5: NAME YOUR PRICE
1327 Words
Kayla's footsteps echoed in the narrow hallway
Her thoughts jumbled
She was thinking of what her mother could possibly want from her.
She stopped at her study. She didn't know when it started but somehow Irene had started occupying the little things in the house. This study used to be her room.
But Irene, of course she took it
She liked occupying things that weren't hers.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and gave a small knock on the door
“Come in” was heard almost immediately like she'd been waiting, waiting for her to knock.
Kayla stepped in
“Mother.”
Kayla was even too calm for the storm brewing underneath. She stood in the doorway of Irene's study, back straight, chin high.
Her stepmother Irene didn't answer right away. She just gave a small nod, eyes still fixed on the porcelain tea cup in her hands. The room was silent except for the occasional faint click of the spoon against the rim deliberately.
The air felt heavy, thick with awkward silence used to make people feel small.
Irene took another slow sip from the expensive tea set; bone china, gold rim, the kind that screamed old money. She looked elegant, composed like a woman who never raised her voice in her life.
Kayla's patience was running thin.
She knew her stepmother didn't call her here to just watch her drink tea. This was a performance and Kayla refused to be the audience that's wasn't getting paid to watch a show
As if Irene could hear her thoughts she set the cup down with a loud thud. The sound echoed more than it should have. Her lips parted and her mask slipped
“I'm not going to beat around the bush and waste your time” Irene started, her gaze turning hard.“I want you to break off your engagement with Lucas”
Kayla stared at her like she told a joke.
“What do you mean by that mother?”
“You know exactly what I mean, Kayla” Irene's voice smooth with steel underneath.
“Your engagement with Lucas I want you to break it off. Lucas and your sister are very much in love and you're the third party between them”
“Of course I don't want Lucas to lose face so you should bring it up to your father yourself. Make it clean, make it quiet” Irene continued as if doing her a huge favor.
Kayla scoffed,
“Mother must be joking.” Her voice filled with disbelief as she looked at Irene like she was looking at a clown perform.
“The Greys are an aristocratic family” Kayla said slowly, each word deliberate. “Sure, Lucas may not be from the main branch but his mom has connections with the Vances.Even if I have a tough time, getting married to him will mean me having to live a life of luxury, of security and status.”
She leaned forward slightly, her eyes narrowing
“So tell me good mother why do you think I should give up on an engagement this good? The one my mother arranged so well for me”
Irene straightened, her expression sharpening.
“Exactly why I want you to give it up” she said as a matter of fact. “All the good things should go to my daughter. Isla deserves it more. She's softer, kinder and people like her”
Softer my ass.
Kayla stood up so fast the chair scraped against the floor as if to vent her anger together with her,
“I'm sorry mother but I'd have to disappoint you, I'm not giving up my engagement with Lucas” she said and headed for the door.
Irene didn't move to stop her. She just watched Kayla's retreating back, then let out a quiet mocking drawl. “last night… must have been fun”
Kayla paused in her steps her breath quickened
Her fists clenched hard in her sides.
So that was it. Irene knew or had a hand in what happened to her. And she was using it.
Kayla mind raced, did Irene set her up or Lucas did?
We're they working on this together?
She forced herself to calm down, to breathe. If she let Irene see her panicked, she'd lose.
Slowly, she turned back around and walked back to the chair sitting at a controlled pace.
Irene nodded smug now.
“just as I thought. Not so tough again huh?”
“Mother must be joking.” Kayla said a small cold smile on her lips
“I accompanied you to the banquet last night and left halfway because I was uncomfortable. Where I stayed was also understandable. Mother can check the reports or records” she said with a small smile.
She was guessing. But it was an educated guess. If Irene had real evidence she wouldn't be playing around like this.
Irene's jaw clenched.
She thought she had Kayla cornered. She thought fear will make her confidence slip and fold.
But Kayla wasn't twelve anymore, she wasn't the girl who'd hide in a corner and cry over her mother's stolen jewelry anymore.
Irene let out a frustrated sigh trying a softer angle.
“Anyways Lucas and Isla are already deeply in love,” her voice sugary now “you don't want to be the one coming in between them do you? It will ruin your reputation”
Kayla tilted her head, eyes unblinking
“Mother must be joking. Legally Lucas and I are engaged which everyone knows. In the public eye, Isla is the third party. The mistress and the home wrecker, just like you.”
She paused letting the word sting.
“Why should I give up an engagement my mother used her life to secure for me just because you said so?”
Irene's composure cracked.
The nerve of this b***h.
She slammed her palm on the table with a loud bang, making the tea set rattle
“Name your price, Kayla,” she said, her voice sharp. “Anything you want. I'd make sure I'd get it for you”
Kayla didn't even flinch.
She stared right into Irene's eyes, her own brown eyes cold, calculating.
“I want my mother's company”
The words hung in the air like a blade
Irene pupils dilated
“Don't get ahead of yourself Kayla, know your place”
“My place?” Kayla's voice was quiet but it cut deep “Don't you think I have a place and say in my mother's company, Irene?”
“How dare you” Irene shot up, hand raised to slap her.
Kayla caught her wrist mid air, her grip firm, her face unreadable
What's with people and raising hands on me today.
Lucas, now Irene, did they all think she was the same quiet girl that'd silently grieve and take in all they do to her in silence?
Kayla released her wrists and took a step back.
“Know your limits, and you should keep it in your head that I'm not easy to bully,” Kayla said, her eyes cold.
Irene's lips quivered. For the first time fear flickered across her face Kayla was no longer the 12 year old she could manipulate, threaten and belittle. She could fight back now!
“Mother, you have your ways,” Kayla said calmly. “You talk to father about giving me a place in the company and then we'd talk about the canceling of the engagement”
She paused letting the offer sink in
“I'll be waiting, mother.”
Without waiting for a response, Kayla turned and walked to the door. She didn't slam it, when didn't need to.
Inside Irene stared at the closed door, chest heaving.
Then she grabbed the nearest teacup and smashed it against the wall.
Porcelain shattered, tea stained the wall.
Kayla had just declared war.
- Writer
