Page 56 of The Broken Queen

The pain that folder brought started to ease into my stomach once more. I was happy for Slade...I truly was. That didn’t change the fact that my whole life was a lie.

There were so many missing pieces...who killed Mother? What happened to Slade’s parents? How are they royalty?

He held up the folder, “We need to talk about what’s in here. This is the best place to do it because it’s secluded and there’s no prying eyes or ears.”

He moved around me and unlocked the front door to the house. I followed in after him and my mouth dropped open at the gorgeousness of the place.

It was a mix of beauty and elegance, with rustic farmhouse features, to a sleek brown and white furnishing. It was my dream home. It was simple and pure, no traces of the horrific background I grew up in. Memories weren’t tarnished here; it was a blank canvas, a fresh start.

Tears started to well up in my eyes, but I kept them down. I couldn’t get my hopes up. I couldn’t believe that Slade truly loved me that much, to where he would buy my dream home and take me away from that awful nightmare.

I followed him deeper inside the house, into a large living room with couches that could be sunk into, a fireplace that could be snuggled up with a blanket and hot cup of coffee, and a large flat screen TV on the wall. It was perfect, and my heart ached at the thought of this not being ours.

My thoughts went further, and it made me wonder if this would even be a possibility. If we were to get back together andhe became King, we would still have our duties to the Kingdom.How on earth would this work?

He took off his packsack and placed it on the hardwood floors, and put the folder on the wooden coffee table. I took a seat on the soft brown couch and sunk into it, briefly forgetting the worries that surrounded me.

Slade raised a brow, a small smile outlining the corners of his lips. “What do you think?”

Since I hadn’t seen every outlet of the house, whether or not the kitchen was big enough for me to do all the cooking I ever wanted, or whether I had the large soaking tub that I’d always dreamed of, but somehow I knew he had given me everything I would need or want in this house.

“It’s...” I let out a sigh, “Perfect. Truly and utterly perfect.”

His smile grew, and it was quite the sight. I haven’t seen him this happy in so long, and I couldn’t even tell if he was happy. Being with him made my heart soar, but he was still this mysterious puzzle I couldn’t figure out. I wished life was more simple and we could just be us without the pressure of life around us.

He took a seat on the white lounge chair nearest the couch and folded his hands. His face went from happy to serious in a matter of seconds. His smile dipped into a firm line, his eyes crinkled and his brows turned inwards.

“What are your thoughts on the information in the folder?”

That was the thing, I wasn’t sure what thoughts I had on the whole situation or how I felt about it. I just knew once I read that file my world changed. My shoulders lifted, “I don’t know. I really don’t know. You said you wanted me on your side, what exactly does that mean?”

His gaze met mine straight on. “It means that I need you to go through with the wedding.”

My entire body stilled. No movement, no signs of life. I just sat there, frozen in time, with the statement revolving around in my mind. My ears started to ring, and my vision began to glaze over. I was in a different reality, there was no way I was currently in this position, listening to the things coming out of his mouth.Did those words really come out of his mouth? There was no way...not after everything I had been put through. How could he expect me to go to the alter and stand there with the most vile creature to ever walk the earth? Had he completely lost his fucking mind?

I swallowed some spit, anything to cure the cotton mouth I was currently facing. I cleared my throat, “I’m sorry...I’m probably not hearing you right. You want me to do what now?”

His silver gaze never wavered from mine. All traces of laughter, warmth and love was gone. He was serious, and cold. “You need to walk down the aisle, and marry that clown.”

I knew it. I knew it was too good to be true. I knew he just didn’t stop hating me and this... this was the final blow to my heart. I was so stupid to let my hope bloom and grow. Why? Why is he doing this?

Movement returned to my body, and my fingers went from being stiff to curled into a fist on the couch. My blood pumped at an abnormally fast rate, so fast that I swore I could hear it pumping through my veins. The scene reminded me of thatTwilightseries where Bella came back to life as a vampire. Something was changing inside of me and it wasn’t for the better. I had always been angry at Father, that would never change. Slade on the other hand, I loved him so my anger with him was minimal and would always dissipate when he was near.

The fact that he was asking me...no...telling me that I need to walk down the aisle and marry that monster meant that he truly didn’t give one single fuck about me. In a sense he was just like Father. Giving me hope when I had none. I would get strongerwithout them, then they would dangle a little string of hope that they loved me, and then I would become weak. Unguarded. Walls down. It was a cycle I couldn’t seem to break.

I didn’t say a word to him, but I stood up and walked over to the massive window, looking out at the grounds in front of me. The dream of it all seemed so surreal, that he could truly love me and want me to be with him and Julianna. But he didn’t. He wanted me to marry Zeke so he could take Father down, and return to the throne.

I supported him on returning to the throne, but I thought his plan included me in it. Not pushing me out of the way, never to be seen from again.

“No.” One word came from my lips, and I was firm on it. My lips trembled, my throat clogged. Tears welled up in my eyes, and my shoulders shook.How could he ask me to do that? Hadn’t I been through enough? Losing my life would be better than handing it over to Zeke.

Maybe I should just finish the job. Maybe that would be better. Then Slade wouldn’t have to worry about me. He could take down Father and get his place on the throne. Julianna would be happy because she would be with her father, and everything would be right with the world. She would learn to cope with my death.

“Hear me out, Rav...”

I turned to face him and just let him see everything. The trauma, the pain, the heartache of never being wanted. I wasn’t going to do this. Irefuse.If he wasn’t going to help me get out of this situation, then I would do it myself. I’ve done it before, several times over.

“No. I won’t hear you out. You asked me to be on your side, and I am. But you asking me to hand myself over to him, to be ripped apart bit by bit as if he hasn’t already done enough damage, is the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard of in mylife. You asking me, no, telling me to do this means you don’t give one flying fuck about me. So no, Slade. I won’t marry him. You don’t want me...fine. I’ll swallow that pill, but I absolutely refuse to do this.”

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