Chapter 100: JOURNEY TO POWER
Fay laid in Ace’s bed, still as a frozen limb, but her mind traveled.
She thought of the many hands life kept dealing her. Horrible hands. It was pathetic to keep living with a fate like hers.
All it took was one appearance, one word, a flicker of mory, the actions of another to trigger the trauma she had accumulated over the years.
There was no stopping, nor slowing down the pain. Tears could only do so much, and in honesty, it had done more than enough.
It was ti to leave it behind, and seek better options, if she ever was going to make it out of this dungeon alive.
With that thought building a mansion in her head, she took a deep breath, and straightened up.
Ace, who was laid on his back, his hand underneath his head, as he quietly stared at the ceiling, turned, the mont he felt her move.
His lashes fluttered with curiosity, as he watched her slip out of bed, and crouched to pick up her shoes.
"Hey," he sat up, staring at her as she made it halfway to the door.
She paused, but did not turn around.
"Where are you going? Do you need sothing?" He asked.
She sniffled, and swallowed to clear her voice. "I’ll just head to my room," she replied, and continued in motion.
Swiftly, he was out of the bed, and before her. "Stop Fay. Let’s talk." He grabbed her hand to keep her from walking away.
She had turned her back on him, and stayed silent for the last thirty minutes. He thought she would want to talk after she had gathered her thoughts, but her actions right now were a rude awakening.
Sothing was off. He had quickly figured out what was, when it ca to his own feelings. But she, who was usually pretty readable, had worn a mask that sent chills down his spine.
"I don’t want to talk, Ace. Everything has been said already."
"No," he shook his head negatively. "We haven’t actually talked. I still don’t know how you feel about the Reign issue. I don’t know how you feel about seeing your uncle. I could guess, but I know it won’t compare to half of what you actually feel. Talk to , Fay."
"Why?" She turned unsuspectingly, despite his firm grip on her hand. "Why do we suddenly need to talk? You’ve never wanted to," she said in a monotonous voice.
Inwardly, he flinched a little. This was not the Fay he was used to. She was usually vibrant, and so full of life.
This person standing before him was cold, and expressionless. Her voice was hollow, and without substance. It almost felt like she was disconnected from the world. Not only was he startled by her coldness, he was also curious to know what had brought about the switch.
"Because we have to. Celine is plotting hard. She keeps throwing stones. I thought I would be able to protect you if I kept you at arms length. But she has found a way to use that to her advantage. I can’t let what happened today happen again, and that’s why I need you to open up to , so I know how I can help you."
A bitter laugh erupted from the depths of her stomach, as she stared sadly at him. "Give it up, Ace," she said, once it faded away. "You’re not the type of guy to do heavy emotions. There’s no point trying to force what’s not there. We’re going to stay married until the one year elapses, because it is a legal binding vow. But that’s as good as it gets. We’re going to continue down the path you’ve set. Surely, you’ve not suddenly forgotten your own rules." She pulled her hands out of his, and it easily slid away.
"Fay, you need to listen to ," he said in a desperate voice, as he tried to grab a hold of her hand again.
"No, you listen to . It’s not fair to use every trauma reaction I experience to try to better yourself. If you actually want to be good to , it shouldn’t co with a condition tied to my ssed up life. It doesn’t rub off as genuine. I used your card to send my Aunt so money, and I’m genuinely sorry for that. Whenever you start to honor your side of our contract, I’ll make sure to replace every penny. Enjoy the rest of your day, Ace."
Without so much as a glance back, she strode away from him, whilst fighting off the hot tears threatening to spill from her guts.
Ace staggered back, as if a punch had landed on his face.
He couldn’t wrap his head around what had just happened. And to top it off, he wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to.
Outside, Fay walked along the corridors, down to her room.
She pushed the door open, and noticed everywhere was empty. Her pupils dilated, and her nose scrunched as she walked into the empty room.
Everything was gone. From top to bottom, empty.
She stepped back, and peeped outside, wondering if perhaps, she had gotten into the wrong room.
Subconsciously, she counted the rooms from Ace’s. Her count stopped in the exact room her fra occupied.
Taking a second peek as if her things would magically appear, she was still stunned when she was t with a big fat room of nothing.
She heard footsteps behind, and whipped her head to see Alice approach.
"Good evening ma’am," the chef said, wearing a smile on her bright face.
"Good evening, Alice," she muttered, running out of strength necessary to speak louder.
"I’m sure you’re wondering why you can’t find your things. Well, ma’am Gabrielle called while you were away, and asked that your things be moved to a different room. I’m sorry that it was done in your absence, but I was there to supervise the move," she said proudly.
Fay, too exhausted to argue, relaxed her shoulders and sighed. "That’s okay. Where’s my new room?"
"Please co with ."
She nodded, and followed behind Alice who led her to the third room before hers.
Much closer to Ace than she would have loved, but again, too exhausted to voice out her concern.
Alice opened the door, and slid to the side to allow Fay to go through.
She mumbled an appreciation, and walked into her new room.
Her eyes narrowed, as it scanned the entirety of the room.
It was more spacious than her previous. All the artwork she ntioned she loved had also been brought in. The walls were painted with very alluring colors that gave it a starry night the.
"Do you like it, Mrs Fay?" Alice asked, clasping her hand in anticipation for her reaction.
"It’s beautiful," she said.
Alice’s face fell. Sure she had called it beautiful, but sothing was entirely off about her deanor.
There was no sign of the bubbly, little girl kind of excitent, Fay. Matter of fact, she looked over everything.
Marilyn had ntioned that they ran into her aunt’s husband. Going by what she rembered, the bastard had almost molested her, yet she was the one blad for seducing a grown man.
She wished she had been in that ice cream shop, and made the connections as soon as the man showed up. She wouldn’t have let go of him, until she redesigned his nose in the most brutal way possible.
"Should I bring you sothing to eat?" She trailed out of her mind, and returned her attention to her mistress who had walked over to her closet.
"If you can, please. Also, I’d like to take my bath. My–"
"Yeah, we took your body work from the placeholder bathroom. It’s all in your new bathroom," she interrupted, keeping her smile.
"Thanks Alice. I appreciate you."
"Anyti. If you’ll excuse , I’ll go bring your food." She bowed, and turned around.
Fay breathed out when the door closed behind her. She could also feel how off she was, and she was beginning to co to terms as to why.
Subconsciously, she had made a decision that would manifest in the next couple of hours. But first, she needed to wash off the stench of the presence of her aunt’s husband, from her body.
Taking out changing clothes from her closet, she walked to her new bathroom.
An hour later, filled up with food, and refreshed, Fay grabbed her phone she found on her bedside table.
As she opened it, she was greeted with a ssage from her Aunt.
She sighed anxiously, and opened it.
"You should have sent more, you ungrateful brat!" She read out loud.
She bobbed her head, completely numb from the pain. She wasn’t expecting a different reaction anyway.
Scrolling through her contacts, she found the one she had archived. It had sent her a reminder text, and she had archived it in return because she knew a day might co to take up the offer.
With her chin and forehead set in a determined line, she dialed the matriarch of the Atticus dynasty.
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