~Chapter One~
The sunny weather in River Valley, Ohio, was the least of Victoria Elven's worries. Granting the sunlit midair invading her room beckoned her to slip outside for a stroll, it was not enough to tempt her to leave. Rose and Clark Jewels had come for a visit, and something smelled fishy about their sudden arrival. After having greeted them kindly, Victoria excused herself to her room. Her worries began to build as she closed the door behind her, wondering what could be the matter. Her mother and father had been acting a bit odd recently, but she was still unaware of the situation. She did not like to pry nor ask questions, she figured they would soon explain their unusual behavior.
Her father, Jonathan Elven, was a kind man, one who shared his thoughts and ideas with his daughter. However, he too had begun to act distant and a bit distraught. Her worries only escaladed when she noticed his interest for the family business lessen. Their bakery had begun to lose money, and his visits to the old building were less frequent. Victoria had not dared to ask any questions even after she noticed all of this sudden change. Rather, she picked up the slack where her father surprisingly was failing. A week had gone by and Victoria was near the brink of breaking tradition and marching up to her father for explanations.
Inching closer to her door, she pushed it open and slipped out of her room. She had never dared done anything like this, but what was so devastating that her parents refused to tell her? Quietly walking down the hall, she reached the top of the stairs and knelt there. Her heart accelerated as she quietly tugged at the hem of her blue pencil skirt trying to inch closer to listen. Only muffled voices vibrated from the living room up to the staircase, forcing her to move down further, just enough to hear. She could not help but to cave into the curiosity of it all.
"Then it is agreed, we shall come by tomorrow evening to discuss matters with your daughter further. We hope she can understand that we do not want her to do anything she does not desire." Mr. Clark said.
"Jonathan wait, is there no other way?" her mother suddenly intervened.
"Bellen, you and I both know there is no other way, I shall talk to Victoria myself." he replied.
"I can't...I can't do this to her, she deserves so much more than this," her mother wept.
Victoria felt her gut knot as she heard her mother weep, and it irritated her more to feel left out on their conversation. If she had grown up with wits and bravery, she would have marched down those steps and demanded answers. Nevertheless, it was not so at all. She had been born with a weak heart, frightened to make a stand at all. Disgusted and ashamed for having thought such vial thought's she stood and quietly walked back into her room.
What on earth is wrong with me? She thought.
Stepping inside her room, she let out a faint sigh and gently removed her squared glasses, placing them down unto her bureau. Settling over her bunk she brushed her brown lose strands of hair aside and reached for a rosary inside her jewelry box. Her hands clutched tightly to the black beaded rosary her Aunt Francis had given her on her third birthday. Victoria grasped the trivial carved figure of Christ in her hands, wanting somehow to evaporate. She inhaled a deep breath and forced her trembling body to relax. Shifting uncomfortably in her bunk she set her clutched hands over her skirt, slowly smoothing out her curled fingers. She wasn't big on religion but the rosary brought her comfort of some sort.
She tried to focus her eyes on the cream-colored wallpaper but her tears came before she could make out the tiny little engraved designs on the wall. Faint footsteps approached her door and she wiped at her foolish tears hoping to seem nonchalant.
"There has to be some other way we can fix this," her mother suddenly whispered. They stood outside her door. Their muffled argument had begun to pull the last string of her nerves apart.
What is going on? she thought.
Soon there was silence and she stared at the heavy wooden door as the knob slowly began to turn. The lock clicked and in stepped her mother with teary eyes, wiping her nose with a tissue. Clearly, her expression told Victoria that her father had won the argument. She stood and felt her legs want to give out from under her, yet she remain expressionless as she walked towards her mother.
"Oh Vicky I tried my best, I really did," her mother broke down.
"Shhh mom everything is alright...please tell me what is going on?" she whispered, as she took her mother's thin frame into her arms.
"Bellen you and I need to talk," her father said walking quietly through the door.
Victoria stared at her father wanting to give him a piece of her mind but kept her mouth fastened. She was not brave enough to disrespect her father, much less express her angered emotions.
"Please Jonathan just let me be," she sighed, wiping the smearing makeup from under her eyes. Jonathan looked at his wife, his face filled with sadness and fear. It clearly express he too did not feel like arguing at the moment. They had never dared argued before their daughter.
"I will be in my study," he then replied, and walked away.
Bellen Elven took a deep breath and held herself as she quietly made her way near the window. She pulled the curtain to a side and stared out into the street looking for words to try to explain to her daughter what had happened.
"Victoria...I love you, you know that right?" she began. She pressed her lips into a thin line and tried her best to keep her composure. Clearly, whatever her parents had been disputing over shook her to her soul. Her shoulders slumped and her back curved forward as she tried miserably to hold herself. Victoria eyed her mother from head to toe.
"I know, I love you too mom." Victoria replied, while settling a gentle hand over Bellen's shoulder.
"Clark and Rose have come today to discuss a very delicate matter with your father and I." She began to say.
"What exactly have they come to propose? I am beginning to think it is something ghastly. You and father have been acting so discreet recently. It has begun to put me on edge the way you two jump at shadows." Victoria whispered. Her mother sniffed in a few tears and wiped at her nose, letting her cheek rest over her daughter's warm grip.
"I do not think I have the strength to tell you what has been going on. Your father should be the one to tell you. I can only say that if another opportunity shows itself we will take it." Bellen replied.
"Mom, your words frighten me." She replied.
Her mother let out a dry chuckle as she turned to face Victoria, taking her shoulders in a gentle grip that reassured her daughter not to be afraid, entirely. The door rattled with a heavy knock, and they both turned to find Mr. Elven enter. His aged complexions and weary grey eyes displayed tiredness and frustration. Part of Victoria wished to confront him and the other wished to know what the whole deal was.
"I need to have a word with our daughter Bellen," he said in a flat tone. Bellen Elven let out a tired sigh and nodded without saying anything. Once alone Victoria could feel her skin prickle as her father stared at her with a sorrowful look. This always made her weak; she never liked seeing him like this, or her mother for that matter.
"I realize you might be disappointed with me, but I also need to explain my actions as to why I have been acting so secretive." He began. Victoria nodded in agreement and took a seat starring down at her hands while playing with the buttons on her white blouse. This was the decisive moment. Her heart accelerated as she observed with great concentration the white button on her blouse. How her finger gently turned it round and round until the thin string holding it together snapped.
"Are you hearing me?" Her father quietly asked.
"Yes." She replied, in a faint whisper.
"As I was saying, your mother and I have had recent visits to the doctor lately. After a few test the doctors have found that your mother...has cancer, breast cancer." He forced himself to confess.
"What?"
The question left her lips in a faint whisper as she felt hot tears pour from her water line. Victoria stood and felt her breath hitch as her father's awful confession sunk in deeper. It turned her stomach as numerous painful thoughts settled inside of her. The sorrow spilled from her mouth in sobs as she covered her face, feeling her legs weaken. Jonathan rushed to her daughter's side and held her close as she wept in his arms. Her child like whimpers slowly twisted his heart in an unbearable manner.
"What does all of this have to do with the Mr. Clark and his wife?" she asked. She wiped at her tears, feeling the world stop revolving around her.
"Clark and Rose have recently had a few problems with their only son. He's been acting up and...well as you may very well know the only way Alexander behaves. His father wants him to slow down before everything Clark worked so hard for goes to ruin. He is deeply afraid that his son will spend every last penny and in the end sell the company for money," he explained.
"I fail to understand how this involves my mother?" she questioned.
She was afraid to hear the reply when she watched her father's features fall in disappointment. He slipped away from her, turning his back almost as if ashamed to confess to his daughter what they wanted out of her. "Clark and Rose have proposed that you wed their son, and in exchange they will take care of all your mothers expenses."