45. The Way Out!

Author's POV 

Emerald looked at Egon like he had lost his mind. For a moment, she couldn't process what he was saying; his words were ringing foggily in her ears.

Egon smirked at her reaction, his hand pushed back the hair off her shoulder. 

"This is the only way you can give me a family..."

Her heart sank to her stomach when she realised what he was trying to do. She shook her head in shock.

"No!"

He chuckled.

"So naive of you to think that I was asking."

Her eyes watered.

"You can't do this Egon. Listen to me, I can find out a way... This is not possible, you can't marry me."

He gritted and jerked her towards him, feeling deeply offended by her rejection of the proposal.

"Yes, my love... I can do anything and you can't stop me... You are mine, and you will become my wife soon... Make peace with this."

He let her go and started walking out. 

"Egon, listen..."

She grabbed his hand and stopped him. 

"Please, this is insane... You can't trap me for the rest of my life, I didn't do that to you... You have to end this somewhere, please try to understand."

He turned around towards her.

"Who said we are playing with rules?"

He kissed her lips and walked out leaving her in tears behind.

Emerald could feel her throat tightening as if someone were trying to choke her. The chest felt heavy and it became hard to control. She sobbed through suffocation as she fell on her knees.

Never in her life did she think that she would be forced to marry. She was terribly missing her power now. 

She was in tears when Ruby came to her door. She looked at her and wiped her tears while quickly turning away from her gaze. 

Ruby saw her state and felt the pang in her chest; somewhere, she is also responsible for this state.

She entered and sat beside Emerald who refused to show her tears to anyone. 

"Tears are not weakness, I won't judge you for crying."

Emerald kept looking out of the window.

"I know this is not the right time, but I want to tell you that I am feeling happy today. Because you accepted that you love me."

Emerald placed her head in her knees and cried silently.

"I am not ready for this conversation, Ruby... Leave me alone."

"It's easy to hide emotions behind rudeness, but I guess you are brave enough to face your emotions..."

Ruby was a little scared, but tonight she wanted to talk to her sister and not the Queen.

"There are so many questions I have for you."

"I am not going to answer any."

Emerald snapped at her. 

"I expected that."

She fiddled with her fingers. 

"But I don't know if we will ever get the chance to talk like this, so I'll ask, I know you won't answer, but still..."

Emerald just kept wiping her tears.

"Why is it difficult for you to marry him if you love him?"

Emerald's head snapped towards her, no one knows that they were romantically involved. And she was expecting her to question why she treated her like that when she cared for her.

"I know I am not smart like you but I can see that you two have something between you too... And Egon is still alive which shows that you can't kill him, you don't kill people if you care about them... And your neck is filled with his love bites..."

"I won't be marrying the man I love..."

Emerald finally answered her.

"The man who is asking me to marry him is the man who hates me... Do you have any idea what he will do to me once I become his wife? Haven't you seen Mad King?... A man in hate is not human, he is a monster... You know the consequences of becoming a wife, you have seen Bertha. Egon hates me, he wants to marry me so I'll give him a family. He wants me to do it because I am the reason why he doesn't have a family, it's a punishment for me... He will force me to warm his bed whenever he wants, he will force me to have his kids, and I don't know how many kids he will force on me. I would go through hell of a pain to give him a family... And even if I do, those kids will grow up with parents whose life is built on revenge. They will become psycho just like the mad king made us... And in all these, I'll be humiliated and hurt as a punishment. My life will be hell, without freedom and will... Now tell me, Ruby. Do you still think that marrying him is a good decision... He is not the man who loves me anymore, even if he does then the hate will always prevail between us because we have destroyed each other to the extent where we can't heal... We are completely destroyed and there is no going back..."

Ruby was lost for words for a moment.

"You are right, you know this world better than me but do you have any other choice... He wants his family and there is no one left..."

"I don't know, if I don't do anything soon then he will kill you..."

Emerald grabbed her head defeated. 

"There must be some way, something! I can't give up like this."

"I'll do anything to help you, just tell me if you want me to do anything for you... Maybe you should say no to the marriage, I don't care if he kills me."

She replied sadly.

"Don't ever say that in front of him... He will kill you, stupid."

Emerald scolded her.

"You are alive because he has found out that I care about you... The moment I turn my back on you, he will kill you."

Ruby's eyes watered.

"You are scaring me!"

"Shut up!"

Emerald placed her head on the window to think of something. She can't go out, but Ruby can, and it might help her to find something.

"Rancho?"

Ruby suggested.

"He is Egon's cousin."

Emerald shook her head.

"Not by blood!"

Her eyes snapped open when she recalled something.

"I have heard something about someone from his family, if that person is really alive, then I have to find out. There are very low chances but we can try our luck..."

"But how, we don't know anything?"

Ruby was confused. 

"Reach out to Egon's family doctor, they would have his father's DNA samples... Give it to Benjamin and tell him that I have asked him to find a girl with the same DNA. He will help you."

Emerald explained.

"But you have to be careful. If she hasn't came out till now then she is probably hiding from Egon."

"Whom are we looking for?"

Ruby questioned.

"A girl, who is supposed to be Egon's sister!"

Emerald replied with hope.