Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,40

at the sight in front of me with a stunned expression, not knowing why he was doing this to his sister. I knew from what he’d said yesterday that he loved her very much – he was ready to give up his own life for her. Why would he act like this towards her now? What did she do to deserve such treatment?

Games.

Lies.

Traps.

“You lost that right when you decided to give up my honor and your family’s and put it in the dirt, Janna,” the prince said through clenched teeth, still facing away from her while she still gripped onto his legs for dear life. “I can’t even bear the thought of looking at you!”

She kept begging and crying, and only I was able to see the expression on his face from where I was standing. It was a pained one. But why? If it was painful for him to say those hurtful words to his sister, then why was he saying them?

“Not in this lifetime,” he replied, and it sent her into another round of wails and cries.

Joseph’s hands came to her shoulders and he brought her to her feet, holding her to his chest where she buried her head and cried into it while his hand soothed and moved over her long hair that was laced with hair jewelry, shushing her with whispers and words of love.

My heart ached at the sight in front of me. I remembered not that long ago when I was doing the same thing she was doing. I was crying, wailing and begging, asking for mercy and another chance to feel my brother’s love. I found none. I had no one to comfort me like she had my own brother, her own beloved husband, to soothe her; I had absolutely no one.

I struggled more with the tears I didn’t want him to see, because I was tired of feeling as weak as I was, tired of not finding a shoulder to cry on, tired of being the miserable one with no way out of this freaking palace. I was tired of being this new me, the one with absolutely no power over her surroundings.

I felt for Janna. A little. But I envied her, as well. She had someone while I had no one. And I wished she appreciated the blessings she was showered with.

Finally, the prince turned around and looked at them, “You had something to say, Yoseph?”

Why was he calling him Yoseph? Why was Mona calling him Yoseph? I’d thought Mona couldn’t pronounce it, but how could the prince not be able to? He’d lived in England for years. What was going on?

Joseph cleared his throat. “Uh, I just wanted to say goodbye to my sister before I leave with my wife.”

Leave?

With his wife?

To go where?

I looked Joseph in the eyes, searching for answers. He avoided my gaze. I looked at the prince, wondering, begging, but he only sneered at my brother.

“Leave to go where?” I whispered the question with a shake in my voice, my tears choking me.

“Back to the US, where else?” Joseph answered.

“Why?” I asked, eyes wide and mouth agape.

What about the seven-day rule? They were newlyweds, too. Weren’t they?

The prince had told me yesterday that the newlyweds could go out only in the case of an emergency. What was theirs?

“The company can’t be neglected any longer.”

I knew the company couldn’t be neglected much longer; I’d been here for almost four days. If it wasn’t for my very loyal assistants, I wouldn’t have left it even that long, especially with Joseph away as well.

“Why are you taking your wife with you?” I questioned, with a shocked expression and burning heart.

He didn’t answer. He just held Janna closer to his chest and looked down. I still waited for an answer that I didn’t even want to hear.

“The wife belongs where her husband is, Princess,” the prince replied for him in a quiet voice.

“What about me?” I pleaded, stomach clenching and chest swelling.

Janna turned her head and looked at me, questions in her teary eyes and confusion on her forehead.

“Like your husband said, Marie, the wife belongs where her husband is,” Joseph replied.

My stomach dropped.

“You won’t come back,” I stated, eyes tearing and heart bleeding.

“Um, not that often, but I will come back with Janna on occasion.”

“On occasion? You’re going to leave me here, take your wife with you, take care of the company, and just live happily ever after? What on earth has happened to you? Who are you? Where