Chapter 56

The dawn broke over the Ashworth estate with an unsettling clarity, the morning light banishing the shadows that had loomed over Donna like a specter. Yet, the clarity felt like a cruel joke-a promise of hope twisted into the farce of her waking nightmare.

The residue of last night's chaos clung to the air like smoke in her room, while her heart felt the weight of betrayal like an anchor. Donna stared out the window as her reflection mingled with the world beyond: the grand gardens, the lush greenery, and far off, the carriage poised to take her away from everything she held dear.

Matilda, he said, and with the name, a rush of anger welled inside Donna's veins. How could she? She was her best friend, the one who promised to be there through thick and thin, yet had joined the rank of betrayal by aligning herself with the man whom Donna had treated as a father all this time, but in reality, meant nothing other than a looming figure of discipline and strictness in Donna's mind.

In the midst of her spiraling emotions, a soft knock came from the door. It creaked open to reveal Matilda, pale and trembling, standing at the threshold like a fragile bird. "Donna?"

"Leave me!" Donna snapped, the bitterness tangling her words.

"Please, will you let me explain?" Matilda pleaded, her voice tiny and quivering as she took a tentative step inside.

"Explain what? Your betrayal?" Donna's voice dripped with scorn. "You had the audacity to allow your infatuation to disrupt our entire lives, and now you want to talk? Spare me your feeble justifications!"

Matilda's face fell, and she took a quivering breath. "I didn't plan for this to happen. I never meant to hurt you!"

"Didn't mean to hurt me?" Donna laughed, bitterness coating her words, and the seething anger underneath. "You mean to tell me that somehow you just forgot I was your best friend? Or maybe I was only a stepping stone to get to what you really wanted!"

"That's not fair!" Matilda snapped, her determination wrapping around her vulnerability. "I love your father, and—"

Love?" Donna interrupted, aghast. "You think calling it 'love' makes it any less despicable? You've brought shame upon this household, and upon me! You're the very essence of betrayal, Matilda!"

The words cut into Matilda like whips, and her eyes welled with tears. "I never wanted to hurt you; I swear! It just happened!

"'It just happened'?" Donna echoed, incredulous. "How convenient! Do you have any idea that you have shattered everything in my life that was worth anything? You have stolen from me the only semblance of support I had, for a whim! For a whim!

"What do you want me to say?" Matilda cried, desperation clawing at her. "I know I hurt you—"

"Enough! You've said enough!" Donna felt the tempest rising inside her, an overwhelming storm ready to break. "You and my father—do you think I can just stand by and pretend none of this matters?"

The silence of Matilda hung thick in the air, and the tension between them crackled with unreleased emotion. "I would seek your forgiveness if only you'd allow me the chance."

"Forgiveness?" Donna sneered, her heart breaking under the weight of her own fury and despair. "You want forgiveness for what? For turning your back on our friendship? For betraying me in the worst conceivable way?"

A deep silence followed as both sisters struggled against the tide of emotion swelling up within them. Finally, it was Matilda who spoke softly. "Please… I don't want to lose you."

Too late," Donna hissed, her blood boiling with indignation. "You've already lost me. There's nothing left here for me, not with you entangled in this web of disgrace!"

Suddenly, the door burst open again, and their father entered, his tall frame imposing and filled with authority. "What's going on in here?" he asked, his brow furrowed, concern etched over his features.

Donna whipped around to face him, rage surging to the forefront of her mind. “What’s going on is you’ve ruined my life, Father! You’ve chosen her—your own daughter’s friend—over me!”

“I’ve chosen love,” he replied firmly, though the guilt clouding his eyes gave way to the inner conflict he felt. “It’s not a simple matter, Donna. Life doesn’t stop because of your hurt feelings.”

Life doesn't stop?" Donna shrieked, voice breaking, scaling an octave as the world started to spin around her. "How could you do this to me? And with her?" She jerked her arm in the direction of Matilda, a cut more profound than any knife could cut.

"Enough!" boomed Father's voice, resounding in the room with weight that did not leave any space for argument. "This is not all about you; you must understand that. I try to create a life with someone who makes me happy—"

"Happy? You think pursuing happiness on my account is just?" Donna screamed, her heart beating inside her chest like a war drum. "I won't let you!"

Matilda stepped forward, tears cascading down her cheeks. "Donna, please. You don't know how I feel-"

"I know exactly how I feel, and it is anger!" Donna clenched her fists, charging toward Matilda. "You have ripped the very ground I stand on, and leaving is the only action that can cleanse the vile presence of betrayal from my life!

"Please, I love him!" Matilda cried wretchedly, but Donna cast her eyes aside, unwilling to hear another word from the voice which was once so dear to her and now spoke only to remind her of her desolation.

"Matilda, you are no longer deserving of that name. You are a specter to which I am no longer bound."

With a swift motion, Donna turned, storming toward the door, desperate to escape the suffocating weight of betrayal. She hadn't made it far when she heard their father call out after her. "You cannot just run away from your problems, Donna!"

"Yet here you are, reveling in your own," she shot back, flinging the door wide open. The outside world beckoned like a wild siren, promising freedom from the confines of the estate, if only for a fleeting moment.

"Donna!" Matilda's voice followed her, laced with a desperation that resonated deep within her core. But Donna pressed on, determined to flee from the maw of ease that had accumulated around her heart.

The carriage waited in the distance, its dark silhouette against the horizon almost enticing. "You think you can just send me away to be rid of me?" she thundered, her voice punctuating the air.

"We are trying to help!" Matilda shouted back, but Donna would have none of it.

With a raw scream, she rushed across the yard, hair whipping across her face, heart pounding in her chest. The world felt electric as she reached the carriage, her mind reeling. "I won't go! Do you hear me?" she screamed, her emotions spilling over like a torrent.

She was hurled against the wooden side, fists against the carved surface. "I'm not leaving!"

Her father and Matilda rounded the corner and grabbed her before she was able to protest more. "We cannot have you raving like this!" he incredulously yelled, mingling his shock with concern. "Come, Donna, it is for your good!"

She whirled, angry tears welling along her cheeks as rage and hurt mixed in every shout escaping her lips. "No! You'll not drag me away! You cannot imprison me for the sins of your choices!"

In a flash, before she could jump aside, Matilda and Father had grabbed her, imprisoning her struggles in a flurry of desperation. "Let go of me!" she screeched, flailing against their strong grips.

With trembling hands, they dragged her toward the coach, her protests echoing against the estate's walls, reverberating through her. "I'll not go quietly! You hear me? I will not! This is a betrayal of the highest order!"

"We must!" Matilda cried, tears streaming down her cheeks like glistening jewels. "This is for your health! We're trying to save you!

Save me? Or save yourselves?" Donna shrieked. The echo of her voice tumbled forth through the air, forcing them toward the open door of the carriage as if everything was surreal-a cruel jest scheming against her sanity. "I will not be your sacrifice!

"Just one step more!" he ordered, his voice firmer now with authority and fear. The world flared around her in staccato bursts of agony, and before she could protest again, they got her half into the carriage.

Fire in her heart and despair caged within, Donna howled against the bonds of her family, those ties now felt like iron shackles locking her away from her life. She would be damned if she let this cleanse her spirit.

"Let me go!" she bellowed, thrashing and squirming in their grasp as her heart wildly raced.

She surged up in one last desperate attempt at freedom, using all of her strength to pry from them, but it was not real. "You can't do this!" she shrieked, wild and frantically. "You can't lock me away!"

"Settle down, Donna!" Matilda pleaded in hushed tones, but with that same desperate quivering that betrayed her voice was trembling in the maelstrom they were all cast into.

“No!” Donna retaliated, her screams ringing out, vibrating with rage, when suddenly one of the footmen stepped forward, ready to assist them. His grip was robust as he unexpectedly grabbed her waist to pull her back, eliciting more wild screeches from Donna’s lips.

“Get off of me!” she rasped, squirming to no avail, her fury only rising as they hoisted her higher into the carriage like a prize they intended to claim. She felt her heart beat louder than ever before, pulsating in time with her ever-growing panic. “You don’t know what you’re doing to me!”

And with that desperate thought, she was thrust into the darkness of the carriage, and the door slammed shut behind her with a resounding finality.

The world outside receded as she leaned forward, hands pressed against the window, desperate cries smothered by the closing in of the silent carriage walls. "You will rue this!" she screamed, her voice exploding into the morning light, full of sorrow and rage.