FULL NOVELXO Chapter 36
Chapter 36
POV: “Adelaide*
There was silence. I heard nothing from outside the closet door anymore. It was like radio static in my head. All I knew was the
lump in my throat and the memory of betrayal.
The door swung open, the light pouring in and blinding my unadjusted eyes. I glanced up at the offending figure with squinted
eyes.
Corinna stood there, leaning against the door as she stared down at me with a smirk. Victory gleamed in her eyes.
I sat there in complete devastation, and I could feel my heart breaking in two inside my chest. I could hardly get a deep breath in
like someone had replaced all of the oxygen with water. I felt like I was floundering in the emptiness-like trying to stand without
gravity.
“Poor Addic,” Corinna put on a sad face as if she truly felt bad for me. “I tried to tell you. I really did.”
There was nothing I could say. Nothing I could do. I’d heard everything she had wanted me to. I knew intrinsically that she had
planned this. Had forced both of our hands into this mess, but now, I was trapped.
Trapped like a fly in a spiderweb.
I moved slowly, one foot at a time as I got to my feet. I clutched onto the wooden door as my legs wobbled beneath me- numb
from how long I’d been sitting on them.
I took a step-then another. I pushed past Corinna and out of the closet, squinting my eyes again at the sudden bright lights. I
knew it had only been twenty or thirty minutes, but it felt like an eternity had passed.
Like a lifetime had gone by and left me in this strange new world.
I made my way to the front door, not paying Corinna a bit of attention until she slid in front of me, her hands pushing against my
shoulders.
“Where are you going?” she demanded, crossing her arms as she stood in front of me to keep me from advancing any further.
“I’m going home,” I said, quietly.
“Home? And where is that. Addie?” Corinna said as I pushed past her and towards the door. “To Damon?”
I halted in my tracks, flinching at his name.
She clicked her tongue, and I heard the sound of her feet on the floor as she moved forward, reaching out to me. Her hand
landed on my back, almost comforting except for the manicured nails digging just slightly into my skin.
“It’s not too late, Adelaide,” Corinna told me. “You can still back out of the arrangement with Grandmother. A baby with a man
who loves someone else? Could you really do that?”
I clenched my teeth, shutting my eyes firmly as I shrugged off her hand.
“I’m just looking out for you,” Corinna cooed like she was talking to a misbehaving child. “So you don’t do something you’ll
regret.”
Sofily, she tugged me to face her, and a smirk pulled at the corners of her lips as she saw the tears running down my face. She
faked a sad look, reaching out her arms to pull me into a hug.
It felt weird. We never hugged, and Corinna never showed me any kind of affection.
It was the only time I had ever been embraced by Corinna, but there was no warmth or love like I felt from my grandmother or
Damon.
There was just emptiness.
Like trying to hug a mannequin or have a conversation with a puppet. I felt nothing even as she let go of me, a smile on her lips.
She really was terrible at hiding her emotions. No wonder she hadn’t made it as an actress yet.
“You’ll come to my wedding tomorrow, won’t you?”
God, I wanted to scream. I wanted to take every emotion in my chest and heart and throw it into the world so I didn’t have to deal
with it anymore. I wanted to scream until my lungs gave out, until my voice stopped working, and I had nothing left inside of me
anymore,
But I knew better.
I didn’t answer her, not even seeing fit to give a response to her petty remarks as I threw open the door and stormed out of her
apartment.
“Bye, Addie!” Corinna called out after me, giggling to herself.
I skipped the elevator, instead taking the stairs two by two as I practically flew down them. I wiped my face of the tears, my
resolve hardening as I pushed through the lobby and into the fresh night air.
I turned right immediately, following the path I knew from earlier. I ducked onto one of the street corners and there it was.
A sleek black car waiting at the end of the road. The lights flashed on as soon as I approached, and I spotted Peter standing by
the driver’s door.
“Miss Adelaide!” Peter called with a grin, waving me over. “Did things go well?”
“She bought it,” I said, roughly as I passed by him. I threw open the door to the backseat and got in, settling inside. I tried not to
glance at the other passenger as 1 threw on my seatbelt.
The car started rumbling as Peter got in and pulled away, heading back home.
“Did something happen?”
Damon’s low voice reached my ears and despite myself, I glanced over at him. He stared at me with a concerned look.
He reached out to me, his fingers just barely touching my cheek before he pulled back. His finger was wet with a droplet of
my tears.
“You were crying,” he said with a frown.
“I had to make it look convincing,” I told him, flatly.
“So she bought it?” Damon raised an eyebrow.
I nodded, glancing out the tinted windows as Peter pulled out of the street. I was exhausted, and my tears drained me.
“Addie-” Damon started.
“I’m just tired,” I responded without looking at him.
I could hear the worry-the guilt in his voice. We both knew what was bothering me, but neither of us was willing to admit it.
It had been the plan. Trick Corinna by any means necessary.
It was perfect. She bought every minute of it. She had no idea that we were in on it together.
We both played our parts well. But for me, some of it wasn’t a part. Some of the tears had been real.
I just hadn’t expected how much it would hurt to hear him say he loved Corinna. I’d grown so used to hearing him whisper my
name, the care, and love he put into every syllable, that I never thought of what it might be like if he said someone else’s.
I didn’t like it at all. I never wanted to hear him talk like that to anyone but me.
“I feel a bit bad for her,” I admitted, remembering the look on her face. She was as uncomfortable with the hug as I was, but even
after everything, I still only saw the little girl.
The little girl who came to my house only days after my mother’s funeral, the one with sad and hurt eyes as she clutched her
mother’s hand.
I had wanted to be a good big sister back then. Wanted to see her smile and be happy like my mother had taught me.
But things don’t always work out. We’d never been the type of sisters I had imagined us being.
I tried, but it seemed like I could never gain her trust. No matter what I did, there was always a distance between us.
“Don’t be,” Damon scowled, leaning back in his seat. “She’s getting exactly what she deserves.”
I glanced over at him, even as he took my hand in his. His ring was back on his finger, but I could only hear his voice repeating
over and over.
He said yes.
Since I was a child, I thought he hated me. I was so sure of it. We’d never gotten along, and I felt like before all this blew up in
our faces we had barely even spoken to each other.
But now, I loved him. I wanted him to be my husband, not for the inheritance, but for me. I’d never imagined I would end up with
Damon, but that was what I wanted now.
I couldn’t stop my brain from reverting back to thinking this was all some big joke on me after hearing him say yes to her.
No matter how much I hated myself for it. No matter how much I tried to deny it, the seeds of doubt had been planted.
What if Corinna was right? What if I was never meant to be happy, and I could only suffer for the rest of my life?
What if Damon was just tricking me too?
Why if we had always planned on him saying yes did it hurt so much?
Why did I want him to say no?