The Daughter In the Corner

Trepidation

The rest of the evening at the Rogers was unpleasant at best. Hunter had returned to notify everyone that Amara wasn’t feeling well and decided to turn in early for the night. He then excused himself as well. The Sinclair couple read the room and decided not to overstay their welcome and left shortly after dessert.

As soon as the Sinclairs stepped out of the door, Dustin ran up the stairs toward Amara’s room. Thoughts raced through his mind as he replayed the evening’s events. He hadn’t given it much thought at the time but the interaction between Jenny and Amara seemed forced. He grimaced, blaming his short-sighted decision to invite Jenny over for dinner. All of this could have been avoided had he just made time for his eldest daughter separately. He wanted his children to get along, but he shouldn’t coerce them into doing so.

Arriving in front of Amara’s bedroom door, he took a second to catch his breath before he knocked gently.

“Amara, honey… are you hungry? You haven’t had dinner yet.”

“I’m sleeping, Dad.” Amara’s voice was barely audible behind the thick oak door.

Dustin sighed deeply and tried again. “Honey, is something wrong? Did something happen?”

There was a pause which was a silent affirmative.

“No… nothing happened.”

Dustin pursed his lips. “Can I come in and talk?”

“No, Dad. I really want to sleep. Can this wait until tomorrow?”

Dustin sighed, leaning his head against the door. “Yeah,” he mumbled, “...it can wait until tomorrow. I’m sorry, Amara.”

Amara didn’t reply and that only made Dustin feel worse.

***

The next morning Jenny’s phone rang incessantly but she ignored it. She had cried herself to sleep waking multiple times only to rinse and repeat. Exhausted, she stared at the white ceiling of her bedroom with bleary eyes.

Someone rang the doorbell nonstop, but she didn’t have the energy to get up nor the will to care. She just wanted a day to herself to mope and feel sorry for herself. Tomorrow, life will have to continue, she held the name of Farley after all.

She sighed softly and closed her eyes when the pounding on the door subsided.

‘Finally…’

The next moment she heard a rap at her bedroom door.

“Jenny?”

She jumped at the voice, the blanket sliding down to expose her naked chest.

“What are you doing here?” she shrieked.

But Nathan quickly turned away. If it wasn’t for his red ears, no one would have realized he saw anything from his perfect posture. Jenny shivered at the sudden chill and looked down to see her bare chest. Her porcelain white skin flushed with a crimson hue. Grabbing the blanket, she pulled it up over her shoulders. She suddenly recalled she had collapsed in bed after her shower last night; wretched and exhausted from all the crying to sleep in the nude.

“What are you doing here?” she repeated.

“I’ve called and texted you multiple times this morning. I also tried contacting you at your residence, but your family said you never came home last night. I got worried that something may have happened to you so I…”

“So, you decided to break into my apartment?”

Nathan, still turned away, nodded. He had come over once with her and remembered her passcode.

Jenny replied coldly, “As you can see, I am fine. Please leave.”

Nathan licked his lips. “Why don’t you get dressed? I’ll wait for you in the living room.”

Jenny sighed heavily and fell back in bed. “Please leave. I don’t have the bandwidth to talk to anybody today.”

She really did not want to talk. What could she even say? That she cheated on him or that she was just a needy b***h that couldn’t wait another six months to have s*x. No. That would effectively kill her; she wanted to at least leave him with good memories of her. Not this… miserable excuse of a fiancé.

Pulling the covers snuggly over her chin she turned away from the door and settled into her soft fluffy pillow closing her eyes to the world once more. Unfortunately, her ears worked just fine.

“Habibti…”

Jenny’s eyes snapped open.

“STOP!” she screeched. “Just stop! Why won’t you leave me alone?!”

She was already an emotional wreck; she couldn’t stand his presence. Her heart was pounding against her chest, eager to jump out and spread itself at Nathan’s feet in a desperate entreaty for his mercy but her damn pride refused to budge. It was a solid bulwark she had solidified over the years, and it could not be breached so easily.

“Habibti, listen to me. I will not call off our engagement. However, I believe we should push the marriage date forward.”

Jenny covered her head with the blanket willing him to disappear. What use is pushing the marriage date forward now!?

Nathan continued to speak in his gentle yet commanding tone, “Come, let’s talk in the living room when you are properly dressed.”

Jenny blustered under the blanket, flailing her limbs angrily. She hadn’t thrown a tantrum since she had come of age but now, she felt like a child being forced to do something against her will and she resisted. It used to be something she admired about Nathan, the way he could bend her to his will. She thought they were a fated pair since he was naturally dominant, and she was willing to submit to him. But not today. She did not want to expose her shameful behavior to anyone; especially not to him.

“No Nathan, I was clear last night. There will be no wedding. We are officially over.”

“Is it because of Derrick?”

Jenny froze at the sound of his cold voice.

“Is it because he defiled your lips and later tried to force himself on you last night?”

“...”

Nathan sighed. He massaged his thick brows as he spoke quietly. “It is fine, Habibti. I know you resisted in the end; you are not at fault. I do not blame you.”

Jenny couldn’t breathe. She felt suffocated and it wasn’t from the blanket that was still draped over her head.

She managed to rasp out, “You had me watched?”

“It was for your safety.”

“This is an invasion of privacy!”

“You must understand, you are to be my wife. There should be no privacy between us. If you want to know anything about me, all you need to do is ask.”

Jenny threw the covers off and leaped to her feet, practically seething.

“‘All you need to do is ask…” she repeated in derision, “and what should I ask? Whereas you know everything about me! All my dirty laundry has been out dangling in front of you! Do you know how humiliating this is to me!?”

“Please, get dressed before you catch a cold. I’ll make you a cup of coffee and we can talk in the living room.” Nathan made his way to the kitchen as if he owned the place.

Jenny stamped her feet in frustration but still went about getting dressed. Throwing on a nightgown and a cover up, she entered the bathroom. Still feeling tense, her knees locked beneath her as she washed her face with cold water to clear the turmoil in her mind, she thought about her relationship with Nathan.

She should be happy, shouldn’t she? After all, she will still be able to marry the man of her dreams, but a new feeling of trepidation set in: how long had he tailed her? How much did he hide from her? She knew powerful men played the game of romance differently but even Chris, who was infatuated with her mother, didn’t dare cross the line and infringe on her privacy. Would she be able to live life like this?

Suddenly, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. Confused, she looked up at her reflection in the mirror but all she saw was a black mist that swept across her field of vision. The next moment she felt a sharp pain to her temple as she crashed down to the floor, and she blacked out to the ear-splitting ring of tinnitus.