Eden's Point of View
"I am telling you it isn't going to work." I argued with father just immediately after dinner and the Adler's has gone, he seemed cheerful all through, and then I realized things is looking all good for him at the expense of my life.
"And why not?" He asked desperately, his entire body was trembling as he grabbed my arms shaking me slightly. "Everything seems to be working fine. Just a few more dates or something, and you both will get married."
"There is something wrong with Dr. Adler, and I don't think I am cut out for it." I answered my voice trembling as well, after that encounter with him in the garden, my hands haven't stopped trembling.
I don't have the heart to face Thorne again after what he did to me... And apart from the fact that I believe I might still have some unresolved feelings for him, it just makes no sense to be the sister-in-law of my ex-boyfriend.
And there is Theron, the one who is even a psychopath, being with him might be life threatening, someone who would readily watch another person drown all because he didn't feel like making his new clothes wet.
How the hell did such a person become a doctor?
"No." came my voice again, cutting off whatever father was saying. "I cannot marry that man."
"Why won't you just tell me the reason for your sudden refusal? Everything was going well, you even agreed" Father's desperation was almost physical. "Dr. Theron seems to like you too. His parents confirmed traits they have never seen in him before and it's only because of you; this might not turn out as bad as you think it will."
"That is the problem, father!" I snapped, not that I expected him to care about me or anything. "He is a psychopath, one who is usually cold and controlled- A functioning psychopath, who suddenly develops an interest in something that they don't usually like, things are not looking good for me here father. And you should know characteristics of a psychopath, you are a doctor, father."
He sighed, sitting down on one of the leather sofas; his head buried in his hands.
"If it makes I any better, I will find Evangeline before the end of tomorrow, and then you can marry her off like you planned." I straightened my back. "But I am not getting married to Theron Adler."
"What do you mean? That you would allow your little sister be sent into the tiger's den?" Iris asked, nearing me, and I rolled my eyes. "You are her big sister, and she is basically a child."
"Now I am her big sister? Do you make convenient excuses when you need it?" I snapped I am not allowing someone who never really cared about me and how I have lived my life blackmail me. "When have you ever considered me a big sister to your daughter or even considered me a child to care for?"
"How do you explain everything I have done for you until this point?" She had the nerve to mention that.
"Please do list the things you do for me." I yelled. "All you ever do is judge me, and rub it in my face how difficult it is to grow up without a mother."
"And whose fault is that?" Father snapped getting up from his chair, and my eyes widened, biting down on my lips as I realized I had brought my mother up in the heat of the discussion.
"Father..."
"Answer me." He insisted, his eyes red, and Iris stepped away from us. "Whose fault is it that you have no mother?"
"It is certainly not my fault." My lips quivered, this was the first time I was standing against father in a conversation like this. "Mother had complications during birth, and it is not my fault. Even though you have done this all your life, but as a doctor, it is never right to blame the child for a mishap."
"What?" He growled.
"That is right, I am innocent of whatever you think I am guilty of." I gritted out through clenched teeth. "I am not going to live my life under the shadows of what could have been. I'm done feeling regretful for something that isn't even my-"
The words barely left my mouth when the sound came,
Sharp, stinging and it echoed.
I heard it before I felt the sharp pain that followed the slap.
The force strong enough to make me stagger, especially since I hadn't eaten anything today, I barely even touched my dinner.
I tasted blood from the ends of my mouth, he had injured me again.
"How dare you..." He clenched both of his fists towering over me with rage burning in his eyes. "How dare you ridicule the sacrifice your mother made for you to be here today. If you were never born; I would have my wife right here with me. If only I had agreed to the abortion, none of this would never have happened."
I picked myself up, wiping the blood from the stinging wound in the corner of my mouth.
"I let you live under my roof, I took you to school, I made you into everything you are today, and you think you have a right to choose for yourself?" I scoffed but said nothing, nothing I say will change anything anyways, he won't even listen to me. "I don't care how miserable your life is with Theron, there is nothing you can do about it, Eden. You have to stick up to whatever he does; you have to endure it for the sake of the hospital. Only then, will you be deserving of the spot for director."
I clenched my fists, ignoring the pain that suddenly filled my chest, I couldn't breathe anymore, almost as though my lungs were filled with water.
My eyes glanced at Iris, who hugged herself, smirking in satisfaction, and my glossy eyes returned to my father who didn't feel even a tiny bit of remorse for what he had just done.
Arguing with them is pointless, wordlessly, I climbed up to my room, slamming the door, and jumping on the bed.
My mouth hurts, I think I injured my tongue as well, I was in the middle of speaking when he suddenly slapped me, I bit my tongue from the impact. My teary eyes darted to my bed side table.
I wasn't teary because I was sad, it was because of the slap, he had never laid a finger on Evangeline no matter what she does, but why does he keep slapping me this way.
I let out a stiff sigh.... It hurts so much as well.
I sniffed wiping the tears from the edge of my eyes, as I grabbed the portrait of my mother on the bedside table; not because I felt any closeness towards her in particular.
In fact if I am being honest, the only thing I feel towards my mother is resentment.
Why would she choose to save me over her own life when all father does is hate me for it?
She never should have gotten pregnant with me in the first place, she never should have kept me, and so I curse the day I was born.
But at the same time, I couldn't hate my mother, just because my father hates me.
And like every other child, I craved the relationship that existed between a mother and a child. I see it every day, I see Evangeline being pampered by Lily, and I get jealous of that relationship most of the time.
And apart from that, I am the splitting image of my mother, I had her hair, her eyes, and her smile.
I used to smile a lot when I was younger, he asked if I was trying to be my mother now, and then forbade me from smiling at him, because it was creepy, and I was scaring him.
I set down the portrait, faced down, I just don't want to see her face tonight, because I am being resentful again.
I really don't want anything to do with that family, they are just too perfect, and the mother doesn't look like she likes me. I would hate to have an insufferable mother-in-law.
I still have unresolved trauma associated with the abrupt end of my relationship with Thorne, I never really got revenge on him for lying to me, and cheating on me.
And not just that, now, I am supposed to marry his brother and be his sister-in-law?
I paused.
Everything sinking into me.
Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe getting married to his brother might not be a bad idea.
I could get my revenge by showing him what he is missing, the only problem was that he never really found me attractive to begin with.
"Fuck." I cursed in defeat as I curled up in my bed.
