Chapter 76 - Restored fortunes.

Samantha

I sighed, stuffing my face into the palms of my hands. My life wasn’t perfect before I met Adam, but it was perfect enough! We survived. We were happy. Ish. We were as happy as we could be under the circumstances. I was happy. Why did he have to come into my life and interfere? I knew that if I rejected the king there was no way he would restore my parents’ fortune.

Tears started streaming down my cheeks as I sobbed in utter frustration. I wanted my parents to be happy. I wanted them to have everything. Sadly, it meant I would have to give up everything. I would have to accept the king as my mate. I would have to … Sleep with him … I hardly knew the man! A soft knock on my door forced me to swallow my tears.

“Come in.” I knew it could only be my mother, and I was right. She walked in looking incredibly uncomfortable. Almost as if she didn’t know how to tell me whatever she had to tell me.

“There was a royal guard at the door.” She started pacing back and forth. Wringing her hands together so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. “He is talking to your father, but I overheard him say that the king sent him.” She paced back and forth and then stopped to look at me. “Samantha, he is restoring our fortune! The king is giving us back all the money, the land and the titles!” She stopped and looked at me.

“Did you do this?” My mother’s voice was barely a whisper as she looked at me in utter astonishment. I sighed deeply as she sat down beside me on the bed.

“No, but Adam said he was planning on doing it. That was what we talked about this morning. He feels that for people to move on, there has to be some kind of acceptance and part of that is restoring our fortune. We aren’t the only ones.” That was that. The king bought me. There was no way out anymore. He made sure that I couldn’t reject him.

I didn’t have much time to ponder what was happening. My father burst into my room and I had never seen him that happy. He announced that we were rich again, and I wondered if they knew what the price was for their fortune. I felt like I was livestock being sold at the market. I was screaming in a crowded room but nobody noticed. I felt like my life was over and there was no way I could stop it!

I would never go as far as harming myself, but I sure as hell wished I was capable of such a thing. I knew I was being stupid. Every single female in our kingdom dreamed of being the queen. They all dreamed of being the king’s mate. I didn’t. My parents were so happy that they didn’t even notice the pain I felt. How torn I felt. I wanted this for them. I wanted them to have everything. I just wasn’t ready to give up my life for it.

I watched my mother gush and realized I couldn’t take this away from them. They had suffered under the scrutiny of the pack for long enough. They weren’t the ones who went against the queen’s wishes. They never did anything wrong. They deserved happiness. If it meant I had to sell my soul, I would do that.

In the morning, the guards showed up for my visit with Adam. I wasn’t ready for it, but I had no other choice. I had to do whatever it took to make sure that my parents got what was rightfully theirs. By the time I walked through the huge iron gates, I was nauseous. I knew that Adam would probably feel it through the stupid bond, but I couldn’t help it.

“I take it your parents have heard the good news.” He tried to smile, and I nodded.

“Yes, they are very grateful, but it wasn’t necessary. We were making ends meet.” The words bubbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. I sighed, feeling awful. “I’m sorry. I just …” I hesitated. “It was just a little much. Finding out that you of all people are my mate and now the money.” I sighed, looking ahead as we walked.

“I’m sorry. I did it to help. I never imagined it would cause you so much distress.” Adam looked worried, and I realized this was not going in the right direction.

“No, no. I’m sorry.” I stopped walking and when I looked into his eyes it felt as if he could see right into my soul. “I know that you were trying to do a good thing, and you did. My parents are so happy. They can rehire the staff that we had to let go over the years. Those people were also suffering because of your mother’s decision. I just …” I took another deep breath. “I don’t know how your mother will feel about this. I know that she doesn’t approve of me.”

I looked away. I didn’t want him to see the tears in my eyes. I wasn’t ready to be vulnerable in front of him. He was my destined mate, but I wasn’t ready.

“Samantha, we can take this as slow as you need. Just because we are destined mates doesn’t mean we have to jump into anything. Go home. Take care of your parents. I will be here whenever you are ready to talk. We don’t have to meet in the mornings. We can meet whenever you are ready.” His eyes were so kind. He took my hand and his kiss was so soft on my skin that I almost wondered if it had really happened. We said goodbye at the gates and on my way home, I felt relief. All my fears were gone.