“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.”
I hesitate but then step toward the mirror in front of the boudoir anyway, and with a big smile, Jill pushes it aside to create more room for me to strut. Even though I don’t want to, I still go to the mirror, and I’m frozen in place. I don’t recognize the girl glaring right back at me. She’s barely there, and her hands begin to shake vigorously.
“That’s not me,” I mutter, staring at my puckered red lips, wondering when she put the lipstick on. I can’t remember; that’s how out of it I am.
“Of course, that’s you,” Jill says, chuckling as she pats down the dress a little. “You look gorgeous!”
I feel sick. So sick that I immediately run into the bathroom and throw up in the toilet.
Jill comes to help me, holding my hair back along with the dress. “Oh dear,” she mumbles, handing me a towel to wipe my mouth. “Are you okay?”
I shake my head as she gets up and fills a cup with water, then gives it to me. “Here, have some water. It’ll help wash the taste away.”