Before Abigail took her anger out on her father, she forced herself to calm down and breathe. She readjusted her thoughts and realized she needed to be calm right now, or anything she said her father would be able to write off as her simply being irrational."No," Abigail said finally, shaking her head. "Dad, listen, I don't know what Lyall told you, or what he meant by them, or what even made him say the things he did." Abigail paused, and drew in a deep breath. "But what I can tell you is this, I am not marrying him."Adam was quiet for a moment before answering his daughter. "Why not?"Abigail was a bit taken aback by the tone of his voice.Abigail was sure her father must either be entirely blind, or absolutely losing his mind. Did he not see the way Olivia stared at Lyall? Or the way he stole glances at her back?And for that matter, was Lyall losing his mind? Who marries someone when they're clearly in love with her sister?And suddenly, she understood why Olivia wasn't so
Abigail lay basking in the afterglow of the moment she had just shared with Mark. She lay naked on his chest, his arms wrapped securely around her, and she felt like every difficult load had been lifted off of her shoulders.They had been laying like this for a while, speaking intermittently, about everything and anything and nothing. Abigail had lost track of how long they had been laying together.A comfortable silence had also stretched between them from time to time, a quiet lull that sometimes Abigail thought she was falling asleep in.Then they would speak again for a bit, and Abigail wasn't entirely sure which parts of it were dreams and which parts were reality."Maybe," Mark told her after a period of silence. "Maybe marrying a business mogul wouldn't be such a bad thing."Abigail felt ice pull all through her, and that serene silence was broken immediately. She wished beyond anything those words were just part of a nightmare, but she knew they were both awake."What?" S
Abigail slept the night in her old bed, in her old bedroom. And though the mattress was hard and uncomfortable, it was the best night's sleep she had had in weeks.The next morning, Abigail woke up without an alarm, and found herself in an empty kitchen. Her mother always slept in when she had the chance, it was both the best luxury she could afford, and the cheapest healing tool for her body. Whichever way she looked at it, she needed to sleep, and so she did.Abigail reached into the cupboards and poured herself a bowl of cereal. She then sat, curled on the couch with her bowl, and chewed peacefully.So different to how her mornings had been going with her father. There, she had woken the same minute every day, to the blaring alarm at her side, and showered and dressed in the best suit she could find, to have breakfast with her father, grasping on to the only few minutes she might have with him, before each of them taking their own cars to the same office.Abigail didn't think le
Abigail walked back through the grand doors of the Mansion, and almost ran straight into her stepmother and half-sister."Ugh," Charlotte groaned. "You couldn't stay away for longer than a day?""Oh, no," Abigail told her stepmother, "How could I allow you that satisfaction?""So you admit it!" Charlotte pointed an accusatory finger at Abigail, "You're just here to make my life Hell.""Actually," Abigail corrected her. "You do a good job of making your own life Hell, but I'm happy to help where needed.""How dare you!" Charlotte began."Stop," Abigail told her clearly. "I would really stop whatever you were going to say if I were you. I just want to remind you both of one thing. I am going to inherit the company, this Mansion and everything else my father has by way of inheritance. You heard him. You know how he's set up both mine and Charlotte's inheritance."Charlotte glowered as Abigail spoke, but didn't dare interrupt her."We each have our own account," Abigail continued,
Abigail stood outside her father's office door. He was always in here, she realized. She had never once gone to him in his bedroom, not that she wanted to, given that she had heard even Charlotte was forbidden from coming to his personal bedroom. There was no reason to anger the woman very capable of poisoning her any further.But Abigail wondered how he survived like this. How his entire life was only in the confines of two offices or a car. It was, more than likely possible, what made him the way that he was. Cold, shut off. It was how he lived his life, after all.Gathering her strength, she knocked on the door. And after a moment, she heard an invitation to come.Abigail turned the door and walked into the office."Abigail," her father greeted her as she entered his office. "I was beginning to worry, I all but sent my team out again after you.""I appreciate the privacy," Abigail told her father sincerely."I trust that since you're back," Adam began hopefully. "You have some
The next day though, as soon as Abigail came home from an eventful but tiring day at work, she found Lyall sitting in their living room. She started to make a beeline towards her room, but Charlotte stopped her."Abigail!" Charlotte screamed at her retreating back, and Abigail closed her eyes and sighed.Slowly, she turned around, "Yes, Charlotte.""You must come in and say hi to Mark, and relieve Olivia here so she can go elsewhere," Charlotte said pointedly, looking at her daughter. "She's been keeping Lyall company all afternoon."Abigail stared at Olivia and Lyall sitting quite comfortably on the sofa together.Why weren't they at work? Did they not work for the same company she worked for? Was there a holiday today that she was unaware of?Olivia and Lyall looked far too happy in each other's company to bother with looking up at Charlotte.So, her father passing on the news of the rejected proposal hadn't seemed to phase Lyall in the least, then. Abigail was both grateful a
Abigail found Mark standing by some rocks, not bending over anything, not studying the ground, simply standing there."Abigail," Mark breathed a sigh of relief, as he came towards her and engulfed her in a hug. "Thank god. I tried calling and messaging for two days and nothing worked. I didn't know what else to do so I just came here, hoping you would come."Abigail's heart softened as she realized Mark had been trying to get hold of her, and she almost melted when he said he'd just been outside, waiting and hoping she would come out and meet him.Abigail frowned, she hadn't felt her phone so much as vibrate in her pocket, and she normally checked it whenever it did."Oh!" Abigail exclaimed into the hug, remembering. "I went to my mom's house, but I didn't take a charger with me and she doesn't have one that would fit my phone. I mean, she would now, but she didn't when I was there. My phone must have died as soon as I left your place.""Look," Mark said, pulling back from their h
Soon, everything was on a good flow for Abigail.She was living with her father, visiting her mother often, and spending time with Mark. She almost had a routine down, she almost had an adjustment to normal.So she woke up this morning like she had every morning so far, and expected everything to go the same.Abigail showered and dressed and arrived for breakfast as she normally did.She should have known, as soon as she went to breakfast, that things were not going to be going as smoothly today as she had hoped.Sitting at the breakfast table was her father at the head, as usual. Olivia was still at the table which wasn't too unusual. Sometimes her sister went to work earlier than either Abigail and their father, and sometimes she lagged a little and went to work when they did. This morning probably just happened to be one of her lazy mornings.But what was unusual at the table, was Charlotte. Sitting dressed in a near identical suit to her and Olivia.Oh. So today was a workin