~Revelation~
⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
Persephone didn't sleep. After she had forcibly kicked James out, mostly out of risk of getting caught, Persephone couldn't sleep. The idea of being in an arranged marriage with Robert kept her up all night thinking. When did this start? How did this happen? Who else knows about this?
She had spent practically the whole day in her room. After James had left, she stayed by her window just thinking. Persephone had even watched the sunrise but lack of sleep did catch up with the girl, yet she didn't get much sleep.
"Sorry to interrupt, Persephone." Arabella approached the girl who was in fact still sitting by the window. "How are you feeling?"
Arabella had grown worried for the young girl. Persephone didn't want to leave her room for anything. Food had to be brought up to her room in order for her to eat. And by the look on Persephone's face, Arabella knew it was a long night.
Persephone shrugged. "I don't know how to feel, Bells."
"Grandmother told me what happened last night. I'm so sorry that happened to you. I would have expected more manners from Daniel."
Persephone had almost forgotten about the dinner that took place last night. She had been too busy thinking about what James had told her that she forgot about the horrible dinner Daniel had caused. The embarrassment she faced while in the Vronsky house. In a way everything made sense.
Daniel ruining the dinner was just a way of removing James out of the picture. And if he wasn't going to do it, he knew his family would.
"What's done is done and there is nothing that can be done about it. Daniel got exactly what he wanted." Persephone didn't want to dwell over the dinner. She had bigger fish to fry.
"I just wanted to let you know that Robert is here."
That had seemed to perk Persephone's interest. If Robert was here, they would mostly talk about the disaster that took place in the Vronsky house.
"I saw him walking into Daniel's office. Most likely wanting to talk about last night." Arabella continued on, knowing this was what Persephone wanted.
Persephone nodded her head, standing up from her seat. "Good. Now, we can see once and for all what those two have been hiding all this time."
"I just want you to be careful. Whatever it is that they are hiding, might change everything."
"Bella, I have been hurt long enough and it will hurt more the longer I am oblivious to everything that is going on. I need to know what those two are hiding and if my suspicions are true."
"Very well then. I wish you the best of luck."
Persephone squeezed Arabella's hand before walking out of her room. As she tipped toed down the stairs, making as little to no noise as possible, she felt her heart thumping loudly. Persephone couldn't get caught, especially now that she was so close to finding out the truth.
She stopped right when she reached Daniel's office. Near enough to hear what they were saying behind closed doors.
"Wait. So you told them their father was rolling in his grave?" Robert's voice was heard, laughing at what she was guessing about Daniel retelling the story.
"You should have seen the look on their faces. It was priceless." Daniel chuckled, making Persephone roll her eyes. Of course they would find this a joke, she thought.
"I could only imagine. Persephone probably wanted to kill you." Robert continued laughing.
"Kill me? She was practically ready to cry. That spoiled brat has gotten away with too many things." Daniel scoffed.
"Daniel, what you did was not only embarrassing for her but for us as well. What is the Duchess going to say when she's around her friends? Lady Whistledown already wrote about how there was going to be a dinner between the two families, there's only a matter of time before they talk." A familiar female voice was heard making Persephone furrow her brows. This can't be who I think it is, she thought.
"Athena, this is great for us but not only for us, for the plan." Daniel's voice was heard. "If that family has any respect for themselves, they wouldn't want Persephone to marry into their family."
"You have faced embarrassment but this is good for us. It is a step forward." Robert added.
"I don't know. I just think there was a better way for this plan to work instead of facing embarrassment in front of a Duchess." Athena sighed. "You should have seen the look on her face. I feel terrible."
"Would it be too soon to comfort the girl?" Robert joked, taking things a bit too lightly.
"Robert, it's not funny. It's bad enough Daniel did all of that to remove James out of the way. I feel like a terrible sister."
"Whatever. You didn't feel like you were a terrible sister when you agreed with the plan. We should continue on with this marriage. Now that the Vronskys are out of the way, Robert should be good to go." Daniel waved Athena off. "And this time, let's hope there aren't any obstacles in the way."
"James was the only man Persephone ever wanted to be with. I'm sure it'll be too soon for her to find another man." Athena stated, ignoring the comment Daniel made about her.
Persephone felt her heart drop. Not only what James had told her was true but Athena was part of this plan. Her sister. Her supposed guardian was in on the arranged marriage and she did nothing. Didn't even tell her anything about it.
Anger filled Persephone's body as she marched towards the door, opening it wide open, making the people in the room turn towards the girl. Persephone looked at each one before settling on her sister, who had a look of fear and surprise.
"So everything is true. There is an arranged marriage planned for me."
"Persephone, what are you talking about?" Athena felt her own heart drop. Was her sister listening in to their conversation?
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Persephone yelled, glaring at each of them. "My arranged marriage with this one over here, set up by my own father."
"Persephone, I think you should relax—"
"Don't tell me to relax! I need to know everything now!"
Athena looked at her husband for help but all she saw was a grin on his face.
"Persephone is right. We should tell her everything. I think she should have the right to know her destiny." Daniel offered Persephone to take a seat but she simply glared at him. "Very well then. When your mother died, your father and I set up an arranged marriage with you and Robert Arrington. Everything would take place right when you were of legal age."
"But your father believed that we should keep this secret. He knew you wouldn't agree with any of it, especially if it was by force. We had decided to let you enjoy your social season and hopefully during your social season, you would 'fall in love' with Robert but James came in the way." Daniel continued on. "Our plan was to get you to fall in love with Robert so things wouldn't get too complicated. So people wouldn't talk about the Thornharts having arranged marriages."
"Why? Why did Francis want me to have this arranged marriage?"
"I would change my last name. I would take your last name and become Thornhart." Robert answered the girl. "Our future kids would be Thornharts. Seeing as my family has lots of boys, I agreed."
Of course. Of course Francis Thornhart would want to continue the Thornhart bloodline and what better way to do that than to marry his daughter off to the first sucker who would willingly change his last name. She felt like an object. She felt disgusted.
"You can't force me to marry him." Persephone shook her head. There was no way she was going to marry Robert all because a dead man wanted it to happen.
"Actually, you have no other choice." Daniel pulled out a paper, handing it out to Persephone. "Your father signed this paper. Making it official. You have to marry Robert and if you don't, all the money your mother's family left you will be given to Robert."
Persephone was so confused. "What money?"
"Before grandfather passed away, he had signed his will and everything owned by the Linwoods would be yours once you would get married." Athena explained softly but Persephone barely looked at her.
The Linwoods were Rachel's side of the family. They were practically in the same social status with the Thornharts and combining the two last names made them even richer. But Brandon Linwood a.k.a Persephone's grandfather, didn't trust Francis Thornhart. He knew if he would give everything he owned to Rachel, Francis would take it away from her. So in his will, Brandon wrote his favorite granddaughter in instead of his daughter.
Brandon always saw the fire in Persephone. He knew she would be a force to be reckoned with and he knew everything would be in good hands. Persephone was his favorite grandchild and everyone knew that. It broke Persephone to hear of his passing but she had her mother. Rachel comforted her daughter and it made things less painful.
"Grandfather left you a lot of things, Persephone. Money and property."
"And if you don't marry Robert, everything will be his." Daniel watched Persephone read the paper that was signed by her late father.
Persephone ripped the paper into pieces before throwing it in the chimney. She watched the pieces of paper burn into flames, slowly turning into ashes before facing them again.
"Burning the paper isn't going to do anything. What's done is done and now that you know, you have no other choice but to marry Robert." Daniel stated, leaning against his chair.
"I can't believe this. Even from the grave the man is still making my life miserable." Persephone felt her eyes well up but forced them back. Looking at Athena. "But what hurts the most is that you knew about it and didn't tell me anything."
"Persephone,you have to understand—"
"You are my sister! We are blood and you do this to me. You betrayed me and I will never forgive you for this."
Athena stood up from her seat walking towards but stopped as Persephone would take steps back. "I'm only doing what's best for you and for this family."
"That's where you're wrong. You're not doing this for me, you're doing this because your father wanted this. He wanted this bloodline to keep growing and since you were so far up his ass, you'd do anything your father dearest says." Persephone hissed.
"That's not true."
"It isn't? You're practically selling your sister to a man she will never love. You knew how I felt about James and you didn't even say anything to me. You let me believe I had a future with him when in reality everything was set in stone for me." Persephone ran a hand through her hair. "All because Francis Thornhart wants to continue his stupid bloodline. He wasn't satisfied with you so he wants to do it with me and you're letting it happen."
"Persephone, I think you're overreacting. All this argument and yelling isn't going to change anything." Robert chimed in but all he got was a glare from his future wife.
"Robert for once in your goddamn life, mind your business. The last thing I want to hear is your voice in this second."
"Please, just listen to me. Let me explain." Athena pleaded to her young sister.
Persephone looked at her sister with sadness and heartbreak. "There is nothing to explain. You picked your side and I hope you stay there, Lady Thornhart. You are no sister to me."
Without hearing her response, Persephone quickly walked out of the room. She practically ran to her room as she felt her tears rolling down her cheeks. All she felt was betrayal and heartbreak. Her sister. Her blood sister betrayed her in the worst way possible.
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A knock was heard on Persephone's door but she didn't bother to open it nor respond. After her argument with her sister, Persephone locked herself in her room. Athena had yet to approach her.
"Persephone? It's me, Margaret. Can I come in?" Margaret had heard everything that went down and she knew sooner or later Persephone would know.
Margaret sighed as she didn't hear any response coming from the young girl. "I'm going to come in."
Yet again, she didn't hear a response so she went inside anyway. The first thing she saw was Persephone laying in bed, face down. Margaret didn't know if Persephone was sleeping or not but judging by the small movement she made, Persephone was very much wide awake.
"My dear, I just want to know how you're feeling. I know it's a lot to take in."
"Did you know?" It was a whisper but Margaret had managed to hear it anyway. "Did you know about this plan?"
"When your mother was sick, I managed to hear a conversation between Francis and Daniel. At the time, Daniel was trying to convince your father about the plan but Francis wasn't too convinced." Margaret explained, taking a seat on the bed. "I had informed your mother of what I heard and she had made me promise her that I would do whatever it took to ruin those plans."
"So everyone knew except me." Persephone chuckled dryly. Everyone knew what was going on except her. Except the person who was personally affected by the plan.
"I tried my best to get you away from him and I assumed Athena was doing the same. I didn't know Athena was involved in all of that." Margaret didn't know about Athena's involvement with the plan. It was a shock to her as well.
Persephone couldn't exactly hold Margaret accountable since she could only do the best she could. There wasn't much she could say about the arranged marriage since Margaret was just a maiden and a nanny. Plus, Margaret did warn her about Robert.
"I just can't believe it. Why does everything bad always happen to me?" Persephone sat up from her position as she felt the tears forming in her eyes.
It wasn't fair. Persephone lived a life of misery. Her own father didn't care much about her and she had to deal with that throughout her life. Her mother died of an unknown illness, leaving behind a parent who could care less about the young girl. Years later her father was killed, leaving her as an orphan. Forcing her older sister to take the responsibility.
Right when Persephone felt like her life was turning around. When she felt like the darkness was slowly creeping away, everything turned to shit. Her own sister betrayed her. Went behind her back. Athena only cared about how her father felt. How her husband felt. She never once thought about how Persephone would feel and even if she did, she didn't care and that is what hurt the most.
"You didn't choose this life, this life chose you because you are strong."
"But I don't want to be strong. I want a happier life. A peaceful life and I never got that. I honestly wish I was never born. Maybe things would have been easier." Persephone felt herself giving up. So much fighting and for what? To get the same outcome? To keep getting hurt? She wished she had different problems to face.
"Now Persephone, you shouldn't say those things." Margaret ran a hand through Persephone's hair.
"Why? It's true. I try so hard, Margaret. I try and try and I still get the same outcome. What's the point of being strong when I still face the same outcome?" Persephone looked at Margaret with sadness and defeat.
"Because your mother wouldn't want you to give up." Persephone looked down at the mention of her mother. Would it be different if her mother was still here? "Persephone, you are still not married to that man. You still have a chance to change things. To change your future. To change your outcome."
"If I don't marry him, I have to give up everything my grandfather had left me. I can't do that." As much as Persephone hated it, she couldn't give up everything her grandfather had left her. It was just too much. Persephone knew her grandfather wouldn't be happy, especially giving it to someone like Robert.
"There has to be another way. A loophole."
"I don't think so." Persephone shook her head. "I don't think there's anything left for me to do except marry that man."
Margaret hated seeing Persephone this way. She had never seen the young girl give up. To face the music. Persephone was always a fighter. Someone who never gave up. She faced issues head on but how much could one take? She had to be a fighter all throughout her life and things can get tiring.
"We'll find a way, Persephone. Please don't give up. Keep fighting." Margaret caressed Persephone's cheeks. "Your future is not with Robert Arrington. We both know that. At least think about it before making a decision."
Persephone nodded her head. "Can you stay here with me for the night? I could really use a motherly figure right about now."
Margaret felt her heart swell. "Of course, my little P."
Persephone slightly smiled at her old nickname. Margaret and Rachel would always call her 'my little p' but as she grew older, Margaret had stopped calling her that...up until now.
Margaret wrapped her arms around Persephone, letting the brunette rest her head on her shoulders. And they stayed that way. All Persephone could think about was her future. A future she once couldn't wait to experience. A future she assumed would have a happy ending. But I guess happy endings aren't in Persephone's future.
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! Author's Note !
─◌✰್ The bomb has officially been dropped and we found out more about the plan Daniel had made. Hopefully it all made sense but pretty much if Persephone does not marry Robert, she would have to give him everything that her grandfather left her (which would include lots of properties and money and they are very valuable).
─◌✰್ The drama is just beginning and more revelations will come out.
─◌✰್ Thank you all for reading. Enjoy♡