Chapter 99 DINNER WITH THE DEVIL
AMARA'S POINT OF VIEW.
The dining room was Caroline’s shrine. The expensive chandeliers, dishes, cutlery, the curtains, everything blended so out of place, that it almost resembled a horror movie. Today, she chose to mix emerald and yellow together… two of my favourite colours, but she used them in such an awkward way that all I could do was stare in distaste at how everything looked.
“Oh, wonderful.” Her voice rang out from where she stood, directing the staff on where to drop the crystal wine glasses. She liked to show off, especially when we had guests, because for some reason, she needed them to know that we were rich. It was so off-putting, but I always sat back and watched her embarrass herself every time.
“Caroline…? What is this?” My father asked, as he stared at the dining table with surprise. He hated it too, I could tell in the way his shoulders tightened. He had since let go of my hand and put on the same aloof, hateful expression he had towards me whenever she was in the same space as us.
It always broke my heart to see him have to pretend that he didn’t care, for whatever reason or thing she had against him.
“Allister, we’re gonna have to decorate for our future in-laws. Stop looking around like a fish.” She said, folding her stiff, bony hands on her missection. She looked younger than me, and that was because of how much Botox she had injected into her body.
It was almost sad, because she had almost as much plastic as the ocean in her face alone. She always seemed to be competing with someone,….and I had a feeling it was my mother.
My mother has brown hair, but Caroline’s has always been blonde. One day, she suddenly appeared with hair the same shade as my mother's.
“Nothing’s finalised yet. They’re not our in-laws.” My father said, placing his hands in his pockets to hide the chenching from Caroline.
“Oh, please, they might as well be. Especially because this will go exactly as planned, right?” She asked, fixing my father with a look. And I swear, I could see something in those contacts she wore….it was as if her pupils suddenly appeared sharper.
My father nodded, but I didn’t miss the way his jaw clenched.
“Perfect.” She clapped her hands and turned to me. “Oh, look, it’s the future bride. Look how beautiful you look dressed in that. I was thinking of getting the press to take the pictures now, but we’ll just wait till the end of the dinner instead.”
“Wait..the press?” I asked in shock.
“Yes.” She said, like that wasn't a big fucking problem.
“I thought this was supposed to be between us alone.”
“Allister, you know me. I couldn’t help it. I think it would be a great idea if the world knew she’s off the market.”
“You mean you want my mother to see the news, and possibly develop a heart attack,” I said, clenching my hands into fists. If this bitch thinks she can make me partake in something that would devastate my mom, she has another thing coming. I swear to fuck, I’ll leave this house and never look back.
Fuck it all.
Her smile was unmissable as she said, feigning ignorance. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. This is just for the formality.”
Before I could say anything, my father’s voice rang out, “This will be publicised.”
“What? You’re letting her do this?” My heart broke at that. I thought he cared about my mother least of all. Even if he didn’t really care about me, at least, he should care about my mom…right?
“Perfect,” Caroline said, even though she looked just as surprised as I was.
“Dad, if this has to be publicised, I will walk out of here no matter what. I swear, I don’t care about anything else, but if my mother has to suffer for anything…you will see the worst side of me.”
“Sit down, Amara. We have dinner to get to.” He said, turning to me, but his eyes….they appeared, almost pleading.
I didn’t want to oblige, but for some reason, my heart tugged, and I found myself plopping in the expensive dining chair Caroline had picked out to replace the also expensive ones that were here before.
In no time at all, the head maid walked in with the Montclair family trailing behind them. Caroline sprang up to her feet with a wide smile on her face as she walked over to them. I swear, she looked like a fucking pug; it was almost sickening how eager she was to lick the shoes of whoever she needed to, as long as she made them think she belonged with them.
“Amara…come on, greet your future husband and family.” She called out, after hugging them, turning to me with that same vicious smirk on her face. I swear, I wanted to smack her.
I didn’t act as though a human being had spoken; I remained in my seat and stared ahead instead, not caring about how the hell it would look. I knew it would reflect badly on her, so I did it with even more joy.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Julian Montclair looking at me with disdain.
“Sorry. She’s usually a proper young lady. Today, I think she has her period.” My cheeks flamed with embarrassment at Coraline’s words. How could she say something like that?
“It’s okay. I’m familiar with girls like her.” Julian Montclair, the boy I was supposed to marry, said, and I could hear the smugness in his voice.
My skin crawled at the thought of being tied to him for the rest of my life. I turned to my father and silently pleaded with him, but he didn’t budge. His eyes still maintained that pleading look.
“Please, sit. Julian, sit beside your future wife. You two should get properly acquainted after all.”
I bit the inside of my cheeks at the thought of being so close to him immediately, but before the animal could sit beside me, the voice of the one man who made my heart skip broke out in the dining room;
“Has dinner started without me?”