Chapter 71 The Unseen
Annabel stared confusedly as she pushed the heavy oak door open and a loud protest reverberated through the silent house.
The laughter abruptly stopped. It died with the sound of silverware on porcelain, leaving a silence that was much thicker and more oppressive than the one that had come before.
Annabel's throat tightened with a hot breath. As she stood motionless in the doorway, her mind attempted to understand the scene that was being presented to her.
A cup of what appeared to be herbal tea was set down in front of Victoria who was seated at the head of the polished mahogany table.
Her attention was diverted by Carson though. His head was lowered as though in silent reflection and he sat opposite his mother with his shoulders slightly bent.
On the tabletop, his left hand was held loosely. He was holding a woman's hand. Her nails were the ideal shade of nude and her fingers were long and thin.
Annabel looked up after the arm and she saw a beautiful face surrounded by a cascade of blond hair that fell in gentle waves.
The woman had a soft radiant smile on her lips as she looked up from Carson's hand. That's when Annabel realized she wasn't the only one who was laughing.
Victoria and the blond woman were sharing a moment of flawless, carefree happiness. However, Carson had not made a sound.
Lost in a world she was unable to enter, he sat in the quiet with his head still lowered. At that moment his head rose.
Her presence had been sensed by him somehow in the doorway. For an instant a flash of something she couldn't identify—surprise, alarm, guilt?—crossed his face as his eyes met hers but it was quickly replaced by a softer more familiar worry.
But there was no such response from Victoria. A brief sardonic chuckle escaped her lips as her eyes strayed over Annabel.
“All right.” Victoria said her tone brimming with cold laughter. “Look who has chosen to join us at last.”
The blond woman's smile dimmed a bit. In her azure eyes she glanced from Victoria to Annabel asking a question.
With a curious lilt in her voice she asked. “Who is that Victoria? Your new… maid?” as her grip on Carsons hand slightly tightened.
Blood rushed hotly to Annabel's cheeks. She was not a maid. She didnt work as a maid. The words reverberated in her mind like a silent desperate scream.
Victoria was slow to respond. She sipped her tea slowly while staring at Annabel as though she were examining a particularly dull specimen.
When she did say “Annabel is a friend of Carson's” her voice was flat and contemptuous. “She's also available to assist with some housework.”
Carson's mouth clenched.
“Mother!” He said with a low growl of protest.
Victoria merely averted her gaze, her face expressionless. The blond lady gave a small smile. Her smile was a knowing one as if to convey that she understood everything and did not pass judgment on it.
“It's not my business darling.” she whispered softly to Carson.
Her other words were not heard by Annabel. In the quiet room the word darling which had previously only been used by her now sounded like a death knell.
As a film of moisture formed over her eyes, her vision became blurry. The knot in her throat returned solidifying into an unyielding stone as her chest tightened.
She turned. She didnt consider it. Her body merely responded. First one then another. A retreat. An act of desperation.
Carson's chair clattered back on the marble floor “Annabel! Wait!”
Despite the urgent plea in his voice she didn't slow down.
The humiliation the betrayal the shame—it was all too much. She accelerated her pace, her bare feet slapping the cool marble of the grand hall as the sound was muffled by the silence.
A single thought was racing through her mind as she ran blindly, her arms pumping and her lungs burning: get out of here get out of here.
“Annabel!” He called again this time with a closer sound. “Please just stop and listen to me!”
She didn't.
Although she stumbled when her feet landed on the grand staircases first step she continued and managed to pull herself up the polished banister.
“Annabel stop!”
A firm powerful hand grabbed her arm. She was abruptly stopped and spun around to look at him. Her chest heaved her hair was in her eyes and at last she was crying silently.
When she really looked at him all she saw was the man from the dining room slumped over the man who had allowed another woman to call him darling while she stood a few feet away a ghost in her own home.
His eyes were wide with worry as he said in a panicked whisper. “It's not what you think.”
As though his touch were a burning brand, she recoiled when he reached out to wipe a tear from her cheek.
“Don't” She choked out in a raw ragged voice.
When she attempted to free her arm from his hold he resisted.
“Listen to me please Annabel” he begged, his eyes begging. “That was just…It was …she was…My cousin. She has a close relationship with my mother.”
The crack in Annabel's voice.”Oh really?”
Her head was spinning.
The deception, the humiliation and the callousness with which they all made fun of her.
“Don’t tell me that… you don't think I'm that dumb do you? Do you understand what it's like to be treated like a stranger in your own home Carson?”
“Annabel no.”he said, his voice full of pain. “That isn't it at all. My mom was merely trying to…”
“Trying to what Carson?” she cut him off her voice rising in a painful crescendo.
“I'm here now” he said his eyes pleading with her to understand.
“Trying to prove that I'm not good enough for this? That I don't belong here?I feel like I'm drowning in this place Carson and you just keep leaving me here to sink!”
“Calm down and let me please explain.I wouldn't hurt you. Annabel, I love you. You need to trust me.”
“I can’t!” She screamed and the sound reverberated through the quiet hallway.
A fiery unforgiving rage burned in her eyes as she exclaimed “I can't believe you! You let them do this! You just sat there! You let them lie to me and about me!”
All of the pent-up anger from the day before along with the weariness the silent humiliation and the sense of being a fraud came to a head.
She yanked her arm away from his hold. She resisted his touch. She was against his lies.
Reaching out to her once more he said “Annabel please.”
She stood back a step and held up her hand. She was unsure of her next course of action. She simply knew that it was too much for her. the sensation of being so insignificant and unimportant in this vast ideal world.