A Woman's Empire

LXVIV

CHAPTER SIXTY NINE:

Flames roared into the dark night sky as Audrielle threw another stack of paper onto the burning pile. Ashes and flakes of burnt paper bellowed into the air with ribbons of smoke as she took a step back, admiring her creation of fire with a frown. In her hand, a bottle of wine accompanied her and she took another gulp before throwing it across the lawn. She didn't care if it was a thousand dollar bottle of wine she had just wasted. In fact, she had just torn apart the cellar of the Harrington estate. Every single bottle of wine that Mrs. Harrington found calmness in what was now a pile of shattered glass on the floor.

All the papers, contracts and contacts that Mr. Harrington had been sitting away, hidden in the depths of his office, had been scooped up, now burning in a bright blaze of orange and yellow flames.

The family portraits, from Audrielle with her parents, all the way to her great great grandparents, had been shredded to bits. A knife that Audrielle had found in the kitchen stabbed into the oil paintings and left with large, unfixable gashes through the artworks.

As the warmth from the fire illuminated Audrielle's face, she watched the flames peacefully dance. Everything around her was being removed. Her family's history was now nothing but a rumour, no hard evidence to be able to prove that there once was a Harrington family.

Grandfather Charles would be rolling in his grave right now.

Her mother was probably screaming tears, pulling her hair out as Audrielle gifted her million dollar diamonds and pearls to charities that would benefit them in better ways, rather than just wearing them once for an event to brag about. The cars that her father collected over the years were smashed. Audrielle took a golf club to any surface of the car she could reach.

Audrielle had spent the past three days tearing down the Harrington history. Three days letting out her anger on any wall or any object that somehow looked at her wrongly. But during those three days, Audrielle never stepped foot into her old bedroom. Instead, she kept the door locked, throwing the key to the room in the small pond out the back of the mansion, most likely to never be found again.

Audrielle didn't want to open that door. She wanted to keep her old self in there. Maybe she was scared to see the ghost of her that still lived there. A young, naive girl who immersed herself in books in hopes to finally live a life of freedom. A woman that didn't know how to stand up for herself, someone that believed that there would always be good in the most evil people.

But was there really? Now, all Audrielle could see was that sometimes there are people that are just ugly. That their little goods would never outweigh their uglies or that those uglies were so horrible that they could never be hidden. No matter how many times the person tried to be good.

So that door stayed locked. Audrielle decided to let her old self be at peace. To let her haunt the room and to never be able to leave it to see just how ugly the world outside the door really was.

Most of the papers in the fire were now ashes, and the papers that remained were disintegrating at the corners, the edges turning black as the flames hungrily chewed on the paper. Audrielle wiped away a stray tear as a wave of emotion piled over her. This was it. No more Audrielle Harrington.

The sound of distant footsteps echoed between the cracks and sparks of the fire and Audrielle could recognise him before she could see him. Maybe that was her new sense, being able to recognise him without seeing him, touching him, or even smelling him.

He cleared his throat and stood silently next to Audrielle, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he watched the fire burn. After a moment of silence, busking in the heat of the fire and the silence that swallowed them, Leo finally spoke up.

"So this is it then?"

"I guess it is." Audrielle whispered, a heaviness resting in her stomach.

"No more Harringtons."

Three words stung Audrielle's mouth and she had to look away to stop the sob about to escape. But somehow, as if Leo had a sixth sense too, he read her mind and asked about those three words.

"What about us?" His words shot through her like a bullet, poisoning her blood and Audrielle suddenly couldn't find the confidence to speak. She looked away, her heart beating rapidly. Leo took a step closer to her, his body turned to her and Audrielel hated the way his scent suffocated her.

"What about us, Audrielle?"

Audrielle couldn't get the words off the tip of her tongue.

"What about us?" Leo said, his tone agitated and Audrielle had to suck in a deep breath to stop herself from breaking down and sobbing on the spot.

Finally, after mustering up a small ounce of courage, Audrielle turned around, her eyes glassed with tears as she stared into Leo's pleading eyes.

"There is no us, Leo."

"W-what do you mean? I love you, Audrielle." He whispered, his voice breaking as he said those three, poisonous words. I love you.

"I love you too, Leo. I always will. Forever. B-but..." Audrielle wiped away tears that stained her cheeks, "... but your promises will never be enough for me. For us."

Leo let out a noise that was half a scoff and half a cry of pain.

"I'm hurt, Leo. A-and you hurt me. You really hurt me and I don't want to fall into that cycle. I want us to both be good role models for our son. I want him to know what love looks like and we can't show him that if I feel like I'm always walking on eggshells around you."

"Orlando. What's going to happen? Will I no longer be able to see him?"

"I can't carry the pain of keeping a child away from one of their parents. We'll take turns. Co-parenting."

Leo slowly nodded his head, trying to absorb the information without losing control of his emotions. Audrielle and Leo both stood in front of the fire, their backs facing each other as they couldn't bear the sight of how hurt one another was. Finally, Leo turned back around and hastily wiped away his tears.

"So what's this all about then?" He raised his hands in the air before dropping them as he motioned to the fire and the ruining of what once was the Harrington estate.

Audrielle looked around, letting out a heavy sigh and she shrugged her shoulders. "A fresh start."

"A new beginning." Leo mumbled and Audrielle nodded her head, silently agreeing with him. A new beginning for the both of them. Audrielle turned and stared Leo in the eyes, watching the emotion drain from his dark orbs and smiled sadly.

"Well, I guess I should probably introduce myself then. Hi, I'm Leo, it's a pleasure to meet you." He returned a remorseful smile, holding his hand out for a hand shake.

Audrielle embraced his warm hand with hers, the smile on her face curling and she sniffled back the tears. "Hi, Leo. I'm Audrielle. It's nice to meet you."

THE END