Page 86 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

I sighed. He was right. This night would drag itself until almost midnight, and I was so not in the mood to sit at that table like a prisoner.

Dorothee

I’m thinking about coming back earlier. On the twenty-seventh instead of the sixth of January.

We were given the opportunity to stay at school or return home for the holidays. A few teachers stayed too, and they’d celebrate in a little circle at school. My father would fly back to the United States after the celebrations too, not bothering to stay until New Year, so why should I?

I looked down at my phone, seeing the three dots that said that Archer was typing something, but they disappeared again, and he went offline. Alright. Why did I even feel the need to tell him? Or rather, what did I even expect as an answer?

I slipped my phone in the pocket of my dress and got up as the doorbell sounded.

The De Loughrey Manor was probably one of the most beautiful buildings, architecturally speaking, I had ever stepped foot in. Even the majestic stairs looked like art by themselves, with the golden details carved into the marble railing.

“Dorothee, love, you look gorgeous!” Aunt Liana greeted with a wide smile, embracing me. I hugged her back and closed my eyes, just taking in this moment. This was the first hug I’d received since I’d been back home, and I was glad it was my aunt. When I was a child, I had the cruel wish that she was my mother instead of my own. Even though she was very strict and religious, she still showed me some love.

Aunt Liana pulled back and cupped my cheeks. “Look at you, love. You’re glowing like a firefly, doesn’t she, Cordelia?”

My mother clenched her jaw and exhaled, “she’d better do, that school costs half a fortune.”

My aunt turned towards her sister. “Stop acting like our family isn’t drowning in money.”

“I never said that.” Mum walked past us, her high heels clicking on the floor, and the sound echoed from the walls.

“Bethany, wish your cousin a Merry Christmas,” Aunt Liana nudged her daughter, who was eyeing me judgmentally.

“Merry Christmas, Dorothee.”

“Merry Christmas, Bethany.”

She is around the same age as me and, instead of being close or even friends, in some way, we always saw each other as a competition, and I can’t say that I’m innocent. Bethany was beautiful like my mother and Aunt Liana, with long blonde hair and sharp, elegant features. She looked more like my mother than I ever did. Jealousy I had felt over the fact that my mother complimented her looks more often than mine as a child. My cousin was everything my mother wanted me to be. Loved, pretty, popular, talented…normal.

Dinner was servedat five past seven, and my head was buzzing by the time we had all seated.

My father had three siblings, which equalled several cousins, bringing us to a count of nine underage at the table labelled for us children.

Bethany, Elijah and I were the oldest at seventeen. Fiona was the youngest at six.

I stabbed my veggie roasted beef and rubbed my temple, exhausted by the children yelling at one another as if they weren’t sitting across from each other.

“How is this new school, Dorothee?” Elijah asked, taking a sip from his‘cranberry juice’, which he had swapped with wine while his parents weren’t looking.

“It’s nice, very… educational.”

Bethany scoffed beside me. “As if. That place is an asylum for the rich.”

I took a deep breath before taking a sip of my own drink, knowing if I bit back, she’d never stop.

Bethany fed on verbal fighting. It gave her some kind of kick, and I wasn’t going to give her that.

“Mama said it’s far away, and you’re needed there, that’s why you’re always away. Is it like Narnia?” Stephanie asked me with curiosity crossing her eyes.

“Some might say it resembles Narnia like a mirror world,” I fed my seven-year-old cousin’s fantasy with a big grin. “The school is surrounded by woods, and a water nymph named Gwyneth lives in a lake that glows with the light of the lost princess.”

Stephanie’s eyes grew big, and she dropped her fork. “Really?”

“Of course not, Dorothee is mentally deficient,” Bethany shot at my little cousin, and I wondered who had pissed in her cereal this morning to cause such a terrible mood.

Elijah covered his mouth with one hand before he talked to Bethany during pauses of chewing, “calm down, Beth, she’s just entertaining my sister.”

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