Chapter 14

‘You warned me of his wretched behaviour. I do not have the right to act surprised now.’ Wilma cried. She wrapped her arms around her wedding gown in shame.

‘Nobody would blame you for being under the spell of a handsome man. His looks are dangerous, he does not look capable of such evil. Please, forgive yourself.’ Anne replied. She could sense the pain in her sister’s soul and she didn’t want to make her feel any worse.

‘And what of the father? I see you consorting with him a lot. He comes to the house often just to see you so I am told.’ Wilma stated through sorrowful tears and a stuffy nose.

‘I believed him to be different, nothing like his son. But he knew Sheldon was married all along, so now I am unsure of his motives.’ Anne said, trying to stay strong for her sister.

‘Please do not punish him for this, he almost definitely acted out of loyalty for his son. He may have been torn between the truth and family. I can see how much he cares about you, one of us deserves to be happy.’ Wilma replied.

‘I cannot be happy with him; he is married to a dying woman and he is not my age. Even if I wanted to be with him, it would not be possible.’ Anne explained.

Wilma finally turned around to face her sister.

‘No, if there is even the slightest chance of being happy with George then you have to go for it. We have seen enough sorrow in our lives with your dark past, then losing father and being forced to live with our evil Aunt, and now our lives being ruined by Sheldon. If George makes you happy, then please do not give up on him because of today.’ Wilma cried.

Anne almost cried as she shook her head in despair.

‘It is impossible. I cannot trust him now, and I am still furious with him! If he would have told me on the day of your engagement, I could have prevented your public humiliation! And now there is nothing we can do except witness your downfall. I am so sorry, I never wanted this for my younger sister.’ Anne cried, she finally broke. But Wilma thought her sister’s heartbreak was only proof of her care towards her.

Just as Wilma went to give her sister more wise words of young wisdom, the back room door burst open and George stood in the doorway.

‘Oh Mr. Winchester. You are here to see Anne I assume? I will give you both some privacy.’ Wilma said, quickly drying her eyes and trying to hide her face from the obvious shame.

George sighed with hurt when he saw the young damaged Wilma standing before him and the extremely angry Anne narrowing her eyebrows at him.

'For what it's worth, I am sorry Wilma. Nobody deserves what happened to you out there. I hope karma finds a way to punish him.' George said with his head down.

Wilma didn't speak. She turned on her heels and left the room so they could talk alone. George locked the door because he wanted to avoid any interruptions.

'You have every right to be angry with me for withholding this information from you. But please believe me, I never meant to hurt anyone. I certainly did not want your sister being humiliated like that.' George tried to explain.

'I cannot believe you would keep that from me! I told you in confidence how worried I was that my sister was marrying that man! And you told me about the blood stained sheet, why did you not tell me about this yesterday?' Anne screeched.

'Because I was constantly torn between loyalty to my only son and heir or you, the—' George stopped mid sentence and Anne glared at him wondering what he was going to say.

'The what? What am I to you but a poor maiden from down the road who was almost ruined by your son?' Anne responded in an angry tone.

'I was going to say my heir or you, the love of my life.' George finally blurted out the words.

The room fell completely silent like the sound of a light feather finally hitting the ground, after slowly gliding down in a mild summer breeze. Anne felt her heart race and her stomach churn. Did she hear correctly?

'You believe me to be the love of your life? How can that be? You are married! And you have helped that awful man to ruin my family name!' Anne yelled.

George marched up to Anne and took both of her hands into his. He rubbed her delicate soft hands and gazed into her glistening eyes. Anne felt that safe and familiar electric spark again. Excitement paired with comfort.

'Please, Anne. You have to understand why I did this. You are not the only one Sheldon blackmails to get his own way. I had no choice but to stay quiet.' George finally admitted.

'Your own son blackmailed you! With what? What does he have on you?' Anne said, sounding less aggressive and more concerned.

'He made it clear that if I spoke a word about his wife that he would wait until you were alone and…force himself upon you. He said you would never submit to him, he would force his way into you.' George said. Anne could see that the words coming out of his mouth were sickening him to speak them, just as it was torturing Anne to hear them.

'He threatened to…have his way with me by force? To his own father! He is sick! I cannot believe this. So the only reason you kept quiet about his marriage was because you did not want him to hurt me?' Anne said. She felt her anger subsiding and the great love for George was slowly returning.

'Yes and there was no way that I could stand by and let that happen to you. I love you too much.' He replied while gazing into her eyes.

His eyes had got her into a trance once again. She felt if she looked away, her heart would melt and no longer exist. She needed his presence to survive. Before she knew it, she was embracing George in her arms, running her fingers through his gorgeously soft silky hair and kissing him. She had lost all sense of where she was or what she was doing.

George kissed her harder and they began to explore each other's bodies for the first time. She thought his body to be in immaculate condition and much to her liking, better than she ever thought it could be. Having his hands all over her felt like a dream that he had several times weekly, it felt great to finally touch the woman that he loved deeply.

Their delicate kisses turned into a burst of passion. They were caressing each other as though nothing else in the world mattered. George soon picked Anne up from the ground and placed her onto the wooden desk at the end of the spacious church room. It all felt too right to be wrong so they let the moment take them somewhere that they had wanted to go for a long time.

Anne felt her dress be lifted but she had no intention of stopping him going any further. She had been resisting her urges towards him for too long and she was done playing by society's rules. She wanted him desperately, more than she had ever wanted anything before. She felt that only this very moment mattered. She watched him get incredibly close to her and then she felt it.

The more he pounded inside her with great energy, the more she desired him. Their breaths were in sync and so were their souls. The thought of their families and neighbours waiting outside in the church didn't cross their minds. They didn't care if they were missed or who worried about them, they only cared for each other. Anne pushed through the pain and concentrated on the pleasure of who she was losing her innocence to. A man she thought she loved, a man of honour and kindness. Something finally that she would not live to regret. Her first time would always be remembered. With every wince on Anne's face, she felt a comforting rub on her shoulder. He cared so much, she could see that. She had chosen the right man.

The moment had passed and the pleasure and pain were soon over. She felt him shake inside her and relieve himself. He zipped his trousers up and stepped away from her, trying to loudly get his breath back. Anne tried to recall what had just happened and how she let it lead to that. But she knew in the moment, she had to have him. Something near the door caught her attention, she glanced over at the door and saw an eye through the keyhole. When their eyes locked, she heard someone running away from the door. Had someone witnessed their non-marital intercourse?