Chapter 5: Something's Off

I didn’t know how long I’d been sitting there crying.

The palace garden was quiet, the noise from the grand hall reduced to a distant hum behind the thick hedges and old trees. I sat on a cold stone bench, fingers twisted in the fabric of my red dress, tears soaking into my lap.

“I’m glad I’m not tied to a fat, disgusting cow like you for the rest of my life.”

Jake’s words kept replaying, over and over.

I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that if I cried hard enough, I might wake up from this nightmare. But every time I opened them, I was still here, alone in the garden, the celebration carrying on without me.

He had found his mate. He had kissed Maria right in front of everyone. He had looked at her with a kind of hunger and joy I’d spent years dreaming he would one day show me.

All those promises… everything we dreamed of together had vanished in a single night, like they’d never been real.

Footsteps hurried down to me. I barely had time to look up before a hard slap landed on my face.

My head jerked to the side. The sting bloomed across my cheek.

“What have you done?” my mother shrieked.

I touched my face with a trembling hand, stunned. “M-Mom…”

“Don’t you ‘Mom’ me!” She grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to this family?”

Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean—”

“You couldn’t even keep one man!” she shouted, shoving me back a step. “You promised us you would lose weight!”

“I tried—”

“It wasn’t enough!” Her voice broke with anger. “You failed us!”

Each word landed harder than the slap. I shook my head, sobbing.

“I didn’t choose this. I wanted him too... but fate had other plans."

“You wanted him?” She let out a bitter laugh. “Well, wanting wasn’t enough, was it?”

My sister, Abigail, stood a few feet behind her, silent. She wouldn’t even meet my eyes, she just stared at the ground with disappointment.

More footsteps approached. We all turned.

It was Dad.

His face was completely blank, he didn't look enraged, his eyes were cold and it scared me more than mom's anger.

“D-Dad…” I whispered, my lips trembling. He's going to hit me too, he's going to punish me for ruining everything.

He looked straight at me. “Jake called.”

My heart skipped a beat. “He… he did?”

For one stupid second, I thought he might have changed his mind. That he regretted what he’d said.

Dad’s next words killed that hope instantly.

“He’s withdrawn every contract connected to our family.”

My eyes widened.

“Our partnership with him is finished. He’s ordered his friends and associates to cut ties with us.”

I couldn’t breathe. “No… that can’t—”

“He made it clear,” Dad continued, voice flat. “After tonight, he wants nothing linking him to this family.”

My knees buckled. I grabbed the back of the bench to stay upright.

“You were that link, Lillian.”

Mom covered her face and started to cry. “Our company is finished,” she sobbed. “We were counting on Jake…”

I looked from Mom to Dad, their pain and anger crashing over me.

This was my fault. If I had just lost the weight… If I had been enough for him…

Dad sighed. “Let’s go home.”

No one reached for me. No one asked if I was okay. I simply followed behind them like a ghost, each step heavier than the last.

As we left the palace grounds, one question kept circling through my mind: If I had already lost Jake… What else was I about to lose?

*****

It had been days since the ceremony.

I’d lost count. My family had locked me in my room like some shameful secret. No one spoke to me. No one checked on me. I wasn’t allowed outside, and they’d taken my phone. The worst part was I hadn’t eaten since that night, my stomach had twisted itself into knots so tight that food felt impossible.

“Since you don’t want to help yourself,” my mother had hissed as they shoved me inside, “we’ll do this the hard way.”

The lock had clicked, and that was that.

The only company I had was an old, worn teddy bear I’d gotten from my uncle years ago, before he passed. I hugged it to my chest, fingers buried in its thinning fur. I wished he was still here. He would’ve protected me. He would’ve told my parents to stop. But he was gone, and I was completely alone, trapped in this room with no idea when, or if this nightmare would end.

Or maybe it had only just begun.

A sudden sharp knock on the door made me flinch. Before I could sit up, the lock turned and my mother stepped inside wearing a bright, almost giddy smile. Her eyes were sparkling with something like hope.

For one stupid second, my heart lifted. Maybe Jake had come back. Maybe he’d changed his mind and everything was going to be okay again.

“We have good news,” she announced.

“What good news?” I asked quickly, my voice hoarse from disuse.

She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she crossed the room and grabbed my wrist.

“Since you ruined our lives,” she said, still smiling, “we’ve found a way for you to fix everything.”

I barely had time to react before she dragged me out of the room and down the hallway toward the living room. My legs felt weak after days of barely moving. When we stepped inside, I froze.

A man in a sharp suit sat on the couch beside my father. He looked polished and serious, like someone who closed deals for a living. My dad, on the other hand, looked happier than I’d seen him in days, pleased, almost excited, the way he did when a big business deal finally went through.

I was never invited to these kinds of meetings. Ever. So why was I suddenly being paraded in here?