A Debt Owed(23)

“Before I knew what a manipulative bastard you were, you mean,” she retorts.

“You’re angry because I do everything in my power to get what I want,” I say, and I put my coffee down. “Make no mistake, Charlotte. I may look like a gentleman, but I’m far from it. My only interest from the start has been to destroy your father’s business and take you as a prize.”

“I’m not a fucking object,” she hisses.

There she goes again with that dirty mouth of hers, but I like it. “You should swear more often. It takes the edge off things,” I taunt.

“Stop. Stop playing these games,” she spews.

“No. I like it when you’re uncomfortable,” I reply, cocking my head. “Gets me off.”

She growls out loud and then throws her bagel onto her plate. Leaning back in her chair, she crosses her arms across her chest with a scowl on her face. She reminds me of a child who’s not getting her way, but that’s something we can work on. After all, we have all the time in the world.

“So you planned this all along?” she mutters. “Tell me how.”

Does she really want to know? I can tell her, but it’ll only make her hate me more. Then again, maybe she’ll finally take me seriously and start listening. “I bought the last of your father’s stock and then sold it dirt cheap to make the markets plummet.”

She grabs the napkin to dab her lips, but she can’t help but scrunch it up in her hand as I talk.

“A few phone calls were all it took to make the other shareholders start selling … and for the price to drop like a stone in the water. It didn’t take long for the company to go bust and for his wife to abandon him and take whatever he had left. Poor fucker. I should feel sorry for him, shouldn’t I? But I’m glad he took my loan afterward. I was the only one who would offer him one after his business went to shit, of course.” I chuckle and take the last bite of my bagel, but Charlotte doesn’t seem remotely amused. What a surprise.

“So it was you?” she hisses, barely able to control herself. I wonder what she’s going to do as she clenches the napkin in her hand. Will she try to throw her knife at me? Or will she dig her claws into my skin to make it personal?

“You ruined him and his company and then took me too just for fun …” she murmurs.

I brace myself for the ensuing fight. I wait and wait … except nothing happens.

Instead, she begins to sniff, her eyes turning red and puffy, and then a single tear rolls down her cheeks. Beautifully broken is how she looks … but still fierce like a lion willing to fight its way out of the cage. And she stands proudly, gives me one fixated glare, and stampedes out the door, leaving me simmering alone. Just as only a true queen would.





Chapter 10





Charlotte



Small specks of snow flutter against the window of my room, turning from ice to water, and then fading away. Just as I am while I’m standing here in this room wearing only a bra and panties as I’m being measured.

The woman taking my size works meticulously without saying a word. She doesn’t even look me in the eyes as she puts her hands on my waist and bust. Jill, I think. When she told me her name, it didn’t properly register, just like all the other things she’s said so far after coming into my room with two racks filled with wedding dresses.

When people talk about an out-of-body experience, I guess this is it because it’s as though I’m not even here.

All I can think of is how cold it must be outside, and how much I miss feeling the snowflakes fall onto my skin. I wonder if I’ll ever go outside again or if he’ll even let me.

My heart is full of melancholy, the kind where you feel like crying but all your tears have dried up. My stare is a blank and unemotional one. I’m fading out of this existence, losing myself in the moment as I’m being pushed around like a puppet on a string.

Jill talks to me, but I’m not listening. My mind is outside … where the people are. They’re enjoying the weather with smiles on their faces and playing in the snow with their kids, not even aware of the fact someone’s locked up in here. I don’t know where I am or if I’ll ever get out. I pray people won’t forget I exist.

“Miss, can you step aside, please?” Jill asks.

She’s so nice, unlike him. It’s the first time we’ve met, but she looks like a person who cares about people, judging from the look she gives me whenever she spins around me and comes face to face with my disinterested gaze. A simple smile is all it takes to make me feel warm in a place that’s cold to the bone.

My feet hover aside, and as they do, she places a hoop and a skirt underneath me and pulls it up to my waist, strapping it tight. Then comes the bustier and finally the dress. The ensemble doesn’t fit me at all, but with a few pins, she manages to make it wearable for now.

“It’ll have to do. It’s only a test run,” she says, huffing and puffing as she comes to her feet. “What do you think?”

I look down at the dress surrounding my body, the pearly white fabric soft and velvety against my skin, prickling a little when I move my hands. I can’t believe I’m wearing this, and that this would be the dress I wear when he marries me.

A shiver runs up and down my spine as Jill nudges me toward the new mirror that Easton had installed. “Go on, have a look.”