Bullied Cinderella - Hollie Hutchins Page 0,61
few inches at a time. It’s the principle of it. It’s despicable. To even think of dividing the properties after all these years! She meant to call us out publicly! She wanted to destroy our reputations the whole time.”
That sent Jorge and Dario back to bickering and doing all they could to drag Lucia and her family’s name through the mud as thoroughly as possible. I sat back in silence as they ranted and raved, all determined to hate the Chavez sisters no matter what.
When they had calmed down enough to give me any room to speak, I held fast to what I wanted.
“I will marry Lucia Chavez,” I announced again, with more confidence and determination. “I am in love with her and there’s nothing you can do to change that.”
Mother scowled as her rage reached new heights. “You will do no such thing. We’ll disown you before we ever submit to you giving that wretched woman our family’s name.”
“Then I’ll take her name. We’ll find our own way together, completely penniless if we have to. There’s nothing you can say to talk me out of it.”
Mother erupted in another string of sobs while Don German let out a string of muffled expletives. Jorge and Dario continued their bitter sulking, probably only upset that they had gotten their hopes up for their own relationship with Lucia but had lost her to me.
“This doesn’t have to be so dire,” I suggested over their chaos. “We could have them over for dinner...make peace between our families. The youngest sister, Jada, has been promised into an arrangement that will elevate their family’s status. No one in our circles knows anything right now aside from a few rumors and gossip about Lucia’s former disdain for us. We could see to it that it ends there and publicly announce our union.”
Mother continued shaking her head, unconvinced. “If she’ll even have you! Oh, it’s just a nightmare to even think you’d put yourself in such a position to be refused by someone so beneath you. What if what Jorge and Dario said is true? What if this is all just a coo against us? She’s probably running her mouth to everyone now about how she tempted all three of you and made complete fools of you.”
I considered the possibility. I didn’t have time to stay with Lucia and ask all of the things I wanted to. But part of me felt like I didn’t have to ask. Maybe she had wanted to ruin our reputations and get revenge for everything. I knew she had toyed with each of us to the end of that goal. But I had also done far worse things to her that I regretted. And as I added up all of our moments of passion and the things we had said to each other...the looks of lust and longing and everything we hadn’t brought ourselves to say but could still sense bubbling up inside of one another...it all amounted to my own certainty that the feelings she had for me were real.
“We’ve all made mistakes. But I’m positive that Lucia is in love with me too.”
They all cringed collectively, but at least they didn’t erupt back into more ranting and raving. I could tell the idea was slowly starting to settle in with them, no matter how much they hated it.
“You don’t have to like it,” I added. “But you will have to accept it. Even if it means disowning me.”
With that, I stood and left them alone to commiserate and decide the fate of our family and my place in it. I returned to my room which seemed brighter than it had in a long time. It no longer seemed burdened by my haunted longings for Lucia and all the sleepless nights I had spent aching for her so strongly that I thought it might kill me. I moved in her body over and over again, thinking my thirst might finally be quenched. But it seemed the only thing that could truly and finally satisfy me was to admit how I really felt. I loved her, and I would make her my wife...somehow. Even if it meant giving up everything.
I didn’t go to her that evening, and I didn’t join my family for dinner. I had the staff serve me in my room, and I did the same for breakfast and lunch. No one had come to offer their blessing, but no one had come to throw me out of the