Page 2 of The Rancher's Unloved Wife

Their arranged marriage might have worked for them, but...

You need to make a stand!

It's now or never!

So speak up!

Summerine she took a deep breath—-

KNOCK, KNOCK.

But it was too late.

"I need you out." Her mother's tone was imperious.

Summerine contemplatedneveropening the door.

"I'll drag you by the hair if need be."

And since Annie had never been the type to make idle threats, Summerine reluctantly stepped out of the powder room and was immediately subjected to a frosty glare.

"Why must you always be so slow?"

Because you scare me to death.

The older woman's gaze raked over her from head to toe. "You'll do." Her mother swung away with a decisive snap of her Louboutins, and Summerine followed behind her mother even as a voice inside of her head started taunting her.

(Coward!)

Oh shut up,she mentally snapped back even though she knew talking to herself would only make things worse.

(Why do you even bother dreaming when you don't have the guts to make it come true?)

(Just accept it. You'll always be under their thumb.)

(And you'll be doing their bidding until the day you—-)

Summerine shoved her Inner Troll into an imaginary closet and kicked the doors shut. The last thing she needed was a nonexistent entity pointlessly pointing out the obvious. She would be better off spending her last precious hours (minutes?) of freedom devising a way out—-

Or not.

Summerine could feel her lungs working overtime at the sight of her father impatiently waiting for them in the living room.

Her father, who was supposed to be thousands of miles away.

Her father, who was even more terrifying than Annie.

Like, a lot.

"Stop that."

Summerine jumped involuntarily at her father's tone, and his glare had her unclenching her fists in a hurry. George thought the mannerism unladylike and unbecoming, and she had never had the courage to tell him that she never meant to do it deliberately.

It only happened when she was anxious, and unfortunately for all of them, there was nothing more anxiety-inducing for Summerine than being in the presence of her parents.

George surveyed their surroundings with satisfaction. "You've done a very good job, Annie."

Their entire home had recently been featured by a local morning show, and her parents' costly remodeling had garnered praise from its hosts.

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