“He owns you. He saved you and you owe him your entire life. Do you understand that? If it wasn’t for him, you would be dead.”
A lump rose in her throat. Sometimes when she thought of her future, she wished she was dead.
“He couldn’t save your sister. But he saved you. And you owe him the respect and the dignity of giving him your hand in marriage. Do you understand that, Eve?”
“But I don’t love him, Father,” she said weakly. It was a horrible, useless excuse, she knew.
He swiveled to her, looking at her with a fierce scowl. “Love? You are a child! What do you know of love?”
She bowed her head, letting his anger wash over her.
“He gave you your life. You belong to him! He saved you.”
“Are you sure it was him?”
He threw back his head in angry disbelief. “Let’s not start this again. Blue eyes. I know! You’ve cried about them for years. I thought you forgot about them.”
“I can’t help it. I saw blue eyes. And Michael –”
He rose in a rage. “He doesn’t have blue eyes! He carried you into the Great Hall. He brought you to your mother. He was the one that went out on that cold night and saved your ungrateful life after you led your sister on a search for an imaginary angel.”
Tears rose in her eyes and she fought them back with everything she had. She remembered blue eyes. And her father had tried to make her doubt what she remembered. He had tried to tell her it was Michael. But she knew it wasn’t. It couldn’t have been Michael!
“You will marry Michael. Do you understand? You will marry him because he saved your life and you belong to him. Do. You. Understand?”
Eve bobbed her head. “Yes. Father.”
“I want you to have nothing further to do with his brother. I don’t want you to see him or spend time with him.”
She swallowed in a tight throat. The thought of never seeing Gabriel again brought agony crashing over her. “Will you banish him from the castle?” Her voice was weak.
“It is not your concern. You are done with him.”
Eve nodded and turned away. She walked to the door and paused to stare at her father. He stood with his back to the hearth, watching her in disapproval. His fists clenched, his shoulders hunched. He looked like the devil himself. She quickly closed the door. She had tried to please him all her life. She had tried to do whatever he asked. She had tried to make him love her. But whatever she did was never good enough. She could not be Eden. Still, she knew she would try again and follow his instructions. She would never see Gabe again. The thought brought a crushing, soul-shattering sadness.
Chapter Five
What is it? What’s happened?
Eve sat beneath the large tree with her knees pulled up to her chest. Tears burned her eyes and she kept her gaze down, away from Eden. She shook her head at Eden’s question. Her chest spasmed. “What am I to do, Eden?”
Eden sat beside her, mirroring her pose.
“Father said I can’t see him anymore. It feels like… like…” She sniffled and wiped at her nose. “Like I felt when you were taken away.”
You like him.
Eve nodded. “He’s so kind to me. He doesn’t treat me like… like a monster.”
Eve! You are not a monster.
“That’s not what Father or Michael think.”
Eden sighed softly.What will you do?
“He doesn’t like me. How could he?”
“Who doesn’t like you?”
