Chapter 16 – Cullen
Chapter Sixteen
Cullen
I’m a few yards away from the door to Padraic’s office when I hear him talking to his mother. I don’t want the words to crush me but…
His voice sounds tense and angry. Furious, even. “You don’t need to worry about my wife, Padraic says. “It’s an arranged marriage purely for financial reasons and she means nothing to me.”
“You married a woman who means nothing to you?” A warbly accent with a harsh vocal fry carries throughout Padraic’s office. I pause in place. I want to hear what he says about me when he thinks I’m not around.
“She’s a breeder for my seed and something I bought to fulfill my needs. There’s no need for you to meet her because not only is she as significant to me as a piece of furniture, she’s about as interesting. Now leave.”
I don’t know what I’m thinking. I rush into Padraic’s office and just stand there.
“How. Dare. You.”
He looks over his mother’s shoulder, his eyes meeting mine.
The woman in Padraic’s office stands on very tall red-bottomed high heels.
She almost falls over on her way to me with a hand extended out.
There are giant baubles on each one of her fingers and the arches of her eyebrows are yanked all the way up as she smiles.
Her lips and cheeks are both incredibly shiny.
I stick my hand out to shake her hand and when our hands meet, my mother-in-law’s hand is strangely wet and cold, like she dipped it into rubbing alcohol. She hardly touches me and I’m the only one who squeezes. Her eyes flicker over my face and turn cold. So cold.
Padraic’s voice interrupts any possible greeting. “Cullen. Please, return to our bedroom.”
Does he seriously have the audacity to talk to me right now?
“Ignore him,” my mother-in-law says. Her face seems stuck in that approximation of a smile. “My name is Alison Tyler. Maiden name Langford. You might remember me from Vogue. The runway. Chanel.”
I don’t recognize her. She drops her hand away. I nod along like I know what she’s talking about and try my best to be polite despite the multitude of emotions about to erupt – mostly in the direction of my husband.
“I’m Cullen.”
“I see,” she says. “Well. You don’t look at all like my son’s type.”
“Oh…”
“You’re fat,” she says, her eyes dropping to my feet and slow rolling up the length of my body, lingering intentionally on my stomach before her gaze meets mine with an intentional, taunting smirk. I understand why Zack fled the scene, but I don’t have a clue of what I just walked into.
It feels a lot like stepping in dog shit. Squishy and uncomfortable. My feet feel warm. Alison’s eyes drop down to my stomach again. “I guess you might be pregnant.”
Her eyes meet mine again. There’s another challenge, but I’m too stunned to speak. You cannot honestly say it would be easy for you to smack the hell out of an elder you just met – especially when you’re not sure how easy it is to pop lip and cheek filler.
My gaze flickers over to Padraic. He turns red, which I honestly enjoy because I want him to be miserable. I want him to know that disrespecting me will have consequences – uncomfortable ones.
“Alison Tyler, get out,” Padraic snarls. “I didn’t want you here for a reason and when I discover who told you about my marriage, I will destroy them.”
His mother protests in her thick valley accent, “I’m not…”
“LEAVE!” Padraic roars, snatching his mother by her forearms and dragging her out of the room, almost lifting the woman off the floor as her thin arms begin scratching madly at him as she tries to push him off. “FIGHT ALL YOU WANT.”
His yelling continues until he leads her down the stairs.
I rush out of Padraic’s office and watch him drag her down as they fight.
He shoves her against the wall a couple times but I’m too shocked to intervene – and too hurt.
Padraic disappears out of sight. Alone, just outside of his office, I want to disappear too.
What he said about me was humiliating and confirms my worst fears. This isn’t real. I don’t belong here. Thinking this was more than a contract was a stupid, naive mistake.