Chapter 19 #5
I reached up and brushed trembling fingers against the crown where it sat, cool and delicate against my hair, the pinch of metal less painful then the sadness in my heart, the fact that the one person Eun thought was on his side, his uncle, was an agent for his parents.
The weight of the crown felt heavier than it looked, like it carried more than just gems.
She was sincere about this.
“I didn’t know about any of this,” I whispered. “I thought Eun was a waiter. I didn’t snag him. I needed him.”
The words snagged in my throat, thick with emotion. I needed him. He had been there when I was drowning.
His arms had closed around me in the dark, on a planet where everything else had wanted to devour me.
Now he thought I had betrayed him.
“He saved me,” I murmured.
I caught her eye in the mirror, sharp and calculating, and I realized I had opened up, showing my belly to a predator.
"He saved me from poverty by marrying me into a family like yours," I pivoted, regaining control of the narrative I was attempting to spin as I hung the dress up on the mirror, giving myself a moment of space through action, trying to think of what someone with her intentions would want to hear.
She would want to know my intentions, to know that my loyalty could be purchased.
"I will never be poor again. My children will grow up with all the wealth and privilege that this family can offer them.
I intend on making certain of that. We are aligned on this. "
“All you have to do,” she said, her smile warm and sharp all at once, “is keep your hold on him.”
"We won't be able to move in here at once," I said, reaching up to pluck the cumbersome thing from my head. I placed it back in the box the servant still held, and waved my hand at him as if I couldn't be bothered.
"That isn't optional," Eunadice said. "We can't have Ric or Eunadi future spouse be put at risk by living in a slum."
I bit back my words. The apartment was very nice. Even the one-bedroom that Eun had started me off in was in a decent enough area. There wasn't any grafffiti or pickpockets hanging out in the streets around it, though maybe there were different signs for an area of ill repute.
Now wasn't the time for arguing.
It was time for bargaining.
"As you know, Eun can be difficult," I said.
I took the time to select some of the other jewels from the box the servant held.
I began to drape myself in them, so I was dripping in gems. "He needs to be coaxed into things.
If I insist we move back in here right away, it won't go over well for future decisions regarding our children.
He needs to feel like he isn't being cornered into anything, and I can help him choose the right thing.
I promise you I am committed to my children having the best possible life they can have. You can trust me on this."
It was easy to say those words with conviction.
The best possible life for any children Eun and I might have would involve getting off this planet and away from these people as fast as possible.
My stomach fluttered again with that low edge of panic-tinged excitement, and suddenly, I knew.
I knew it from the way I craved him, the way his mere touch could light me up and make me scream his name.
I knew it deep down in my very bones, and if I was right, in a few more days, I would feel it as a strangeness.
An older friend of mine had told me she felt it the moment the hormones started to shift, when she went to do yoga in the morning, and suddenly the stretching became all too easy to the point that it felt dangerous.
I put my hand on my belly again and lifted my chin, still holding her gaze.
"Eun and I will go home to our apartment tomorrow," I said.
"Let's set up an appointment here, in a month, to have me checked by a doctor; you pick the one, as I know you will select the best of the best. We will have more excuses to come by, and eventually our visits will become so frequent that it will be second nature to move in.
If we try to force this on him too quickly, I will lose my hold on him. It needs to be gradual."
"That is an acceptable plan," she said. "But the doctor's appointment will be in two days' time, and you'll return tomorrow for the photoshoot. If you give Eun time to think about this, he will run away. You need to press your advantage."
"Four days for the doctor and two days for the photoshoot," I said. "I snagged Eun, didn't I? I know what convinces him better than you do. He will need time to calm down. He is upset by all of this."
All four of her eyes narrowed. "Tomorrow evening. He is used to operating under pressure."
She was getting suspicious.
"You can get that fitted to me properly by tomorrow?" I asked as I gestured towards the tiara. "If I am going to be pushing Eun to come back faster, I am going to need an incentive, and ill-fitting gems won't do. I need things that will look good in my closet."
The tension of her suspicion left her body as soon as I mentioned a desire for wealth again.
"You can't keep expensive things like that in a slum," she said.
"Then I expect by the time we move in here, I will have a good collection waiting for me," I said, putting the weight of my expectation in my words.
I wanted her to believe she could buy me.
Her ear twitched towards the door.
"Your husband will be here soon," she said. "I will see you back here tomorrow evening."
"In that case, we will be leaving tonight," I said. I glanced over at the servant, still standing there with a tiara in an open box, like a piece of furniture. "You there, make sure a car is ready for us to leave."
His mother gave me another long look, and I stared back at her, refusing to drop my gaze as I tried to project the image of a strong, determined predator who would do whatever it took to marry into wealth.
As long as she saw my agenda as lining up with the things she understood in the world, the leash would be slack enough for us to slip free.
"Do as she says," his mother said.
"I look forward to seeing what my new family gives me as the first of my wedding presents," I said as I lifted the gown again, inspecting how it was constructed, pulling it apart in my mind to see how I could create something in that style and make it mine.
It would really make the gems' gorgeous blue pop.
"Don't push it, dear," his mother said with a soft growl, her threat undisguised. "If you can't control Eun, we will find other uses for you."
"I promise you Eun will do exactly what I tell him to do," I replied as she moved to leave. "You can count on that."