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My sister nods, and I want to roll my eyes. As if Theodore would ever leave her, this was his golden ticket to everything he could want.
“Exactly, I laughed in his face,” Serena smiles, “It’s been the perfect marriage ever since. I do what I please, and he does god knows what.”
“And that’s the perfect marriage for you?” My brow furrows, and she nods.
“You’ll understand once you marry. The less they care to check on you, the more freedom you are granted.”
I exchange glances with my sister, “I would think you would want to marry someone because you love spending time with them.”
She scoffs, “Delusional fairytales of a child. You want a partner who will look good on your arm and paper, but behind closed doors, they leave you alone.”
“My mother and father are always together,” I point out, and my mother smiles. I didn’t return it because I wasn’t thinking about it romantically. My parents were always together and never home, happy to leave us in the care of nannies. My mind wondered if there would ever become a point where I got sick of Jamie’s presence, and it didn’t seem possible. And when that particular daydream added small children surrounded us, I couldn’t understand pawning them off the strangers.
“We were one of the lucky ones,” My mother explains, sipping on her drink and glancing around before leaning towards us, “Out of all your grandfather’s matches, we truly found happiness with one another.”
“Matches?” My mouth falls open, looking at my aunt’s twisted face and then at my sister, “like an arranged marriage?”
They nod, but my sister looks just as shocked as me. “You and dad were arranged?”
“So were Jamie and I. He was the only decent man left on this side of the pond and handsome enough to put up with it,” Serena chuckles, and my lips curl. I take a sip quickly to hide it.
“I didn’t know that was a thing. I didn’t know our family did that,” I say, and Ophelia nods. Her expression looks thoughtful.
“Did you guys set up Theo and me?” She asks, and our mother frantically shakes her head.
“No, darling. As I said, we allow you to choose who you want. Since your grandfather passed away, your father has been in charge of the entire estate, and the inheritance rules were stripped away.”
I grab Ophelia’s hand, giving it a quick squeeze in support.
She smiles before getting up,” I’m going to walk around and thank everyone for coming.”
My mother stands, “I’ll join you.”
We sit silently for a few moments after they leave, I swear I can feel my aunt’s gaze, but I’m staring at the house.
“What are the men doing?” I ask, peeking toward her and confirming that her watchful eyes haven’t left me.
“Golfing. What else would they be doing? You think the men would be so unrefined to go to a strip club?”
I push my tongue against the back of my teeth to stop myself from snapping at her, my fist clenching around my glass as I breathe. “No, the strip club wasn’t my first thought.”
I knew they had set off to golf hours before our brunch had started, but I doubt that was the only plan for the day. I wanted to know the chances of seeing him again before I trek back to my tiny sanctuary away from this.
“You know, your beauty will eventually fade,” my aunt says, sipping her drink as her eyes drag down my body. I scowl at her and shrug; who doesn’t know that your looks change as you age.
She raises a singular eyebrow, “Don’t care? You should. It might feel enchanting now… to temporarily be the center of someone’s world, but just remember they wouldn’t be with you if you didn’t look the way you do.”
I lock my gaze on her, my stomach twisting as I try to decipher her hidden meaning. Did she know about Jaime and me? Is that possible? She wasn’t even here last night, and there was no way she could have heard it from someone else.
Her lips pull into a wicked smile, “Just a thought.”
“Thanks,” I drawl out, looking away, “I’ll take it into consideration the next time I need to ponder why a man might be into me.”
She cackles, the noise grating against my nerves. “You do that, little Em.”
