"So, Lyall," Olivia said again. "How is the latest project coming?"Olivia spoke with most of her words hidden; she was purposefully trying to exclude anyone who didn't immediately know what she was talking about. Obviously meant for Abigail, but it also excluded her mother. Though Charlotte didn't seem to mind it all that much."Quite well, I would say," Lyall answered her earnestly. His interest seemed more in the topic; he hadn't once glanced at Olivia's breasts overflowing from her dress.Abigail thought that was very chivalrous of him. Olivia seemed to obviously disagree, straightening her position so every often, her breasts nearly falling out each time.Olivia gave a dainty laugh, placing her hand in front of her mouth. "How long do you think it would take?" Oliva asked, and then immediately bit on her index finger, as though wondering. Her entire demeanor was nothing short of seduction of the highest order.It was truly a sight to behold. And Abigail saw even Charlotte sta
Abigail wondered if this was all worth it, if this life was worth all of the difficulties that came with it. She felt entirely out of place here, where everyone else seemed to fit so seamlessly into this world, and this house.Even Lyall, who wasn't even family, seemed to be able to deal with the staff in his own personal way. And even though Charlotte didn't seem to like him, at least she wasn't openly hostile to him.Her stepmother would see her thrown out of this house, if she could. And Abigail had done absolutely nothing to her. She knew she had been born before Charlotte and her dad had even gotten together. Olivia two years younger than her. And it wasn't like her father had signed all their wealth over to Abigail, just given her a fraction of what Olivia had been given.Olivia herself had said so, that everything Abigail had, her clothes and jewels and money, were trifling pieces compared to the fortune Olivia had just in her clothing.And Olivia, what even could she make o
As soon as Mark wrapped his arms around her, Abigail broke down entirely. Sobbing against him, she just cried. And Mark held on to her for a good few minutes, as she just cried against him.Eventually, Abigail's sobs passed, and turned to sniffles. Eventually, those passed as well. But Mark held on to her through the entire thing. Until eventually, she was too tired and drained to keep standing.Mark seemed to sense her exhaustion, and guided her back onto the rock, and sat down beside her. He grabbed his jacket and threw it over the both of them, cradling her against him. He kept both arms around her the entire time.They sat for a long time in silence, though it didn't feel oppressive at all. It felt, oddly comforting, just sitting there with him.The breeze had picked up a little, but Mark had nestled her inside his jacket, and pressed against his chest, she didn't even feel the cold."I'm sorry for my assumptions," Mark said, eventually. "That would have been very wrong of me
Abigail woke early for breakfast the next morning and managed to join her father for breakfast, on time, in the right room.Neither Olivia nor Charlotte were present, and Abigail frowned."This was why I asked you to be punctual," Adam smiled at his daughter. "Neither of them are capable of showing up on time, and I thought it would be nice to have a few moments alone with you."Abigail beamed and sat down next to her father.Their few minutes turned out to be half an hour. And they spent the entire thirty minutes talking. Abigail and Adam spoke over each other at times, trying to get the other to get to know them. They spoke excitedly, animatedly, over anything and everything. One topic overlapped with another, and they barely ate their breakfast.Adam asked about her studies and her future plans. If she would be going back to work on Monday to the flower shop. Adam also told her he needed to speak with her again, to sort out some of the admin work of her staying there with him.
Later that day, Adam summoned Abigail to his office."There are just some things we need to sort out," Adam told his daughter as he motioned for her to sit down in the chair in front of his desk. "Like I said, some life formalities.""What do you mean?" Abigail asked her father, confused.She sat down on the sofa he offered her, in front of a roaring fire. And she glanced to the three huge ring binders on the table."Before I show you these," Adam said, placing his hand on one of the binders. "I need you to understand something. If you are at all like me, you would be much too proud to take a hand out. And I need you to understand that this is not what that is."Abigail made to object, already guessing her father was going to give her access to more money than she'd ever had in her entire life."Please, Abigail," Adam held up a hand. "If your mother had gone to the courts, and demanded child support for you as you were growing up, would you have called her a golddigger? Would you
Abigail took one minute. One full minute to herself to breathe properly. She drew in a deep breath and exhaled. She did this several times over until she felt she had complete mastery over herself.She wasn't even angry. She had expected some more treachery. Maybe not this soon, and maybe not like this, but more treachery she had been expecting. And here it was. The very next day. So Abigail was not even really angry.But Abigail was worried. Because this was a very real problem that needed to be solved.Abigail glanced at the dresses. She had absolutely no dresses in her closet that she could choose. And she had no access to her money that her father had given her just yet. All she had to choose from were the dresses that Olivia had given her.And she absolutely could not miss this party. Not after her father had been so kind and generous to her yesterday. Not after they had finally gotten on the right footing with each other. She could not afford to take a single step back in the
Abigail watched calmly, stepping back slightly, as Olivia had her temper tantrum. She spotted Mark, out of the corner of her eye, making his way over to her."You stole that dress from me!" Olivia screamed, on the verge of tears as she clung to her own pearl necklace, as though she'd been personally attacked. "And look how you've ruined it! That was not like that when I gave it to you!"Mark knew of the torture she had already endured at the hands of her new family, and she guessed that he had put together, roughly, what was happening, and he looked ready to jump in. But Abigail waved him with a discreet motion of her hand, and Mark stopped in his tracks, watching anxiously.Abigail briefly wondered why Mark was even here, but she had no time to linger on that thought, given her sister having a full on enraged episode in the middle of what Abigail assumed was the dance floor."Are you done?" Abigail asked calmly, as Olivia finished screaming about her stealing the dresses from her.
After her father's announcement, Lyall came over to her almost immediately."Abigail!" He exclaimed, a broad smile on his face, "Congratulations."Lyall leaned in towards her and placed a light peck on her cheek, and Abigail stumbled a little. When had they become such close friends?"Oh," Abigail struggled to think, as Lyall stood next to her, his hand on her back. "Thank you, I guess."She tried to side-step him, but there was someone to the left of her, and her dress was a little bulky. So she waited for the woman to pass."Abigail," Lyall said to her again, before she could make a clean escape from his side. "Would you do me the honor of a dance?"And for the first time that night, Abigail silently cursed her sister's absence. Maybe Olivia was good for one thing, after all. Keeping Lyall away from her."Sure," Abigail agreed, thinking the best way out of this would be through on torturous dance.Lyall led her to the dance floor, that was already occupied with so many couple