, and I knew I had to have you.”
My anger grows with every word he utters. “And you couldn’t say a word to me in all the days I’ve spent with you? You know how guilty I’ve felt for being away from my mom, and you knew she was dead and didn’t say a word?” My breath catches at the last few words.
“I’m sorry, princess. It killed me not to tell you right away, but you had just escaped from a terrible ordeal and I wanted to protect you. I planned to tell you—”
“When?” I snap, cutting him off. “When did you plan to tell me? When my mother is forgotten by the world and Jared squanders everything she and my dad worked hard to build? Or when I finally tell you how much I love you…” My voice trembles and a fresh bout of tears seeps out of my eyes.
“Princess,” Damien says in an agonizing whisper.
“No, Damien.” I spring up from beside him, turning to face him, white-hot anger spearing through me. “I’m not a child. I don’t need you or anyone else protecting me.”
I see devastation in his eyes, but I’m on a roll. “I’m sick and tired of being a pawn. I’m old enough to make my own decisions. And I’m making one now.” I sigh, suddenly drained of all my anger, but the sharp pangs of hurt and betrayal remain, cutting deeper with each passing second.
“I’m grateful that you saved me from the auction house, but right now I need space,” I say in a voice devoid of emotion.
I walk away from him before he can protest, and as I enter the elevator, I hear him muttering a long string of curse words to himself.
In the silence of the elevator ride, the death of my mother suddenly dawns on me and I feel a wrenching grief in the pit of my stomach. It’s a wave that slowly overwhelms me until huge sobs wrack my body. A few seconds later, a thought crosses my mind, taking me back to the conversation I overheard between my mom and her doctor at one of her recent appointments.
A year to live…
My brain goes on overdrive as I start to put it all together. My mom contacted Damien a few days after Jared sold me off. And with Damien’s explanation, I know I was at the auction house for a little more than two weeks. There’s no way she succumbed to her sickness without help.
Another wave of anger coils up inside of me. This has Jared written all over it, and I’ll be damned if I let him get away with it.
I step out of the elevator as soon as it stops and walk out to the busy streets. In no time, I hail a cab and slide into the back. “Beaufort drive, please,” I call to the driver, still riding on the wave of my emotions.
I watch the world speed by in seething fury. There is no way my mom, who fought an illness for as long as she did, would suddenly give up when she knows she has only a few months to live.
I refuse to believe it. And even if I have doubts, it won’t stop me from confronting Jared. If he hadn’t sold me off, my mom might still be alive. Or at least I would’ve been by her side when she leftthis world. The thought brings tears to my eyes, and they keep flowing until the cab parks in front of the Beaumont mansion.
“Thank you,” I whisper thickly, hastily wiping tears off my face. “I’ll have one of the guards pay you,” I assure the driver.