There were no swans anymore, the sky dark and stars too bright. My main course punishment had already been doled out by Mother; Papa was handing out dessert, taking away his love. Leaving me alone, empty and bereft, like the sand.
He lifted one finger, signaling for his guard to follow him, heading toward Main Street.
I couldn’t breathe. My heart was crumbling inside my chest.
I know there’s a reason there’s a no-tolerance policy on marriage in our family. It’s not some archaic tradition, it’s our lifeboat. After my dad died and a string of bad luck and bad business decisions nearly left us ruined, marriages saved us. When Uncle Albert canceled his wedding and we almost collapsed, it became law.
As my grandpa likes to say, “You can’t be a Crowne without many sharp points. You’re either part of this family, or you're against it.”
Grandpa was my one constant after Dad, the only love I’d felt in a home of strings and conditional affection. I was watching it burn down, frozen as debris floated past me, breathing in the ashes.
Without another word, he turned away. Panic strangled my lungs. My world was giving way beneath me. I couldn’t breathe.
Paparazzi had gathered around the perimeter, sensing something was happening in the Crowne family. I knew I had to let him leave. We could combust in private, but never in public.
“Grandpa!” I ran after him and tried to grab his arm. “Papa, please. I want to get married. I’ll get married tomorrow.”
Just don’t leave.
Papa eyed the sharks.
“Goddamn it, Abigail!” He shook me off with distaste that ricocheted through my entire body.
I stood, watching him walk farther and farther away.
“When will I see you again?” I yelled.
He stopped. People walked on either side of him in pretty sundresses and polo shirts, the twinkling lights making the night that much blacker blurred.
Then he kept walking, and the crowd ate him.
I locked eyes with Theo as a slow smile spread across his face. When he saw me hurriedly swipe my cheeks, his smile grew.
He mouthed one word.
Point.
I will not cry for him.
I will not let him see me cry.
I knew without a doubt he was behind this. Theo had been in my room. He’d seen the pictures. He’d had my laptop. The point I thought I’d gained had actually led to my demise. He’d made me the Crowne Slut with the one person who always saw me otherwise. He’d taken the one thing I had in this family. The one person who loved me.
THEO: 1
ME: 0
Tears were threatening to fall, and I was using all my energy to keep that from happening, so I didn’t see the change in Theo. I definitely didn’t see what was happening a few feet away. Theo grabbed my wrist. In the same instant, I tried to yank myself free.
Theo was unaffected.
Someone must have been talking in his ear, because he pressed his thumb to it, nodding, saying something I couldn’t catch.
All at once his attention was on me. “It’s time to go.”
Incredulous, halting laughs broke free. As if I would go anywhere with him ever again.
I gave him the finger, still trying to break free. “Let me go.”