Chapter Thirty-Six
Olivia
I t’s Deja vu all over again while sitting in my old bathroom letting Bianca and Lucia fix my makeup and hair.
The room looks the same as I left it, but the girl sitting here is no longer the girl I was before.
A once na?ve and gullible little girl who was groomed for a life she never knew existed, is now a fierce lioness of a woman ready for battle.
The last time I was sitting in this room, I only craved the knowledge of knowing who my mother was.
I ached for her, for her wisdom, and for her love. Knowing it was her love for me that got her murdered by the man who was supposed to care for and protect us only enrages the monster in me more.
How can a man who has been given such a gift of a woman be so okay with tearing her down? A father who is supposed to set the standard for his daughter, how can he be so useless at that role?
There has to be a whole place in hell for a man who does not respect the power a woman holds.
“Olivia, did you hear me?” Bianca’s voice comes into my ears, and I look around a little dazed.
“I am sorry, my mind was off in another world.” I try my best to laugh it off.
She points her makeup brush to the bruising on my collarbone where the brander was stuck to me, “I am going to try my best to cover this up. Just bear with me as I run my brush over it. It may sting.”
I nod but no other words leave my mouth. She gives me a light smile; her and Lucia both do.
I can tell by their smiles they feel bad for me. Then a thought hits me, “Did you both know what I was walking into that night?”
The makeup brush that was brushing over my skin stops and both women look at each other wide-eyed, but neither say a word.
“You did, didn’t you?”
My maid, Isabella, comes in with my dress and they both eye her heavily.
“What is going on?” she asks innocently.
“I asked if they knew what I was walking into the last night I was here. And now I am going to ask you the same question.”
Isabella looks shocked at my words. “Miss Ashton, you are not supposed to ask such things.”
“Don’t you dare call me by his name. You will speak to me as Miss Olivia, and you will answer my question or so help me I will stop acting like daddy’s sweet innocent princess and you will see a side of me you have never seen before.”
All three women look at one another, as if surprised by my outburst.
Isabella walks out of the bathroom, and I hear my bedroom door click shut and locked.
When she enters the room, her right hand lifts to her eye and she wipes a tear, “Miss Olivia, please know what I am about to tell you cannot leave this room. If he knows you know, he will kill you.”
“If he knows I know what? That my mother died trying to protect me? That the man has been grooming me my whole life to sell me to the highest bidder and sell off my children for money in his pocket?”
All three women look at me in shock, but I keep going. “My mother was his sex slave. She was a toy of his and when he did not get his next heir from her but instead got me, he decided instead of killing me, he could make money from me.” I pause, taking a breath and controlling my shaking hands. “Did I miss anything or does that about sum it up?”
At this point, all three women have tears pouring down their faces.
“Don’t you fucking cry when you let it happen! You let me walk out of this door into the wolf’s den. You are just as guilty as my father.”
By this time, I have tears falling down my cheeks, ruining my makeup. “At least my mother died trying to protect me. At least she tried to get away!” I yell at them.
Isabella grabs my hand, freezing me. “Miss Olivia, you must understand. We did try. We tried so damn hard. We loved Natalie so much. She was so good to all of us and a light to everyone she met no matter what he put her through.”
A tear falls to my lap. “What do you mean you tried?”
“I was in your father’s office cleaning one night during one of his meetings with a few of his most loyal men after you were born. I heard the things he was saying, and I knew what they were planning to do with you.”
She wipes another tear, “I helped your mother deliver you, sweet girl. I was there the day you were born. I heard your first cry and handed you to your mother. You stole all our hearts that night. Well, us women at least.” She smiles at Bianca and Lucia. “You were a miracle and something so pure and innocent in a world of so much violence and hate.”
Isabella kneels down to my eye level and says, “When I heard his plan, I knew that we needed to stop him, and I needed to warn your mother. So, I did. After she had her crying fit, she made her plan.”
My eyes search hers. “What was her plan?”
She looks down at her feet and then back up at me, her mouth quivering. “She was going to make her escape within the night, when Ashton was asleep, and she was going to find her way to Ricci’s home where her sister was.”
I start to get queasy as she goes on. “Unfortunately, the night of her escape, Ashton knew something was wrong and faked his sleep in his bed. He let her get almost out the door and shot her with you in her arms. I caught you right before you hit the ground.”
By this time, we are all four sobbing messes. “Your father grabbed you from me and told me If I was to ever speak of it to anyone, he would kill me in front of the entire house as a reminder of what he could do if anyone tried to defy him.”
“Oh, Isabella, I am so sorry,” I whimper.
She looks up at me, her hand grabbing my cheek and she gives me a soft grin. “Sweet girl, no, I am sorry. I tried like hell to help her. He just left her there on the floor for Maxwell and his men to clean up. When I heard that you had been taken to Hayes’ estate the night of the auction, I was relieved. I knew you were safe.”
She grabs my hand again, “I am just sorry you ended up back in the same boat you were in before.”
I squeeze her hand to comfort her. “It will all be okay.”
Bianca and Lucia go back to fixing my hair and makeup while Isabella goes to grab my dress for the night. I make a mental note for when this is all over, I want to bring her into Hayes’ home to work for us and out of this house.