The stiff papers in my hand become heavier with each word I read until my fingers curl around the edges, and the sweat from my palms make the back of the materials damp. My heart drops when I get to the end. It all makes sense. Every harsh word, the glares, the ridicule…I can’t blame him. I’m swaying between love and sorrow. This isn’t a marriage contract as I’d been led to believe. It isn’t even a contractual agreement between two prominent families. It’s blackmail.
I scan the document and make a copy, peppering my fingers with papercuts, just trying to hurry before Grandpa comes home. I can’t face him. For years, I have defended him and looked past some of the things he has said and done, chalking it up to his age and the era he was a young adult in. I never expected that underneath the suit he wore, with the colorful vests, there was such a cruel and uncaring heart. Tears brim in my eyes, and I blink them back so they don’t fall and smudge the ink. Once I set the contract back in the safe, I slam the door and grab my bag. I can’t stay here. The house I grew up in, the man who helped raise me the last ten years, it all feels like a prison. Every tear I’ve shed here, every heartbreak suddenly doesn’t seem so undeserved.
I race the clock, knowing my grandpa will be home any minute, and call for a ride back to the airport. At this point, I’m prepared to beg to get on a flight and get back to campus. I need the safety of my dorm room and Tabbi. If anyone can help me make sense of the mess that has become my life, it’s her. Ever since we started talking this past summer, once I found out she would be my roommate, we’ve become best friends. I always thought Kinsley had my best interests in mind, but after we graduated, I hadn’t heard from her. I tried to keep up with her until I realized that outside of the walls of Magnolia Hills Academy, she didn’t care about being my friend. There was nothing in it for her anymore. And I was finally growing tired of people who didn’t see more in me than just who my family was.
“What?” Tabbi’s voice echoes off the walls in our small box-sized room.
“Shh!” I glance at our dorm door, silently praying our RA won’t come knocking. It’s three in the morning, which still qualifies as quiet time. I wasn’t even supposed to be able to get back into the dorm when I arrived, but I have myself a Tabbi. My amazing friend set her alarm in order to wake up and sneak me in. I glare at her and her brown eyes widen. Tabbi places her fingers against her lips, trying to hold back a smile.
“Oops.”
I roll my eyes, my shoulders sagging. “I thought for sure Chance was going to hear you.” Chance is our residential advisor. He’s a nice enough guy, but he’s strict. He is also hot as hell and it bothers Tabbi to no end that he never, ever even looks at the freshman girls in the dorms.
“At least then he’d know I’m a screamer. Maybe he’d realize what he’s been missing.”
“OhmygodTabbi.” I laugh into my comforter, my cheeks flushing.
Tabbi shrugs. “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”
I shake my head, the blush on my cheeks growing redder. My never-ending exile and being treated like a disease in high school kept boys away until the day I graduated. I’ve never been kissed, never seen a dick, and now, I’ll probably die a virgin.
“Seriously though,” Tabbi moves over to me and sits on the edge of the bed, her arm wrapping around my shoulders, “that is the most fucked-up thing I’ve heard in a while. It’s not even giving you a choice. Zander either. I can see why he’s so mad.”
“I know,” I agree, my teeth sinking into my lip. The tears are back, making my vision blurred. “I always just thought it was because I was York’s baby sister or something. Then they turned so mean. I guess I would hate me too if my life and my whole family’s life rested on marrying someone I didn’t love.”
“Wow,” Tabbi sighs, falling back onto my bed, “his grandpa was a real piece of work.”
I nod, silently agreeing with her. I never paid much attention back then. I knew Zander had bad days and would come to our house to escape, as York called it. I guess I never knew what it was he was escaping from. Mr. Knight had always been nice to me. Despite the fact that he rarely smiled, I just thought he was a crotchety old man. Now I know he’s been pushing Zander toward a future he didn’t want his whole life, and using me as a pawn in order to ensure his legacy lived on. I’m a business commodity. And my own grandfather was in on it too. “If my parents were alive, this never would have happened.”
Tabbi glances at me, her fingers reaching out to brush the tear off my cheek. “What would your mom do, you think?”
I glance out the window, noticing the sun is starting to rise, the sky turning pink in the distance. I don’t know what my mom would do. I close my eyes and try to remember everything I can. Her hair was darker, like my brother’s, her eyes were brown, and she sometimes would snort if she laughed too hard. My dad would smile bigger when she did that. I can’t really remember them ever arguing, but I knew she sometimes was firm with him, if he spent too much time at the office. My mom was confident. I can feel her hand cupping my face. She would have been so upset by this marriage contract.
“She would have tried to find a way to break it.”
“That’s what you should do then.” Tabbi stands from the bed and walks over to her desk. “Channel that strength your mom gave you. Mia, no one asked you about this contract. No one asked for your consent, your opinion or even checked to make sure you were dealing. These men making the decisions do not have your best interests at heart and now you’ve been hurt. York and Zander have every right to be mad, but they should not have taken it out on you. You did nothing wrong, except breathe.”
Logically, I know she’s right. But a small voice in my mind is smirking and laughing. I did want to marry Zander. I have always loved him. I was just stupid enough to think that over time, I could change his mind about me. That he would ever choose me over someone like Carrigan who was beautiful, fun and charming. It took reading that contract to realize he really would never love me back. I would probably go the rest of my life with him never even talking to me. “What do I do?”
Tabbi tilts her head, studying me. “What do you think?”
“I need to find a loophole. Or at least a way to change the terms, without forcing Zander to break the contract. He can’t lose everything. And I have to do it in three and a half years.” I fall back, my arms covering my eyes. A headache is forming behind the sockets. “I also need to hide out and find a way to avoid them at all costs. I’m sure news has already spread now that they know I’m on the campus. It’s only a matter of time until I’m a social pariah again, just like high school.”
“Those two are something else.” Tabbi scoffs. I grin, enjoying the fact that I finally have someone really on my side. “Mia, I have an idea.”
I lower my arm and glance at her, right as she shoves her Travel Abroad pamphlet at me. My fingers reach out and take it. “New Zealand?”
“Come with me! They have a great business program there too. We can study on the beach, eat amazing food, check out hot guys, and it gives you the distance you need from everyone here. You’re eighteen, it’s not like you need permission to go,” Tabbi points out.
My pulse starts racing, a plan formulating in my brain. Distance is what I need. I can’t have my grandpa figuring out that I’m trying to terminate the contract either. My stomach tightens with nerves. I’ve never been overseas, and until last night’s impromptu trip, I’d never traveled without my grandpa or York. Zander’s parting words play on loop in my mind. This might be my only shot to figure things out. The only way I can save us all is to leave.
