“No,” I snip, trying to keep myself together. “They just want to knock us up and get their heirs. Put us in some box like toys until we’ve served our purpose.”
“Magnus loves me,” she snaps back defensively. She doesn't want to believe it, and I don’t either, but I know what I heard.
“Are you choosing him over me?” I put my hands on my hips “We stick together. Always.” Her eyes start to fill with tears, breaking me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” I drop my head, guilt overwhelming me.
“Do you really think that’s all they want?” she asks. I can see the hope in her eyes that I’ll say differently.
“I overheard someone talking about the plans they have for us. They want to make us into something we’re not.”
“They have plans for us?” Her noses scrunches. “They love us the way we are.”
“And I love my husband, but for some reason he can’t love me for all that I am.”
A tear slips down my cheek, and Allison pulls me into a tight hug. I knew this was too good to be true. The other shoe finally dropped like it always does.
“I love who you are.” I smile into her neck until we both jump at the sound of my name bellowed in the distance.
“I have to hide.” Allison pushes some clothes aside before shoving me in behind some clothes racks and then quickly puts them back in place.
My heart begins to race, and I know it’s only a matter of time before he finds me. He’ll pull this place apart brick by brick.
“Amber! Where are you?” my husband shouts again.
There is no way any of this can turn out well. I know in my heart that someone is going to get hurt, and that person is always me.
Chapter 9
Henrik
Without thinking, I move towards Magnus’s room because that’s the only place she could be. I see Allison in the entrance of her closet, pretending to casually lean against the doorframe like she was expecting me.
“Oh hey, Henrik, how's it going?” She smiles brightly like she’s not hiding my wife.
“Why is Amber hiding in your closet?” I narrow my eyes, and she straightens.
“What are you talking about?” She looks over her shoulder and back at me.
“I can see her toes and the pink polish on them from here.” Just then Amber pulls her feet back under the clothes rack and it reminds me of the witch in The Wizard of Oz after Dorothy takes her shoes.
“I don’t see anything.” She crosses her arms in front of her and dares me to prove her wrong.
I let out a heavy sigh as I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Give me strength.”
“Why?” Magnus asks as he walks into his bedroom and tries to figure out what’s going on.
“My wife is hiding in your closet, and they’re pretending like she’s not in there.”
“I’m hungry. Is anyone else hungry?” Allison asks, distracting Magnus.
“Don’t change the subject,” I tell her, and she shrugs.
“I can always eat.”
“Someone tell me what’s going on,” Magnus says, and I wait for Allison to explain.
“Fine, we’re doing this,” Amber huffs as she comes out from under the clothes and moves next to her sister.
She’s not wearing much in the way of clothes—only the shirt I tossed on the floor last night. I growl, knowing she’s naked underneath.
“Why are you hiding in the closet?” I take a step forward, and Allison gets in my way. “Don’t block me from my bride.”
“Hey,” Magnus says, and suddenly the four of us are on alert.
“Explain why you lied to me,” Amber says, and I see hurt in her eyes.
“About what? I’ve never lied to you, and I never would.” I put my hand on my heart and swear the truth.
“You want to change me. You don’t love me for who I am, and you want me to pretend to be someone I’m not. And you want Allison to do it too.”
“What?” Magnus and I both say at the same time.
Amber deflates a fraction and then looks between us. “That’s your evil plan.”
“Do you think I’m some kind of villain in a black and white movie?”
“Well, no,” she says softly and then points her finger at me. “But I heard that Jade woman, and she said the plan is to totally change us.”
I glance over at Magnus, and he rolls his eyes while I curse the social media manager we hired last year.
“She’s fired,” I say simply, and Amber looks around the room.
“I just heard her talking to some guy in the hallway outside your room.” She narrows her eyes. “What are you playing at?”
“Baby girl, this isn’t a game. I went to the kitchen to get you food, and she found me in there. She immediately went into something about image and the right look for you and your sister, and I fired her on the spot. This happened no more than ten minutes ago. You can ask Magnus; he was in the kitchen with me when I did it.”