Aisha stared through the window. There was a light drizzle outside to match her mood and down below in the garden, the servants were unloading the baggage of her mother and father, who just came from a long trip.

“I have brought the documents,” her father said, entering the room. “It will happen today.”

That startled her. “What happens today?”

Aiden Crowell gave a thin smile. “I’m divorcing your mother and disregarding you as my daughter. In another few moments I’m going to act like an angry brat whose fiance cheated on him, and when the house servants hear it, the gossip will spread like wildfire. Tomorrow, I submit the documents to the court of law, and then….” His eyes glinted. “You better pay that boy a visit again.”

Aisha’s face paled.

“Oh Aisha, did you really think the servants in this house keep silent about you staying four days in Gray’s little sex mansion? What happened? Do you love him now?”

Her anger boiled up all at once. She had half a mind to grab one of the wooden chairs and hit the old bastard with it. What only stopped her was her mother, who came behind with dark ringlets in her eyes.

She moved past him and came towards her, then looked back at her husband. “Are you going to start it now?”

Aisha knew that look too well. Her mother and father had been in a fight. It seemed their four-day journey wasn’t a very romantic one.

“Soon,” Aiden scuttled towards her. “But first let me give you a goodbye kiss…”

“I don’t need it,” Montrea stepped back and grabbed Aisha’s hand. Her mother rarely did that. It was she who was usually clingy for her. “Let’s get this over with.”

Her father looked at the two of them. “Look at you two. You need to care about this family some more. Am I the only bastard who wants this family to rise to the top? Am I the only one who wants us to surpass the rest of the bastards and stand near the queen in every political meeting? Fuck both of you, I want that. And if that boy needs to bend you two down and rape you, you should be ready for it.”

Aisha gritted her teeth. “You always treat us like tools father!”

“For a good cause, dammit!” he snapped. “And now that I found out you’ve been sneaking to the Adlefort Mansion, I have double the evidence. I had three spies positioned at my house, and they made sure to spread the news among bystanders. That’s a little too much talk, but it solidifies my evidence at the council, and I’ll be able to strip that bastard Gray clean.”

Aisha listened in silence. She should have known. She should have fucking known her father wouldn’t just let her go like that.

“I won’t let you-”

Her father calmly walked towards her, almost silent. For a moment Aisha thought he would insult her, but she didn’t see his hand coming. The slap hit hard. She felt a strong pain on her cheek and the impact sent her down to the ground. Her eyes strung, and she felt tears brimming them.

“You won’t. Because even though I’ll only temporarily divorce your mother, you’ll permanently be cast out as my daughter. I hate traitors. And you can live as a bastard girl raising a child after Gray kicks you out too.”

Aisha’s cheek was blistering with pain, but her mind tried to comprehend what her father was saying.

“Aiden!” Her mother snapped. “Have you lost your senses? She’s our daughter!”

“And you are pregnant again! And you’ll raise a fine son. If it is not a son, you’ll get impregnated until you bear a son. She wasn’t much use to me anyway!”

“How dare you speak to her like that?” Montrea snapped. “She may be some tool to you, but I love her.”

“And you are my wife!” Aiden gripped her by the hand and grabbed her close. “And you do as I say. You are going to bounce those sweet tits of yours to any man who can get you pregnant, any man who can make me the next duke, any man who can give me an inch of land. Montrea, I love you, but I am also a businessman. When I see another woman, man, or child, I see property. And like any property, what matters is its worth, and how quickly you can turn it to gold. Now…”

He turned back and walked to the papers. “Let’s start a nice act of kicking our daughter out of the house, and then you. And you’ll come back to me. But she’ll stay out.”

Aisha’s rage burned. She stood up, ready to spring at him, but her mother held her close. She had tears in her eyes. Aisha understood why. She and her both knew they were nothing but property to her father, but behind that grim smile and numb face of his they both thought there was at least a little humanity hidden behind.

Turned out they were wrong.

“Now,” her father cleared his voice. Then he raised his mouth, ready to shout…

“AIDEN CROWELL!”

Aisha at first thought she was dreaming things. It was Gray’s voice, and he heard it in the garden.

I’m imagining things…

But she wasn’t. Her father’s face twisted, and her mother gave a soft gasp.

Her father got to his feet, pushing away both of them and reaching the window. Aisha looked over him.

There were seven royal guards positioned near the gates, along with Gray’s familiar carriage. He was standing on the path to the house, wearing a handsome black coat and pants.

Ah….I wish I could go hug him right now.

She could. She could kill her father right here when he wasn’t looking. And then she could be with Gray forever….

“Who are you?” her father snapped.

“Oh, you know me,” Gray grinned. “Why don’t you come down with your wife and daughter to have a little chat?”

There were workers in the garden staring at the scene. A few passerbies in the street had stopped near the carriage, eagerly craning their necks to see what the drama was.

I guess my father finally got what he wanted.

Her father’s face was twisted. More twisted than she had ever seen. His bony hands gripped the edges of the window and he looked like he almost wanted to jump out of it.

“Why would I…why would I… want to talk with scum like you?”

The breaks in his voice told Aisha enough. The old bastard was panicked.

“You are that servant boy who got a free pass as a noble,” Aiden snapped. “Staying with you on the same ground is a fucking insult to me! Fuck off, and come with someone legal if you want an actual meeting with me. And you better be ready to suffer the consequences of invading the privacy of a royal.”

“Oh, I have someone legal.”

The guards at the gate parted, and the duke’s daughter stepped out, dressed in a charming blue and white dress, holding onto the smile she always had when she was a kid.

That fucking bitch is with Gray now?

She hated how she walked over to Gray like they were some team.

Look at how pretty she is. And here I am, wallowing here with my cheek red.

Her father gawked. “L-lady Jenna…”

“Will you come down now?” Gray wasn’t smiling anymore, and his voice had a thin line of hate. “Or shall I come up?”