The Accidental Marriage: Chapter 18

Ares squeezes my hand, wordlessly communicating that I don’t have to reveal anything I don’t want to. Genuine concern infuses his gorgeous blue eyes. “Don’t relive the trauma because of me,” he whispers.

Warmth flows through me, as sweet as heated syrup. How can he be this nice when all he wants is respect and indifference? Or this is part of his being respectful?

Akiko looks vaguely uncomfortable, as though she can’t believe Ares doesn’t consider her close enough to know my past, while his brothers give off an “of course he doesn’t care” vibe. His father and aunt tilt back their drinks, and Catalina sighs, apparently resigned to the careless impudence of the family will accept me the way I am.

I shake my head. Ares has been nothing but protective and nice. Even when he was drugged out of his mind, he fought Rupert for me. Said he’d be my knight.

He might not remember that, but he’s continued to protect me and keep me feeling safe. Revealing my strange, unbelievable past is the least he deserves.

A little jittery, I turn to the others. My phobia isn’t something I’ve discussed much once I realized that most people prefer to look the other way…or else express judgment and disapproval. Some even outright gaslit me, saying there was no way my aunt could be that evil and that I must be mistaken. Many of them worked for her—like the therapists I was forced to see—and others knew her. My reputation for being eccentric didn’t help.

Almost unconsciously, I thread my fingers through Ares’s and inhale. I’ll stick to the bare facts and won’t get emotional. If he and his family don’t believe me… Well, at least I tried.

“I can’t eat anything that isn’t factory-sealed or already tasted by somebody. My aunt and her family tried to slow-poison me starting at age thirteen, just to keep me sick enough that I couldn’t lead a normal social life or continue going to school like I should. I almost died a few times when they fed me a bit too much out of impatience—or sometimes malice because I was particularly difficult or threw a wild party behind their backs.” I let out a small, humorless laugh. “Although they regretted it pretty quickly every time I had to be rushed to the ER. If I died, they’d get nothing.”

“What?” Ares’s fingers flex. He stares at me, horror slackening his face.

The room goes still, like somebody hit the pause button. It would be almost comical if my situation weren’t so sad. The twins’ forks are angled the same way, and Jeremiah’s mouth stays parted. Prescott’s hand clutches at nothing as it lies palm down next to the plate. Akiko has her fingers pressed against her mouth, and Catalina’s head is tilted, her brow furrowed. It is, as the French say, a tableau.

The three wolves on the coat of arms behind Catalina, caught in mid-leap, contribute to the effect. Pietas et unitas glints, reflecting the chandelier’s glow. Loyalty and unity. Wouldn’t it be great to be part of that circle? I think with a tight longing in my heart. I wouldn’t lean on them too much, but in some of those moments when I’m exhausted, just tired to the bone, I’d love to be able to rest my head on a shoulder and take a moment to catch my breath.

The tableau breaks, and I’m suddenly uncomfortable at being in the center of the Huxley family’s intense scrutiny. I realize that I expected them to make light of the situation like everyone else, and now I’m at a loss when they don’t. “I know it sounds far-fetched—”

“No.” Ares’s voice is calm, but underneath seethes a carefully restrained rage. “It makes complete sense. And now I know why you climbed over to my hotel balcony in Vegas.”

“What?” everyone else shouts in unison.

“She used the gargoyle bas-reliefs on the hotel wall to climb from her balcony to mine. We were on the seventeenth floor,” he tells his family.

The twins stare at me with something halfway between admiration and horror. Prescott opens and closes his mouth without making a sound. Jeremiah raises her glass in a salute while Akiko looks like she’s about to faint.

“Why didn’t you report the poisoning to the police?” Catalina’s voice is hoarse.

“No phone.” I shake my head, still feeling helpless at the memory. “Even when I said something, nobody wanted to help. My aunt controlled my money. And in Nesovia—where I’m from—young, unmarried women don’t have many rights and are treated like children.”

“Fucking Nesovia,” Jeremiah mutters. “Still the same shithole.”

“Sweetie, you’ll never have to risk your life like that here,” Akiko says shakily, then pours herself more plum wine. But she spills half the glass as she touches it to her mouth.

Ares grinds his teeth, his eyes burning with fury. The knuckles on his free hand whiten, although he’s careful not to crush my fingers with his other one.

Even now, he’s so thoughtful and protective. Does this mean the respectful indifference he asked for isn’t what I think it is?

“Unacceptable,” he grinds out, the word pulled out of him with great difficulty.

I open my mouth to tell him it’s no big deal—and then I realize I’m totally wrong. I just told myself it was no big deal because I needed to believe it.

If I admitted to myself how horrible what Doris and her family did to me was, I would’ve been too furious with the injustice of my situation to stay rational and fool my aunt and her family and everyone working inside the house. If I hadn’t been able to deceive them with my crazy acting, they might’ve done something drastic much earlier.

“You’re right,” I say finally. “It was unacceptable.”

Ares’s face contorts, crumpling like he can’t decide between crying and screaming.

Oddly enough, the sight of his anguish both warms my heart and pains me. I paste on a smile. “It’s fine. I’m fine. It’s over.”

“It was never fine,” he says. “It’s not fine.”

My vision blurs for a moment, then his thumbs brush underneath my eyes. Hot tears cut two lines on my cheeks, and only then do I realize I’m crying.

“It was never fine.” Underneath Catalina’s soft voice is a razor’s edge.

It makes me cry harder as I realize that, not only do these people believe me, they’re on my side.

We just met, and I told them something completely outrageous, but they don’t question the veracity or ask for proof. A simple account of my lived experience was enough.

The Huxley family’s belief in me is a balm to my wounded soul. I can’t remember the last time I thought people would take me at face value. So many have doubted and questioned the validity of my life situation that I just withdrew, unwilling to say too much.

“Why did they do that to you, child?” Catalina asks gently.

“Money. They wanted my inheritance, and they’d do anything to get it.” The words flow more easily. “My aunt tried to manipulate me into falling for her stepson Rupert. When that failed, she had him sneak into my bed one night.”

“Son of a bitch!” Ares explodes. Murderous rage erupts in the dark depths of his eyes.

I put a soothing hand on his forearm. “When that failed, she tried to force me to marry him by drugging me and bringing me to Las Vegas.”

“Nesovia never disappoints.” Jeremiah practically sneers as she says my home country’s name. It warms my heart to know people like Lucie and I aren’t the only people who find the customs and laws of the country vastly unfair.

“Your aunt seems to have gone through a lot of trouble to get your inheritance.” Prescott’s tone is cautiously skeptical.

“She’s a greedy woman. Resents that my grandfather didn’t leave her a penny—including the family business. She’s always believed she could run it better than him or my dad. But when Grandfather gave her a chance, she crumbled.” I shrug.

“Jealousy, greed and resentment make for great motivations,” Catalina remarks, her gaze on Prescott. “People kill for far less.”

“If Nesovia is so bad, why not just defect? If you have a decent amount of money, you can go anywhere,” Bryce says.

“Except maybe Japan,” Akiko murmurs. “But if you want, I could probably pull some strings and help. My family has some minor connections.”

“Is that what we call the zaibatsu? Families with some minor connections?” Jeremiah says, which makes Akiko flush.

I raise an eyebrow. Zaibatsu are powerful conglomerate families in Japan, and I met a couple of people from one once when they came to Nesovia to negotiate a shipping contract with Grandpa. Based on how sweet and unassuming Akiko is, I thought she was an ordinary Japanese woman who happened to fall in love with Prescott.

“Why does she need to defect or go anywhere, including Japan? She’s married to Ares now.” Josh shrugs. “So just say bye-bye to Nesovia.”

“The point isn’t the backwardness of the country, although it’s an important part of the discussion. But what I want to know is… Is there any hard evidence of deliberate poisoning by your aunt? Or anything else she’s done to harm or coerce you?” Catalina says.

“She’s an arrogant woman, and she used some of the maids at the house to buy the poison she used on me. But I can’t be sure if anybody would testify. They might not want appear like they’re betraying their employer. Although my aunt technically uses my money, she’s ‘the one who pays them.’”

“Anything else?” Catalina asks patiently.

“The doctors she had me see… And maybe the ER doctors who treated me when she fed me too much poison? I’m not sure if anybody would be able to help you build a case. It was a while ago, and the doctors didn’t see fit to report the problem to the authorities.” They were glad to take the money, but didn’t want to do more than the bare minimum they were legally required to do.

“I know what it takes to build a criminal case,” Catalina says. “I was a state prosecutor, after all. It bothers me that some people get away with the most horrible deeds because they get lucky, while their victims are left to suffer and cope with the trauma.”

“If I could get some revenge, that’d be great. But right now, all I want is to be free of their control.”

“You have me,” Ares says, lifting our linked hands and kissing my knuckles. “I’ll not only free you from their control, but we—the family—will avenge you. You’re a Huxley.”