Page 53 of Chasing Honor

That was the part that had me confused. She’d been over eighteen and had graduated high school, she didn’t have to stay there.

“Ethan, you’ll never know what it feels like to have no one. I had nothing. No family to help. My friends were not in the position to offer assistance, not that I would’ve asked. I had to suck it up if I wanted to finish school. I needed time to plan. After paying tuition I had no money left to move out. And as strange as this sounds, as much as I hated Frank and that house, I could still remember my mom there. Us in the kitchen, her in her sewing room, I wasn’t ready to give up the last place I’d seen or spoken to my mom.”

She was right, I didn’t know what it was like not to have my family in my corner. Mine had always been there to support and guide me. And not just my parents, my extended family as well. I couldn’t begin to imagine what I would’ve done at sixteen if my parents hadn’t been around.

“You paid your tuition? Harris is loaded, why didn’t he pay?”

“Control. He would’ve, but there were strings, and lots of them. I wanted no part of his demands. So, I paid, and he and Sam sat back and laughed as I struggled, dangling money in front of me, trying to get me to cave. I never did. The only thing I took from Frank was the roof over my head.”

“Why did you finally leave?”

A look of disgust crossed her face, and I braced for the answer.

“One night, Frank came home red-hot pissed and said he was tired of me stalling. Greg wanted to announce our engagement, and I had twenty-four hours to get my shit together and meet with the Wells family. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he had a contract outlining my wifely duties.”

“I’m afraid to ask what the contract said.”

“It listed, in detail, what my duties were as a wife.” Her voice had gone flat. “How many times a week I was to provide sex, oral and vaginal. Birth control was at Greg’s discretion. The list was disgusting. Who the fuck has to order their wife to have sex with them? I would be given a monthly allowance; however all bookkeeping was to be done by the family’s accountant and every penny was to be accounted for. I had no right to exit the marriage. Reading it made my skin crawl.”

“What the fuck?”

I wished I could turn back time and beat the holy shit out of them both. Witnesses be damned.

If I’d thought this situation was bad before, it had just crossed the line to fucked.

14

My head was spinning from seeing Frank and Sam. Adding to my discomfort and embarrassment was having to tell Ethan about Frank’s plan. To Frank I was nothing more than a whore he could trade for political gain. And Sam, desperate for Frank’s approval, went along with anything his father said.

“What did they say when you told them you wouldn’t agree to marry Greg?”

“The same thing he said in the restaurant. It was my obligation to my family.”

“What did he say when you left?”

“Nothing. I just packed my stuff and drove off. I had no reason to say goodbye. I’d already given him an answer and I didn’t owe him any further explanation. I only took what belonged to me and my mom and walked out the door.”

“The bed,” he mumbled.

Shit on a shingle he was putting it together. I supposed it didn’t make a difference at this point, I’d already been completely humiliated, but it still stung having him know how destitute I’d been. Not that I was that much better off now, but I did own a bed, nightstand, and dresser. Furniture I’d purchased with money I’d earned. I was able to pay my rent and still save money. I wasn’t swimming in it, however, my prints were selling and my design business was growing. I was proud of what I’d accomplished.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Hurt shone on his face and I didn’t know how to explain it had nothing to do with me not trusting him and everything to do with me not wanting to admit I was worthless. According to Frank and Sam my only value as a person was an indentured sex slave for Greg. That was what they thought of me. Frank thought I owed him a debt and he was going to collect.

“Because I never wanted to think about it again. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“A big deal? Did you really think Frank was going to let it go?”

“Yes. I figured he’d move on.”

“Clearly you were wrong. You understand that now, right?”

“Clearly. I’m not stupid, Ethan. I know a threat when I hear one. That’s why I think I need to move. Leave Georgia all together. I thought I’d moved far enough away I’d never see him again. I was wrong.”

I don’t know why I’d said I should move. It wasn’t something I’d planned on saying. It just spewed out before I could think about the ramifications of my words.

“Move? Are you fucking serious?” Ethan was pissed, really pissed.

“I don’t want my problems touching you or Carson. He’s right, his reach is long. He could cause a lot of problems for you at the station. We have to think about Carson.”