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“Get off your fucking moral high horse, baby, because you missed a few entries in that list you’re so proud of putting together…” I hold her gaze as she shoots daggers at mine, that fire pretty in her eyes as she grows increasingly more frustrated.
“I am pleased to announce…”Holt’s voice replaces her father’s, building a tension in the moment, and in her as well. I don’t miss the way the muscles in her shoulders tense, and she crosses her arms as her eyes flicker around us.
My tone is low, and when I lean in sideways, close enough that our shoulders touch, I finish. “And some of those you might just have to learn more about, since it will be your family’s business,Mrs Holt.”
Her brows furrow in an annoyed confusion, but that emotion doesn’t have time to settle in her features.
“…that Morrigan O’Rourke and I are getting married!”Holt finishes his short speech, and it’s in that moment, when chaos erupts around us, the crowd bursting in applause, cheers and laughter, that I see a shattering fear cracking her eyes with emotions that she forces herself to suppress.
I watch her suddenly begin to blink way too fast. She looks as if… she’s inactualshock. Her head slowly turns toward the crowd that gathers and cheers her on, and we’re split apart when a few people come close and pull her into a hug.
That fear in her eyes, like her soul shattered in an instant, tells me one thing’s for certain: what I witnessed wasn’t a fiancé revealing this important piece of news too soon.
I catch a glimpse of her between hugs and kisses, and for a moment there, the desperation in her eyes hits me like goddamn lightning.
She didn’t know.
CHAPTERFIVE
MORRIGAN
Alump forms in my throat. It grows bigger and bigger with everycongratulationsI hear from the faceless people that hug me, or squeeze my shoulders, or kiss my cheeks. I don’t know where The Serpent went, but I suddenly feel the need to disappear along with him.
He knew… he knew even before I did.
I thought I had the upper hand tonight, but it seems that I’m just a pawn in a game I’m not privy to. What is happening? How is it possible for even The Serpent to know an arrangement as this one, even before me?
My family, my fucking family planned this! They all fucking sold me. Passed me on like some piece of goddamn meat!
And Ryan… goddamn motherfucking Ryan! He thinks he can just force me to marry him? Is this the nail in the coffin? The apex of all his lovely treatment? This is his ultimate display of control over me…
The problem is that at this very moment, my imagination is running wild with the despicable things I would love to do to him, but nothing seems to translate to the outside. My body won’t budge. I can’t seem to make a move… any move.
Goddamnit! Do something!
That lump is impossibly big now, stuck right at the base of my tongue, and breathing is increasingly harder. But my emotions are well masked behind fake ones that mar my face.
My body begins to tremble as I force myself to look around for an escape, something, anything, to pull me out of this fucking nightmare. But the crowd turns quiet, as a song begins to cover the ruckus of debilitating congratulatory chatter.
Every breath you take…
Is that…? I catch his eyes through the crowd, a special evil residing in them as he walks toward me.
Every move you make…
A few more steps and my heart beats so hard it shakes my flesh. I’m frantic on the inside, searching for something that could indicate I’m not awake right now. It’s only a nightmare… this is not my life. It cannot be.
Every bond you break…
I look away from him, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lulu. Someone to fucking ground me right now before I implode.
Every step you take…
The crowd parts, all the ones that were congratulating me move away, clutching their hands on their chests, sweet emotions plastered over their faces for thehappy couple, and I want to vomit. Right here, right now.
But not even my stomach seems to want to make a move. What is wrong with me?
I’ll be watching you…
