AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She wouldn’t just be losing her last name if she married Chad, she’d be losing her entire future.
“Do you want something to drink?” Aunt Ursa asked sweetly, coming up behind Ariella and gently resting her hand on Ariella’s shoulder. “I have a full bar up here.” She gestured toward the corner of the sitting room.
Ariella shook her head.
“No, thank you.” She wrapped her arms around her middle. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in here.” She looked around at the suite of rooms. Not unlike her own, there was the sitting room they were currently standing in, a bedroom, a full bathroom, and a dressing room. But Ursa had the rooms decorated to suit her tastes, so it was all very gothic. Much like Aunt Ursa.
“You used to come in here when you were a little girl. You don’t remember that?” Ursa dropped her hand from Ariella’s shoulder, slid it down her arm, then stepped away. “You used to come in to play with your dolls. We would have tea parties.”
Ariella thought back but couldn’t recall the memories. Ursa hadn’t lived with them full-time. After Ariella’s grandfather died, Ursa stayed infrequently on the estate. When she was there, Ariella’s father and mother kept her busy, away from Ursa.
“I don’t remember.” Ariella rubbed at her temple. Her head was starting to ache. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be bothering you.” She turned to leave.
“No. You’re no bother.” Ursa stepped around her, blocking her. “You’re my niece. And your father just tore your little heart out. Come, sit down for a few minutes.” She swung her arm out, leading her toward the cream-colored couch with deep purple and black swirls.
“He was so angry,” Ariella said, sinking into the thick cushions of the couch. “I’ve never seen him so angry.” Even when she’d completely blown off curfew her senior year to go to a college party in the city, he’d blustered a lot and threatened to lock her in her room, but he’d kept his temper under control.
“It is a sight, isn’t it?” Ursa sat on the couch across from Ariella, placing her hands on her knees.
Ariella brushed her fingertips across her cheek, rubbing away the fallen tears. “I’m too old to be crying like this. I’m sorry.”
“Oh no, I understand.” Ursa leaned forward. “It sounded like he ruined everything in your precious music room. Did he?” She frowned.
Ariella nodded. “I didn’t mean to miss the dinner party. I really was planning on going.” If he had just given her a chance to explain before he’d flown off the handle like he did.
“Of course, you were.” Ursa nodded along. “Where were you, though?”
“I was at the Seaside Club.” Ariella paused. Her aunt seemed genuine in her curiosity and empathy for what she’d just lost. Maybe her father had been wrong about her.
“I performed tonight. To a full club. I was supposed to go on at six forty-five, but they kept pushing me back and back. It’s taken me months to be able to get that spot. I couldn’t just leave.”
“No, I don’t think that would have been a good decision either.” Ursa agreed, nodding sympathetically. “Did your performance go well?”
Ariella smiled. “It did. It went really well. The manager is going to call me to talk about a regular spot.” Her father’s disappointed face popped into her mind, and her smile faded. “Not that it matters now.”
“Your father doesn’t understand passion,” Ursa said. “He’s never enjoyed anything other than being in control. Your mother was the passionate one. She had a talent for the piano if I remember. You probably get it from her.” She smiled warmly.
“What am I supposed to do now?” Ariella asked. “I can’t marry Chad. I just can’t. He’ll be as forbidding as my father.” She didn’t have to meet him to know him. They shared a few friends. Ariella had asked a few questions, and she’d found out plenty. Not being the firstborn, Chad constantly strived to find ways to outdo his older brother. He was ruthless in business, even before he’d gone to get his advanced degree. Now, he looked to make a name for himself. To outshine his brother and prove to his father that he was still beneficial to the Faulkins family. And Ariella knew what that meant. He needed an ornament on his arm for parties, something shiny to wave at his business associates, to plan dinners and parties. She’d be nothing but an extra in his life, never the center of it.
“Am I really supposed to spend the rest of my life married to someone I don’t love who won’t even let me be happy doing what I want to do?” Ariella stood from the couch; the fires burned bright in her soul. “My sisters have all married who he told them to. None of them even questioned whether they could have a life outside this house or their marriage. I’m not like them.” Ariella paced behind the couch.
“And you don’t need to be.” Ursa cheered her on. “I understand, Ariella. I truly do. My father urged my marriage to my husband, Gerald. Love had nothing to do with the arrangement. Thankfully, the man had the good grace to die a year after our vows and leave me in peace.”
“I don’t want that.” Ariella pumped her fist at her side. “I’m not just some toy for my father to trade with his friends for something better.”
“No. You’re not.” Ursa moved to her feet. “You’re your own person, Ariella. You deserve to have everything you want out of your life. Your father just doesn’t understand that.”
“No. He doesn’t.” Ariella pointed her finger at Ursa. “You’re right.”
“But if you stay here…” Ursa frowned. “I’m afraid my brother will stamp out that fire I see burning so brightly in you.”
Ariella stopped dead and turned to face her aunt. “I’m afraid of that, too.”
“I have an idea.” Ursa caught up to Ariella. She grasped Ariella’s hands, led her back to the couch, and sat with her.
“Come back to Hanselton and live with me. You can work for me, learn the business. I’m never going to have children of my own, and it would be good to leave the company to someone in the family. Henry would just sell it off, and whoever he puts in charge around here after he’s gone would do the same.” She screwed up her lips. “Men don’t understand the value of perfumes like women do. Oh, they love that we smell all flowery for them, but they don’t have a clue as to what goes into it.”
“Work for you?” Ariella pulled her hands free of Ursa’s loose grasp. “I appreciate the offer, really, I do, and I love your fragrances, but I want to sing. I want to be on stage.”
