“Sebastian is your husband!” I heard my mother’s appalled voice.
Just when I thought nothing would set me free from the hell I was trapped in, someone stroked my hair and talked to me with the voice of an angel.
“Wake up Isabelle. It’s just a dream sweetheart.” The voice of heaven called me.
I woke up sweaty, flustered and hyperventilating. Anne glanced at me while stroking my hair.
“It was just a dream, Isabelle. It’s alright,” she comforted me.
I looked at her in desperation, wondering if I would ever be normal again. She removed her hands from my hair and I sat upright, trying to breathe evenly.
“What happened dear?” Anne looked at me with concern when she noticed my bruised cheek.
Her panicked reaction startled me because I had yet to see the damage on my face, but I had to remain calm or Anne would be treated to another one of my breakdowns.
“It’s okay.” I tried to reassure her.
Her facial expression made it clear that she knew it wasn’t okay, but she would drop the subject anyway.
“Isabelle, Miss Everett is waiting for you downstairs to take you shopping,” she said with a smile on her face.
“Oh my God, I forgot about that.” I started panicking at the thought of Sebastian scowling at me again.
“Don’t worry. She’s downstairs having breakfast with Sebastian. Take your time. But don’t make it too long.”
After I thanked her and assured her I didn’t need any help, she left me alone with a pile of clothes on the floor. I still needed to choose something from that pile and wear it in front of Sebastian for the last time. After everything that had happened the day before, I felt anxious about being in the same house with him, let alone letting him see me in my rags again. Resigned, I chose something to wear and hurried to the bathroom. The reflection of the girl with a bruised face startled me, and I doubted that makeup could cover it up. I took a quick shower, put on my clothes and spent minutes trying to mask the throbbing bruise on my face. When I finally accepted that makeup could only do so much, I tried to pull my hair over the blemish as much as possible, but I still couldn’t camouflage it completely. Realizing there was nothing else I could do about it I gave up and headed downstairs to meet Helen.
The anguish of seeing Sebastian increased as I got closer to the dining room. I could have sworn I heard laughter. The moment I entered the room, the noise subsided and it was replaced by the unpleasant silence. Sebastian sat at the head of the table, his features cold and disturbing as usual. Helen gave us a puzzled look before greeting me.
“Isabelle, I’m so excited to see you again. I can’t wait for us to hit the city.” She hugged me and my long hair got moved from my face in the process.
“I’m happy to see you too. It will be a lot of fun shopping with you,” I said nervously because I was self-conscious about the bruise.
A part of me hoped she wouldn’t notice, but the look on her face told me otherwise. My face turned scarlet as she inspected it before glancing questioningly at her brother.
“Isabelle, what happened?” Helen asked me, worried.
Sebastian gaped at me with an expression I couldn’t decipher. I quickly had to think of something that made sense.
“It was an accident,” I said the only thing that came to my mind.
Helen arched her eyebrows. “An accident?”
“One of the maids accidentally slammed the door against my face when I tried to leave the room while she was walking in,” I offered the stupid explanation and looked at Sebastian briefly, but his eyes were far away and focused on his plate.
“Ouch, it looks painful.” She pitied me.
“It will heal,” I answered in a quiet voice.
“You should be more careful next time and avoid incidents like those,” Sebastian said coldly, then got up and left.
“What’s his problem?” Helen was surprised by her brother’s behavior.
Since I didn’t have a valid answer to her question, I chose not to reply. She understood and changed the topic.
“Should we go? We have a lot of stores to visit—or do you want to eat first?” She used the excited girly voice which got me in the mood for shopping as well.
“No, I’m not that hungry. We can eat something in the city.” I was eager to leave the mansion for a few hours.
“Great, let’s go then.” Helen left the room and I followed her to the car.
***
Once we got to the city we spent hours shopping. Helen made me change into the first outfit we bought. I didn’t protest because I knew I would stand out too much if I kept my old clothes on. As we continued our shopping spree, I started feeling uneasy about the prices, but Helen assured me that Sebastian wouldn’t notice that money was missing from his bank account even if we went shopping like that every day. Just how much money did he have if spending a fortune on a few clothing items was completely irrelevant to him?
When walking through yet another store where even the discount price tags alarmed me, Helen noticed a beautiful black dress displayed on a mannequin in the middle of the store.
“Oh my God, that one is perfect. Come quickly.” She hurried to see the dress and I joined her.
She rolled her eyes at me when she saw that I was looking at the price tag again. The shock must have been visible on my face because she shook her head and burst into laughter.
“Let’s find your size so you can try it on.” She encouraged me, but I didn’t like the idea.
“Helen, that dress costs $2700,” I whispered, putting the stress on the amount of money she wanted to spend so carelessly.
“So? I told you not to worry about it. It’s okay, just try it on.”
“I don’t think I should,” I replied humbly.
“Why?” She didn’t seem to understand.
There were several things that kept me from buying that dress. First, I was pretty sure that Sebastian wouldn’t have approved of it, because the dress cost a fortune. What’s more, I was convinced he wouldn’t want to spend that kind of money on me since he hated my guts. But the strongest reason for not buying the dress was that I knew he thought I was a shameless gold digger and I didn’t want him to have one more argument in his favor. Of course, I couldn’t be honest to Helen about my motives for declining the dress, so I just gaped at her, without saying a single word.
“You see, you can’t come up with anything. It will fit you perfectly. Besides, you need something to wear to the family dinner in two weeks,” she informed me casually.
“Family dinner?” I was surprised.
“My silly brother didn’t tell you, did he?” She smiled.
“No. I’m not even sure we are going,” I replied, confused.
“Of course you are; it is mom and dad’s thirtieth wedding anniversary. The whole family will be there. Sebastian probably forgot to tell you. He did warn me this morning to help you find something nice for that occasion and that dress is perfect. So please, try it on already,” she reassured me and insisted on the dress.
“Oh. Okay, I guess I’ll try it on.” I just wanted to get it over with.
Once in the fitting room, I had some trouble putting the dress on because I was so worried about ripping something. The moment I saw myself in the mirror, I couldn’t believe it was me. That dress was truly a magical piece of fabric, altering my look into one of a sophisticated high-class society woman. It was a knee-length, V-neck dress with lacy long sleeves that went just a bit past my elbows. Its slim silhouette complemented my figure and I liked the beaded lace on the bodice.
“Are you ready? I already found the matching shoes. I hope they fit.” I heard Helen’s impatient voice.
“Wow, Isabelle, you look stunning.” Helen looked at me in surprise when I left the fitting room.
“You don’t think it’s too...” I still wasn’t sure about the dress.
“Of course not, it’s just right. Sexy, yet demure.” She complimented my looks.
“Well, thank you.”
“Oh, right, the shoes. Try them on.” She handed me a pair of the most beautiful black stiletto shoes I’d ever seen. “And don’t look at the price,” she warned me with a wink.
When I put on the shoes, the transformation was complete and, for a moment, I felt like Cinderella. Helen continued praising the dream combination—as she had put it—and hurried to the till so that she could pay for everything before I got the chance to protest.
After the exhausting shopping experience, we decided to rest on a terrace of a small lunch bar because I was starving. As we sipped our drinks, waiting for our food to arrive, Helen couldn’t stop talking about how astonishing I looked in that dress. Although I insisted to know the price of the shoes, she wouldn’t reveal it to me. Helen was genuinely fun to be around. She was a kind and warm person who could bring sunshine to anybody’s gloomy day.
“You know, sometimes I think you seem to be the only one lacking the evil gene in the Everett family.” I couldn’t believe I had actually said that.
My cheek reddened and I bit my lip in frustration for blurting out something like that.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean... I shouldn’t have said it.” I couldn’t stop apologizing.
“It’s okay,” she spoke at last and then dropped a bombshell after a period of silence. “Funny you should say that though, because I was adopted.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was sure she was joking. I stared at her for a while before replying.
“You were adopted?” I asked, surprised.
“Yes, so you see I don’t have any Everett genes to begin with.” She joked about it, but I still felt uncomfortable.
“Do you know anything about your biological parents?” I probably shouldn’t have asked that, but the curiosity got the best of me.
“They were workers at The Goliath,” she started.
“The Goliath?” I had no idea what that was.
“It’s the company owned by the Everett’s,” she clarified. “Anyway, my parents died as a result of the poor safety awareness policy of the company. The public was furious so the Everett’s made a gesture by adopting me to get on the good side of the press again,” she said with a longing look on her face. “I was almost nine.” She sighed. “Old enough to remember—not that they ever made me forget. They gave me their name, money, status and education; but they never quite accepted me as one of their own.”
We were interrupted by the waiter who served us food, but I wanted to know more about the venomous family I now belonged to. There seemed to be so many secrets hidden in plain sight. When I reflected on what Helen had told me, it made perfect sense, because it was obvious she couldn’t have been related to those people.
“What about Catherine? I expected her to be more compassionate than the rest of them. I mean she must have gone through the same thing like me, coming from Rosemont, yet she seems so cold.” I raised the issue that was bothering me for a while.
“Catherine was chosen for Theodore a long time before they were supposed to get married. As a matter of fact, she was still a little girl. She came from a wealthy family herself and she was trained properly for the role of Theodore’s wife. That’s mostly the way the marriage of the Everett heirs is handled,” she explained as I listened carefully.
“How come Sebastian didn’t go through the same procedure?” I asked because something clearly didn’t add up.
Helen became quiet and it seemed she was calculating whether to share a certain piece of information with me or not.
“Helen?” I urged her to say something.
“Sebastian had gone through the same procedure with a girl named Cora. Her family lives in New York. Both of her parents descend from Rosemont and they are prominent members of New York upper-class society,” Helen said warily.
“So then, why? Didn’t Sebastian want to marry her?” I was astonished by Helen’s story.
“He did, very much. But it turned out that she...” Helen trailed off and she suddenly seemed sad. “Anyway, their marriage was out of the question.”
“So that means that I—” I couldn’t even finish the sentence as I realized what it meant.
“Isabelle, don’t think about that. You are his wife now and Sebastian is a very responsible person. He will take care of you.”
A heavy lump of anxiety started forming in my throat, so I quickly changed the topic and tried to find out about this family’s strange ways.
“Why is it so important that the bride comes from Rosemont?”
“It was the wish of Collin Everett—Sebastian’s great-grandfather. He and his wife came from Rosemont with nothing and created The Everett Empire. He wanted to keep the family ties to Rosemont because he was very fond of his hometown. His intention had been to put a clause in his will which would oblige every Everett heir to marry a girl from Rosemont in order to create a new heir of Rosemont descent,” Helen told an incredible story.
“But what would be the purpose of that?” I still couldn’t understand.
“The purpose would be for the Everett family to keep their ties to Rosemont and help it develop into a prosperous town.” She tried to clarify, but it still didn’t make any sense.
“But Rosemont is still a primitive dump without industry, jobs or any sort of prosperity.” I tried to wrap my mind around that crazy story Helen was telling me.
“Right, because the Everett’s found a way around it. As long as they marry the girls from Rosemont and give small amounts of money to Rosemont charity they fulfill the terms of Collin’s will, without actually respecting his true wishes,” Helen said, smiling ironically.
“What if they declined to marry a girl from Rosemont?” I was curious.
“Then all of the wealth goes to the city of Rosemont. Collin made at least that part of his will indisputable.”
“I don’t even know what to say. It must have been horrible for you to grow up surrounded by those people.” I felt bad for her.
“It wasn’t all that bad. Theodore and Catherine weren’t exactly the loving parents, but they provided me with everything I have today.” She sounded very grateful.
“Still, that’s so sad,” I said, before the irony hit me because my mother wasn’t exactly the loving type either.
“Well, come to think of it, they weren’t all that gentle to any of their children. That’s why I don’t blame Dianne for being the way she is. It surely wasn’t easy for her. It still isn’t,” she said mysteriously. “She used to make my life a living hell, but Sebastian would always save me from her evil plans.”
I couldn’t believe what she was saying. Sebastian, my conceited husband, was kind to her, knowing she wasn’t a true Everett. I definitely didn’t see that one coming.
“Sebastian?” I asked with a dose of skepticism.
“Yes. He immediately accepted me as his sister without a question, whereas Dianne never thought of me as her equal. To her I was some orphan girl they took pity upon. Sebastian—he was always like my true big brother. As a matter of fact, he’s still very protective of me.” Her eyes glazed like diamonds when she talked about Sebastian, expressing how deeply she loved her brother.
I tried to make a connection between the Sebastian I’d met during my wedding night and the Sebastian Helen spoke of, but I couldn’t grasp the fact that the two men were the same person. I had absolutely no comment on anything she had told me about him. That definitely wasn’t the Sebastian I knew.
“Isabelle?” A grimace of worry settled on her face. “Did Sebastian hit you?”
She seemed to be distressed by the very mention of it. The throbbing bruise on my face taunted me to tell her the truth, but I didn’t have the heart to stain her good opinion of him.
I tried to sound as convincing as I could. “No, he didn’t. It was my fault.”
“You’re not lying to me, are you?” Helen was suspicious.
“No. Like I’ve said, it was an accident.” I smiled lightly to reassure her.<
br />
***
Neither of us had that much left to say so we just continued eating in silence. After finishing our meals, we went back to the mansion where Helen helped me carry all the bags to my bedroom. It was already late and it seemed like no one was in the house. Once we entered the room, I noticed that the pile of my old clothes was already gone.
It felt so nice to be away for a few hours, but the moment I was back, all of my gloomy thoughts set right back in. Helen noticed my mood went down and tried to cheer me up.
“Why don’t you try on some of the things we bought today?”
“I’m exhausted. Maybe some other time.” I forced a smile.
“Come on, it will be fun. Think of it as a little runway experience.” She laughed as she tried to persuade me.
“I don’t know, Helen,” I said with a sour look on my face.
“But I’m dying to see you in that dress again. You don’t have to try anything else, just that one. What do you say? Pretty please?” She smiled because she knew she’d convinced me.
Shaking my head at her, I took the bag with the dress and shoes and went to the bathroom to change. I closed the door and instinctively reached for the lock and noticed it wasn’t there anymore. Frantic, I tried to grasp how that was possible, but then I noticed that the entire door handle had been replaced. Sebastian apparently wouldn’t give me the chance to seek refuge by locking myself in the bathroom the next time. Terror washed over me as the thought of his plans for the evening found its way into my mind. It definitely wasn’t over. He’d said I would have to comply and he had certainly meant it. Although I was aware that fearing what he would do to me was pointless, I still couldn’t help it. I hated how the very thought of that man made me cower in dreadful anticipation. Somehow, putting on that stunning dress made me reflect on the beautiful day I’d spent with Helen and finally, I managed to calm down a little. I put on the black stilettos and tried to walk to the room steadily.
“Yes, we hit the bingo with that one. You look so beautiful it makes me want to cry.” She exaggerated.
“Oh come on, Helen!” I chuckled.
“Honestly, I’m telling you. You’re spectacular.”
Virtue & Vanity Page 11