AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hoped that would be the end of it, but based on the way Alexander is looking at me now, I know exactly how wrong I was.
When I first walked into the room, Alexander studied me. His eyes roamed over me, calculating, checking to make sure all the pieces were accounted for.
Now, he looks directly into my eyes. A chill runs down my spine. “I did the best damage control I could, given the circumstances,” he rasps. “But now, you are going to fulfill the commitment you made.”
“I never made a commitment!Youmade one on my behalf.”
“And he’ll fulfill it,” Mikhail chimes in. He moves around my chair to stand next to my stepfather, sneering down at me with pure contempt. “I’ve been clear since the very beginning, Cordelia: you were promised to me. You belong to me.”
It’s one thing when you have to sit and listen to a lunatic babble. But when everyone else starts agreeing with him? When person after person spouts the same story? It’s hard not to feel crazy.
I turn back to my stepfather. “You can’t be serious. My mom would never—”
“Your mother wants what is best for this family,” Alexander snaps. “What is best for this family is for you to follow through with your commitments. You were young and wild before, but now, you’re—well, older, if nothing else. And you’re back. You’re back and ready to fulfill your promise.”
A desperate laugh squeezes out of my lungs. “You can’t just rewrite history like this. I’m not some press release you can edit to your liking. You’ve got to be kidding.”
“No one is laughing,” Mikhail interjects.
“I am!” I raise a hand in the air. “I’m laughing my ass off. Because you must be insane to think I’m going to marry—”
A scream slices through the room and makes my blood run cold.
I whip around, trying to see where it’s coming from. Then I see Alexander is holding his phone. “Who is that?” I ask. Even though some part of me already knows.
The screen goes black and he pockets his phone. I want to claw it out of his hands and scream into it. Can she hear me? Is she on the line or is it a recording?
“You’ve always lived under the delusion that you have a choice, Cordelia. You don’t.”
“Who was that?” I ask again. “Who was screaming?”
My stepfather’s face creases. Faux concern is etched in the lines of his face. “Your little friend won’t fare so well if you give us any more trouble.”
“Jorden,” I breathe.
They have Jorden.
Mikhail told me she was sold off to someone, but he didn’t say who. It’s not a stretch that she was sold to someone they know. Someone sick enough to send them clips of her screaming.
What did they do to make her scream like that?
My stomach twists. I want to drop to my knees, but I know it won’t help. “Don’t hurt her.”
“I knew I’d need an insurance policy.”
“Don’t hurt her.”
“Then don’t make things difficult.”
“What do you want from me?”
“What I’ve always wanted.” He reaches out and plucks a strand of hair away from my face. “A quiet, obedient daughter.”
Bile rises in my throat. I want to spit it at him. He deserves worse than that. But Jorden’s scream is still echoing in my ears.
My decisions don’t just affect me anymore. If I don’t do what they ask, not only could I die, but I could take Jorden with me. I’d never forgive myself for that.
“Are you going to be a good girl and do as you’re told?” he asks.
