I didn’t touch any of the food that was brought out and refused to participate in the conversation around the table. Leighton tried to get me to talk to him, but I just ignored whatever he was saying. I was good at tuning people out and he was easy to ignore. He eventually got the hint and gave up.
I texted Mason to find out where he was, but he didn’t reply. I texted again to make sure he knew that what had just happened on stage wasn’t what it looked like. There was still no reply.
As soon as dinner was finished, I jumped up. Time to get out of there. A guy I hadn’t met before stopped me when I turned from the table.
“Excuse me,” I said and tried to walk past him. He matched my movements and shook his head.
“Ma’am, you’re supposed to stay here.”
“Yeah, well, and my mother is supposed to care about me.” I made another attempt at walking past him and was thwarted again. Seriously, what was it with these brainless thugs my mother seemed to be hiring lately?
“Let me through,” I ground out.
“Stella. Cease this behavior at once,” my mother admonished.
“What behavior? Trying to go home?”
“You are home. But I see you need a reminder in proper etiquette. Tomorrow we will pick your lessons back up where we left off before your little tantrum.”
My blood ran cold and my whole body went still.
“I’m not staying here.”
“Oh, but you are. Just think of your friend and her darling kids.”
Just the mention of Nora made all my resistance evaporate. She knew how to get my compliance.
“Fine. Now if you’ll excuse me,” I clipped, storming out. This was a nightmare I wish I could wake up from. Nobody stopped me, but I noticed the hired muscle followed me up to my room.
I slammed the door behind me, at least as much as one could slam a heavy oak door, and took in my room.
It looked exactly like I left it. A lot of soft pink and white, and a hideous wallpaper that I had hated on sight. I had no hand in decorating the room and wasn’t allowed to change anything once the interior designer was finished. I was a stranger in my own home, careful of every step I took and every word I said.
It was exhausting. And now I was right back to where I started. I had to get out before things escalated. That was one thing I was sure about. My mother wouldn’t just let me get away with my defiance. She was good at biding her time and waiting for the right moment to put me back in my place. I felt pathetic, letting my mother control me like that.
My eyes closed for only a moment before I was jostled awake by a knock on my door. I sat up, disoriented and still in the same clothes. I tried to turn on my phone to check the time, but it was dead. It was getting light outside which told me I must have slept all night.
Just as well that my phone was out of battery, otherwise I might have been tempted to message Mason again.
The knock sounded again, and I got up and opened the door only to come face to face with David. My eyes narrowed, and I suppressed the urge to snarl at him. Instead I closed the door on him without a word.
“Stella, come on. Don’t be like that. We need to talk.”
I glared at the door. “Nothing to talk about, other than you’re a backstabbing, heartless minion.”
“Now that’s a bit harsh, don’t you think? I understand you’re angry, but you’ll come to see the value of this connection as soon as you calm down.”
“The only people benefitting from this arrangement are you and my mother. Not sure how you could think this is anything I would ever accept.”
He was delusional. Surely he would understand how this ridiculous idea would never go anywhere.
“Don’t you want to get out from under your mother’s thumb? If you marry me, you’ll have all the freedom you ever wanted.”
That thought made me stop pacing and stare at the door. I had a taste of freedom and wanted to keep it. The thought of having to go back to the way things were made me nauseous. But the thought of marrying David felt wrong. Not while I had such strong feelings for Mason, even if he left me high and dry and didn’t respond to my messages.
Five minutes of silence passed and I thought he’d left, when he knocked again.
“If you open the door, we can talk about this like the mature adults we are. I know you’ll come to see how this is going to benefit you as well.”
I didn’t make a move to open the door. I needed time to think about this. And I had to talk to Willa.
A business card was pushed under my door. “That’s my new number. Call me when you’re ready to talk.”
His receding footsteps meant that I was finally alone. I went back to the bed and searched the nightstand for a charger. I didn’t have much luck and gave up in defeat.
I got a change of clothes out of my still overflowing closet and turned on the water in my bathroom. It was as big as Willa’s living room, the rainfall shower something I had to admit I actually missed. I stripped my clothes off and stepped into the warm water. It was heaven standing under the stream, and my arm didn’t sting when I put it under the water. At least I was almost back to normal.
The shower was quick since I didn’t want to risk getting my arm too wet. I dressed back in black skinny jeans that were
