Priceless (Clarity Coast Omegaverse #2)

1. Marigold

1

MARIGOLD

MEANING: CRUELTY; DESPAIR; GRIEF

OCEAN

________

“ T ighter.”

I swear if that word never came out of my aunt’s mouth ever again, it would be too soon. It was her favorite word, at least when it came to me.

“Ma’am,” Ruby huffed a breath, even more exasperated than I was. “It’s as tight as it will go safely.”

Aunt Laura scoffed. “No, it’s not. We’ve gotten it smaller before, and the dress shows everything. Make it tighter . She has to look perfect.”

I met Ruby’s gaze in the mirror, and I saw the protest on the tip of her tongue. Instead, I gave her the tiniest shake of my head. It wasn’t worth it to fight. If she protested more, Laura would simply take over lacing the corset herself, and it would be far more painful than what Ruby would do.

Sighing, Ruby forced the laces tighter, and I closed my eyes, sinking into a place I already knew well. Behind a glass wall in my own mind, where nothing could reach me and I could ignore the aching pain of my body being forced into something too small for it, and the ache that would fester until after this party when I could finally take it off.

Laura crossed her arms and stared into the mirror triumphantly. “See?”

Neither Ruby nor I said anything as she went to the rack and picked up the dress she’d chosen for the party. Excuse me, the gala . She corrected me every time I said anything different, and it wasn’t worth telling her that her party never compared to the ones my mother threw, and they never would, even if she desperately wanted them to.

Tying off the laces in the center of my back, Ruby helped Laura lift the dress over my head. It fell down in a silky wave. It really was pretty, and I felt pretty in it. Royal blue, with a one-shoulder neckline, it flowed down like water and made me look graceful.

This was where I had to fight myself. Because I loved the way I looked, and I knew that I wouldn’t like it nearly as much without the corset I was stuffed into like that last shirt you tried to fit into a drawer even though it didn’t want to close. But I was still in pain, and I desperately wished I would like the way I looked without the corset. Even with it, I was still fat. There was no hiding that, no matter how small they laced me. Physics were a thing, and my matter could only be compressed so much. And I didn’t have the energy to explain the laws of physics to my aunt.

“There,” Laura said. “That will have to do, I guess. People will start arriving in fifteen minutes. Thanks for making us cut it so close.” Her voice was poisonous. “Make-up, Ocean. Not too heavy. Do not be late.”

She disappeared in a cloud of the powdery perfume she preferred, which I hated, but was better than her natural scent, which was dusty and dry. But not in the good old books way. More like cardboard.

It made sense. She was stiff enough for it.

“Are you all right?” Ruby asked.

“I’m fine.” I sat down at my vanity, hiding the wince and my inability to breathe. At least this dress was long enough to hide wearing flats, because I wasn’t going to be able to sit down much.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

She looked like she wanted to say something else, but thought better of it. “Let me know if you need anything,” she murmured before closing the door behind her.

My shoulders wilted, and I took a labored breath, trying to get used to the tightness. It would be easier if I wore the corsets all the time, like women used to in the past. When Laura told me she wanted me to start wearing them for events because ‘regular shapewear wasn’t going to cut it,’ I went down the rabbit hole. This wasn’t what they were meant for. Corsets were just bras, and the horror stories people used to vilify them either weren’t real, or were so far an outlier they weren’t worth mentioning.

Laura didn’t see it that way, so I couldn’t just wear a well-fitted corset every day and get used to it. If I wore this every day, it would be hell.

Slowly, I eased my breathing and let my body get used to it before I started doing my make-up. I’d make my appearance at the party as short as possible, and then get the hell out of all of this and retreat to the greenhouse. While it was summer, once the sun went down the greenhouse was still lovely in the evenings, with the breeze from the sea flowing through the portion where the windows opened.

I startled at the sound of my phone ringing, squirting a little too much foundation on the sponge. Part of me wished it had fallen on the dress, but I still selfishly liked the dress too much to ruin it.

Isolde’s name lit up the screen. Finally. I laughed as I answered the call and turned it to video, propping it up against the mirror. Trinity hadn’t quite made it on the call yet, so it was just Isolde, cuddled up in a sweatshirt that was way, way too big to be hers. I grinned.

“Finally coming up for air?”

She blushed, but nodded. “Yeah. That was… well, I’ll wait till Rin answers, but it was incredible.”

“Good.” She’d just had her heat, helped through by the pack of incredibly hot men she’d hired to take her to her sister’s wedding because her asshole of an ex was the best man. Both Trinity and I were convinced they were already in love with her, but Isolde was stubborn, so I couldn’t wait to hear what had happened.

“You look pretty,” Isolde said. “Where are you going?”

I sighed. “The Caldwell Gala.”

Her eyes went wide. “That’s tonight? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Tell us what?” Trinity popped into the video, her platinum hair a messy halo around her head.

Isolde hid her smile. “That the Caldwell Gala is tonight.”

Rin gasped. “Ocean.”

Pulling back from the mirror enough to give them both a look, I raised an eyebrow. “Because both of you would have been able to come?”

“No,” Isolde grumbled. “But I could still know about it.”

I laughed, and it turned into a cough because I still couldn’t take a full breath. “It’s okay. I’m aiming to make an appearance and then escape as quickly as possible. Laura is in rare form tonight. But don’t worry about me. I’m not the one who called.”

“Yeah,” Rin said, throwing a handful of cheese-chips into her mouth. They were her favorite and better for her diabetes. “Please tell us how you got repeatedly railed by five smoking hot men who do nothing but drool over you.”

Isolde laughed, but her eyes were sparkling. “It was amazing, and I do have something to tell you both.”

Rin and I waited, staring at her.

“We’re scent matched.”

“Excuse me, WHAT? ”

The shrill tone of my best friend’s excitement crashed through the screen, making both me and Isolde wince. But she was also laughing.

“Yeah. So, I owe you dinner and coffee and flowers for the rest of my fucking life,” she said.

I ignored the pang of jealousy and pain that dug in under my ribs. It wasn’t a kind reaction to one of my favorite people in the world finding her scent matches. She deserved it. But that didn’t mean it hurt less.

“So what does this mean?” I asked. “Are you staying here? With them?”

Isolde had moved away after her ex broke her heart, and it was great to have her back.

She nodded into the oversized hoodie she wore, which clearly belonged to one of her new pack members. “Yeah, I am. I honestly have no idea what’s going to happen after the wedding. I’m kind of playing it by ear. Don’t know where I’m going to work, don’t know how long it’ll take to get the rest of my stuff from the apartment, but I don’t really care. We’ll figure it out.”

I pulled out the rest of my makeup and finished my eyes and lips with the light, barely there makeup Laura and my uncle preferred. I took a risk with some nude shimmer on my eyelids, but no more.

Rin and Isolde kept chatting, and I managed to smile and be happy for my friend when one of her guys came in and sat with her. But I felt hollow. Isolde had her pack and was starting a new phase in her life. Trinity had been promoted and was diving into her dream job, even if she was overwhelmed.

While I was here. Stuck in this house with no way out and no way forward because of a fucking contract. And there certainly weren’t any romantic prospects knocking down my door.

“ Ocean .” Laura snapped open the door and glared at me. “Our guests are here. Now .”

I winced and glanced at my friends. “Gotta go,” I whispered. “Talk to you later.”

“I told you not to be late.” Laura somehow managed to hiss the words through her teeth.

My phone clearly displayed the time where I’d left it on the vanity. There wouldn’t be anywhere for me to carry it in this dress, and if they thought I was hiding and on my phone for the whole party, I’d never hear the end of it. “I’m not late. And regardless, no one is waiting for me to be there.”

I pushed past her into the hallway before she could say anything. Because it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. I was a part of the Caldwell family, and I was expected to be there. One of these days I was going to snap and tell her I was the only real Caldwell left.

Instead, I allowed my face to take on the mask I always wore at these events. Or anytime I was in their presence. Some people thought I should just give them what they had coming to them. Those people didn’t understand I had five more years of this, and there was nothing I could do about it.

We reached the ballroom, and there was barely anyone in it. Maybe two people. Our guests . Most people wouldn’t arrive for at least an hour. Joy to me.

“At least the dress isn’t lumpy,” Laura muttered, brushing past me into the room and heading for my uncle.

I sighed. The flowers looked beautiful. One small bright spot. There was a negative percent chance I would be thanked for that, despite giving them the deal of a lifetime on the flowers themselves. But we were family, and family did things for each other.

Funny how that only worked when I was the one giving things to them.

Was it too early to start drinking? Because I could use one, and if I was going to make it through this party, I was going to need it.