Chapter 9 Sleepy
Harridan's Point of View:
I sat down in my car for a minute longer before coming down, just as I had anticipated, Amby was standing by the door, her feet tapping the floor impatiently. She looked furious, and her hands were positioned on her waist. I hate this mood, the last time she was this angry, she nearly told her mother to cancel the contract protecting my siblings.
I hastened my footsteps towards her, hoping that things wouldn't get out of hand. A slap on my cheeks greeted me welcome to my Villa, and two maids came out with bags of my clothes.
“Go back to where you are coming from!” Amby thundered, her voice leaving no room for argument. “And don't you dare lie to me, I know you were with Lydia!” she said.
I have always known Justin to be a jerk, but never for once has he sold me out to Amby on anything related to Lydia. There were times I lied to Amby to visit Lydia. Justin knew this, but he kept quiet, so why is he suddenly backbiting me….or is there someone else watching me?” I thought, my hands caressing my cheeks.
“Is it Justin who informed you about my visit to Lydia?” I asked curiously, and Amby hissed.
“Wow, so Justin is also aware of this, and he didn't tell me when I asked. So bold of him,” Amby murmured under her breath, and I immediately knew that indeed it was someone else who told her my whereabouts.
“Are you stalking me, Amby?” I asked, but the words came out harsher than I intended them to.
Amby squinted her eyes at me. “What if I am? What are you going to do about it?” She asked with a grimace. “You'd better watch your tone when talking to me, and stop raising your voice at me!” She warned sternly.
We both stared at each other for minutes, and all through that time, a single question was in my head; ‘Is all this worth it?’
I was just ten years old when my father briefed me on my duty to the family, and it was simple: get married, strengthen the bloodline. I readily agreed to this because I thought I'd be the one to choose my bride, but not only was everything arranged, but I was also threatened with death.
My father gave me a simple task, to seduce Amby and get her to fall head over heels in love with me. I watched Amby carefully for years, and she was nothing but a brute. She bullied people she regarded below her, and her family preyed on the weak. She wasn't the type of girl I wanted to spend my life with, and I certainly didn't love her, so I refused to get married to her. This infuriated my father and he locked me up for months, hoping it'd change my mind, but it didn't.
Later, he took me to our dying pack house, and showed me around, telling me about the loan we owed, and how our members lived in penury. All of this touched me, I wasn't just fourteen, and my father made it feel like it was my job to fix the family. I was emotionally blackmailed, so I agreed to become friends with Justin, the Alpha's son, and beg him to help my family. This angered my father, he claimed only a marriage alliance could give us all we wished for, and when I refused, he vowed to disown me.
All pleas from my mother to agree with him fell on deaf ears, and just when I thought I'd won, my father gave me a condition and an ultimatum. It was either that I agreed or he'd kill my siblings. I thought he was joking Sonia didn't take him seriously. To prove his point, my father pierced my junior sister's chest with a spear, giving her serious heart damage. This broke me, and everyone made it look like it was my fault, so I had no other choice but to agree to marry Amby.
The true girl of my dreams, the one whom my heart belonged to was Lydia. I fell in love with her the first day we met. But I had to choose, either a crush or my family. Every single day, Lydia would smile at me, showing me signs of her undying love, but I had to ignore it. That was the only one I could survive.
———
“What the fuck are you thinking about? I'm talking to you and you dare doze off, how dare you?” Amby growled, and she looked different from the lady who acts like I'm her world in front of her friends and Lydia.
“Do you even love yourself?” I suddenly asked, dropping my hands beside me. “When you proposed marriage, you claimed you needed me and couldn't do without me now. But everything has changed, you've changed,” I murmured, just enough for her to hear.
Amby scoffed at me. “I've changed? What about you? Do you think you're still the same? My family's money feeds you, and you've fatten yourself and your family,” she taunted. “Also, don't talk about love beside me, because I'm damn sure that you don't love me. You still have feelings for Lydia, and you're not bothering to hide them. You think this marriage favours me, but it's actually you I'm helping. If I decide to cancel the wedding, your family will crash, and turn poor, and as for me, nothing will change.”
I kept quiet, knowing she was right. “The marriage would favour me more, so why is she getting married to me if she doesn't genuinely like me?” I wondered aloud and came to one conclusion. It had something to do with Lydia and her image as a saint.
Amby doesn't do anything unless it favours her, so she must be getting something off me. But I didn't say this, I kept quiet because at that moment, I had more to lose. I was still gathering evidence, enough evidence to have her as my pet. Something so strong, that she'd be willing to do anything I say to prevent me from exposing her. Everyone has a weakness, my father found mine, and I will find hers.